Without IT infrastructure, businesses can’t survive today. And many businesses can’t afford to hire in-house teams and buy assets. Some companies don’t even have access to experts and resources. Whether it is because of the lack of investment or due to upscaling issues, having a dedicated team can be a new pot of trouble.
Outsourcing is used as a method to “fill in the gaps” of IT. Outsourcing is a common practice that allows any enterprise, regardless of size or scope, to integrate services and experts in its infrastructure. These services include virtualization, BDR and cloud networks, among others. This allows companies to take advantage of the expertise of IT professionals.
It’s a very exciting prospect. It is important to have valuable IT services for efficiency. This allows businesses to remain on the leading edge of technology while keeping their data secure. As with all outsourcing, there are positives and negatives.
IT outsourcing can be a long-term and short-term decision. But it is a difficult decision to take. In this guide, we will take you through the important pros and cons of IT outsourcing. This guide will help you understand all aspects of IT outsourcing.
Why Outsource?
It is a genuine question for businesses looking for tech power. Businesses often think that the in-house IT costs cannot be that high in the start, which is a misconception. There are some things you should look out for if you’re unsure if it’s the right time to seek third-party help via Managed IT Services. They are as follows:
- You have noticed that your company’s efficiency has decreased. Projects are taking longer to complete, inquiries from customers are not being answered, and you are experiencing more downtime.
- Security issues are more frequent and persistent. The same security issue causes extensive downtime.
- Your bottom line will suffer from all the problems that your business is experiencing.
- Your IT experts are only able to handle small issues because you don’t have enough staff.
- Customer service does not resolve problems quickly enough, or at all.
- If you lose data, there is no effective plan for recovery.
- Your company’s performance is being affected by the lack of financial resources available to invest in a new cybersecurity infrastructure.
- The cost and time involved in onboarding new employees is prohibitive.
These problems are a sign that your infrastructure is in trouble. You lack the funds to implement the solutions locally. IT outsourcing has many benefits.
Benefits of Outsourcing IT
Outsourcing IT or IT services has many benefits.
- Get Essential Functions
When you think about outsourcing, you probably think of people. Third-party providers can also provide essential services, such as data storage and security monitoring. You may want to use virtualized software, but you lack the capital. Outsourcing – depending on your provider – can allow you to integrate these services in your infrastructure.
- The Scaling Staff
The cost and time of hiring new IT staff is a major challenge. Outsourcing allows IT professionals to be integrated into projects and critical tasks instantly. The number of employees can be scaled up or down, so an organization can hire as many people as they need. You can reduce the number of employees when projects are completed. This flexibility allows for unprecedented control of project management, without having to dedicate time and resources to hiring and training new employees.
- Improved Security
Outsourcing provides enterprises with additional security services, such as data protection, monitoring and backup. The providers can flag and monitor unusual network activity and update essential software such as anti-virus. They also maintain good cybersecurity practices. This is advantageous, since not all businesses can afford to invest in cybersecurity infrastructure. This creates dangerous gaps in coverage. These gaps can lead to intrusions and downtime, as well as other problems.
- Cost Reduction
Outsourcing IT has many benefits, including cost savings. Outsourcing IT reduces capital requirements because businesses don’t need to hire or train long-term staff.
A MSP also provides IT infrastructure via virtualized services, or something similar, rather than an enterprise having to set up said infrastructure themselves. Among other things, you also get increased efficiency and improved security.
Ultimately, cost-reduction can decrease financial burden on the company and boost its revenue generation. It eventually enables the business to stay competitive in the tech industry.
- Improved Focus
It doesn’t matter if a company outsources, they still have IT. Outsourcing can be done to fix weaker areas in an organization or help with large projects. This allows the on-site team to concentrate on their areas of expertise and prioritise goals. If a company decides to outsource IT in order to deal with customer service issues, its own staff can focus on larger tasks, such as cybersecurity monitoring or network improvements.
Disadvantages of IT Outsourcing
Outsourcing IT has many benefits but also some drawbacks.
- Less Control
Control loss is a factor that often hinders outsourcing investments. Third-party services allow an organization to delegate core services. Some people are uncomfortable about a second business handling their security and essential functions. It’s also possible that a secondary MSP won’t manage tasks according to the same standards as a company.
- Low Quality
Quality can vary depending on who and where you outsource. Some IT providers may offer a solid infrastructure and experienced staff while others might only provide less qualified individuals that can impact the quality of services.
- Communication
Communication is vital for any business function and any gaps in it can cause chaos. Any delay in communication can impact the services offered by businesses. Communication is crucial when dealing with security issues. In this case, if you have outsourced your cybersecurity services to a 3rd party, communication lapses will hinder the efficiency of your business and cause other problems such as downtime.
- Security Risk
As security increases, so do the risks. It is because the company relies on another party to manage its data in part or completely. Your information may be compromised if the company does not have the same security standards, or if it is compromised in any way. Third parties have traditionally taken appropriate measures to protect your information. However, this is not the case for all managed service providers.
What happens, for example, if a datacenter is used to perform BDR and the datacenter loses data due to downtime or cyber security issues? This scenario has actually increased the risk, not decreased it.
- Morale
Depending on the extent, outsourcing may also affect your employees. Nobody wants to believe that their job could be at risk, especially when it comes to essential services such as cybersecurity and IT infrastructure. Morale can be a factor depending on the extent to which a company uses third-party services. Staff who are discouraged may be less productive or frustrated by their work environment. This can lead to quality loss and, in some cases turnover.
In hindsight
You can see that there are both pros and cons of IT outsourcing. Each business is unique and has different demands, needs, and requirements. When deciding what to outsource, it is important to understand the risks associated with IT outsourcing. A properly outsourced plan, however, can bring a number of benefits to the company and increase its efficiency and profitability. IT outsourcing has many benefits, provided they are used correctly.
