The increase in the usage of desktops, laptops, computer peripherals and other electronic devices including mobile gadgets has definitely become more significant for businesses in the last few years. With all these equipment, the need to operate, maintain and possibly repair is imperative. One of the most viable solutions for this is to obtain or outsource professional IT support as a more practical alternative to hiring in-house information technology technicians.
Outsourcing vs In-House
To fully understand the difference between the advantages of outsourcing professional IT support and hiring in-house IT personnel, let’s make an example out of a pretend business, say a small forwarding company and do a comparative side by side.
A forwarding business would need computers and software to keep track of incoming and outgoing packages. They would need printers to print out delivery and sorting labels. A communication centre complete with faxes, VoIP and analog phones for an effective and efficient flow of information between the business and its customers. Each facet of information technology requires specialized knowledge. If you hire one person for each specialized facet, you would be spending a comparatively bigger amount than if you outsource professional IT support to a third party provider. Why? With the first option, you are paying for human resources. One IT personnel is equal one pay check. If you need more than one specialist, that will add up. With outsourcing professional IT support, you are paying for a service. The provider will shoulder the responsibility of assigning skilled and specialized IT support whenever needed and you only pay a predictable and consistent fee.
Another advantage of outsourcing professional IT support compared to hiring in-house IT personnel is availability and accessibility. When you outsource professional IT support, you are able to readily request for technical support at any time of the day and get reliable, experienced service whether through email, helpdesk support or chat. Also surprisingly enough, most business owners have commented about how outsourcing professional IT support gets them quicker response times, and better, more permanent resolutions compared to actually having technical personnel in-house.
Increased Business Agility
Outsourcing professional IT support further boosts business agility and mobility. Operations suffer from less downtime due to fewer breakages. Each IT function is also kept running optimally allowing for increased productivity and throughput.
In the coming years, technology will evolve further and businesses will have to keep up faster in order to maximize the benefits of information technology to their fullest potential. Outsourcing professional IT support delivers the kind of resolutions and management that businesses need.
