9 Benefits of IT Outsourcing

Outsourcing is a hot-button topic in many industries. It’s a popular practice across sectors and it has its pros and cons. When it comes to IT, though, is outsourcing services something your organization should consider?

This article will look at IT outsourcing, explain how it works, and list nine key benefits of finding an outsourcing provider for some or all of your IT needs.

 

What Is IT Outsourcing?

Outsourcing is the process of hiring an external provider to fulfill one or more needs and services for an organization. These arrangements can be temporary or ongoing. Rather than hiring full-time staff, the decision-makers at a company often choose to outsource a role, several roles, or even an entire department of operations to another company.

This external company likely offers some advantages. For example, the firm may have expertise in a specific area, or maybe it can complete the work more affordably. The third party may also have special licenses or meet certain compliance requirements.

Outsourcing IT services works similarly. An organization can use an external service provider to deliver managed IT services and infrastructure solutions. This allows a business, no matter its size, to incorporate IT experts into its infrastructure.

 

How Does IT Outsourcing Work?

Rather than spending the time and effort required to hire one or more full- or part-time employees to perform IT roles, an organization can research its outsourcing options. Finding the right managed IT service provider to partner with can take time, too. But it’s a one-time process — assuming the partnership works out.

An organization may sign a limited contract with an outsourcing partner to complete one specific IT project, or the parties may have a longer-term or even a rolling contract for IT support. There are numerous contract options for organizations of different sizes with different needs. Sometimes a company with its own IT department will still outsource some IT tasks if it’s taking on a big IT project, such as completing a digital transformation.

 

9 Key Benefits of Outsourcing IT

Here are nine major benefits an organization can enjoy by outsourcing IT support:

 

1. Reduced Labor Costs

One reason many companies utilize outsourcing is because it can often save them money — and sometimes a lot of money. Hiring full-time employees requires paying them a salary and any benefits they’re owed. There are also the costs associated with hiring somebody. It takes the time and resources to advertise one or more job vacancies, interview all the candidates, and decide on the best one. And then there are the resources and time necessary to onboard and train an employee and ramp them up to speed.

Outsourced IT support can eliminate all these costs. It can be difficult to predict IT needs going forward, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises. Such a company might hire a number of full-time IT staff when its IT needs are great, only to find that after eight months, it doesn’t have any work for them anymore. By outsourcing, a business can control costs more and pay for only the services it needs.

 

2. Better Focus

Sometimes organizations and departments can get so bogged down in their IT efforts that they lose sight of their core business. Technology is supposed to serve an organization’s needs, not the other way around. Outsourcing IT services means staff and team leaders don’t have to spend their days working on IT management or facilitating a transfer to software they’re not experts in themselves. Talent can focus on their core competencies while the third party focuses on IT.

 

3. Access to a Wider Talent Pool

If you decide to hire full-time IT staff, how good might those IT professionals be at their jobs? They might be incredible, making them excellent additions to the organization. But incredible IT experts are rarely unemployed. You might have to headhunt and poach the talent you really need. This can be tough if your business isn’t located in a place where many IT professionals live or want to live.

By outsourcing IT services, you don’t have to worry about all this. You can leverage the talent pool of the IT company you partner with and benefit from their expertise. For many companies, the chances of working with the best IT talent are higher via the outsourcing route.

 

4. Improved Security

Perhaps one of the most critical benefits of IT outsourcing is the potential cybersecurity boost it offers organizations. Preventing and dealing with threats such as data breaches, malware, and ransomware is quickly becoming a top priority for companies of all sizes, even small businesses and not-for-profits. These threats are always evolving because cybercriminals are routinely refining their methods and developing ever more sophisticated tools.

It can be expensive to keep up with these threats, but the cost of doing nothing is often more expensive. Without a dedicated team fighting cybercrime, organizations will always be vulnerable, but employing such a team full time is often only practical for big companies. An outsourcing partner can protect organizations, and this external expertise is often more cost-effective than hiring IT professionals.

 

5. Ease of Scaling

Scaling up is rarely a simple business process; growing pains are typical. Scaling is tough enough when focusing on core business activities — it’s even tougher when a company has to scale up its IT department at the same time. And this is often necessary, especially if an organization is expanding with another office location or switching to a remote or hybrid work setup. Multi-site IT administration can get complicated quickly, but outsourcing managed IT services helps. It allows companies to scale up without having to worry about the IT ramifications.

 

6. Added Flexibility

Flexibility is one of the major outsourcing benefits in any industry. While technical support is pretty much always needed, there are certain IT projects that come and go, bringing with them much higher levels of intensity. Tasks such as software development or switching to cloud services require intensive IT support — typically much more than a company’s standard IT team can manage. With an outsourced IT service provider, an organization can lean on the partner’s expertise and staff to help its own team complete these major IT endeavors. 

 

7. Access to a Dedicated Team

The IT projects mentioned above are planned, but not all IT needs are predictable. An outsourcing partner is available to organizations whenever they need extra IT support. Such a partnership also means employees don’t have to rearrange their agendas away from core business tasks.

 

8. Minimized Downtime

Perhaps one of the commonly overlooked benefits of IT outsourcing, reduced downtime is difficult to quantify. An organization can’t know how much time, momentum, and productivity it would lose if it didn’t have an outsourcing partner, but those benefits are there, nonetheless. Whether it’s preventing a cyberattack, recovering from a breach, or simply scheduling updates during off-hours, IT service providers save their clients a lot of downtime, often without their clients even realizing it.

 

9. A Competitive Edge

When you zoom out, this is what IT outsourcing is all about. It gives organizations an advantage. Companies can benefit from IT and cybersecurity expertise without sacrificing focus on their core business activities, investing beyond their means in a full-time IT department, or upsetting their company culture.

 

FAQs About Outsourcing IT Services

Here are some frequently asked questions about IT outsourcing:

 

Are there different types of IT sourcing?

Yes, there are several categories of IT outsourcing. These include:

  • Nearshore outsourcing: This is when an organization outsources IT services to a company in a bordering country.
  • Offshore outsourcing: This involves outsourcing IT to a foreign nation that doesn’t border the nation in which a company is headquartered.
  • Onshore outsourcing: This means finding an external service provider within the same country, and it offers several benefits. These include sharing similar time zones, speaking the same language, coming from the same culture, and working under the same laws and regulations.
  • Cloud computing: A common form of technological support, this involves an outsourcing firm providing IT services virtually.
  • Managed services: An external provider can offer network managing and monitoring, firewalls, virtual private networks, and other managed IT services.

 

What are some best practices for IT outsourcing?

To succeed with IT outsourcing, it’s key to pick the right project. As a general rule, the larger the IT project, the greater the advantages of outsourcing, though basic ongoing support can also be hugely beneficial, too. It’s also critical to pick the right provider. Organizations need an IT support provider that will commit the staff and resources necessary to help them thrive.

 

Are there potential drawbacks to IT outsourcing?

No strategy is perfect and IT outsourcing can have negative effects if done in a suboptimal way. Outsourcing invariably means giving up some control, which can cause problems. It’s imperative to find an IT provider that communicates quickly and clearly, as communication issues can wreak havoc. For business owners and management, it’s valuable to be clear with staff and stakeholders about their intentions regarding outsourcing, lest they compromise company culture.

 

How do you pick the right provider?

The right provider must dedicate themselves to your success, making the time to understand your outsourcing needs and business objectives. A good IT provider offers services such as cybersecurity enhancement, IT project support, app and software development, and end-user training. Greystone offers all these IT services and more.

 

Greystone’s IT Outsourcing Solutions

Greystone can be the IT support partner you need to take your organization to the next level. We can provide IT expertise and support, allowing your teams to focus on what they do best. Contact us to find out how we can meet your IT outsourcing needs.

Digital community

Keeping up with technology and IT trends can be a pain if it is not one of your passions. That’s where our digital community comes in! Sign up to receive helpful news and tips about technology trends, IT, and digital transformation.

Digital community

Keeping up with technology and IT trends can be a pain if it is not one of your passions. That’s where our digital community comes in! Sign up to receive helpful news and tips about technology trends, IT, and digital transformation.

Digital community

Keeping up with technology and IT trends can be a pain if it is not one of your passions. That’s where our digital community comes in! Sign up to receive helpful news and tips about technology trends, IT, and digital transformation.