Comprehensive Business Guide For Outsourcing Critical IT Functions
For many businesses and organizations, managing and supporting varied computing and networking platforms has become its own business. A business that most organizations want zero part in. Relocating responsibility for network management and other IT operations to third-party experts has been viewed as an effective solution for organizations that are under pressure to reduce costs, improve support, and maintain a competitive advantage.
With computing and networking platforms becoming more complex and expansive, an increasing percentage of budgets are being used to support these systems and platforms. The majority of the money is spent on brick-and-mortar aspects of computer operations, such as hardware, lines, circuits, and applications. In addition, more businesses and organizations are finding it difficult to find money that can cover the salaries of qualified and experienced people to run computer systems and networks or programmers who can develop the applications that are needed to run an efficient business.
Instead of interviewing, hiring, training, and retaining an internal team to perform help desk support, network monitoring, hardware maintenance, systems integration, and network management functions, businesses and organizations can gain a significant competitive advantage by outsourcing critical IT functions. By outsourcing multiple IT functions, organizations will be able to shift their attention to internal resources. When organizations are able to shift their focus, they will be able to spend more time and attention on resources that can add quantifiable value to the organization in the form of new products and services. There are responsibilities that can be outsourced to support these efforts, and these responsibilities can be migrated to a third party for a fee.
Outsourcing Critical IT Functions
With the rising increase in competition and the transitions to different working environments, more businesses and organizations are experiencing increased pressure from their leaders to fulfill more responsibilities in a reduced time period. This means organizations are expected to get more work done while being heavily dependent on an IT infrastructure that must be fully operational 24/7. Thus, more organizations are deciding to outsource critical IT functions to third parties that specialize in network security, network management, assisting with special IT projects, help desk duties, integrating various computer systems, or developing business applications.
Trends in Outsourcing
While outsourcing has been a hot topic in the IT world as of late, it is not new. Given the increasing complexity of data networks and infrastructures, it is not surprising to us that more organizations want to find ways to offload critical IT functions to skilled and experienced professionals. Generally, vendors or providers analyze an organization’s needs and objectives and determine what parameters are needed to support the transition to outsourcing critical IT functions.
What Critical IT Functions Can You Outsource?
Networks are growing significantly, and it is becoming difficult to find qualified and skilled experts to add to an internal team at an affordable cost. New technologies are being introduced at an increased rate, resulting in organizations looking for new and improved ways to maintain pace. Instead of only asking if they should outsource critical IT functions, more leaders are also asking what critical IT functions they should outsource.
Critical IT functions that can be outsourced may include:
- Day-to-Day Help Desk Duties – IT Service companies have numerous tools and services to aid in the servicing of users’ day-to-day issues. From ticketing management, remote monitoring, patching, and system updates and just being there to field user requests.
- Network Management – IT MSPs have all the tools and services to proactively manage the network. They can watch for performance issues, wireless access point issues, and more networking duties.
- Network Security – Managed IT Service companies can help internal IT resources with all their security duties. Firewall management, email security, vulnerability assessments, and more.
- Special IT Projects – Outsourced companies can help internal IT resources with all their special projects from network upgrades, VoIP deployments, desktop rollouts, server migrations, cloud deployments, and more.
Why Should You Outsource Your IT?
There are several reasons why an organization may want to outsource IT functions, and the reasons will vary. However, some of the common reasons why they decide to outsource are as follows:
- Inability to effectively use their internal IT team
- Concerns about spending a significant amount of money on equipment that will need to be upgraded in a matter of months
- Increased flexibility and scalability
Outsourcing agreements may include a variety of objectives. Many businesses and organizations want to free up financial resources that are used for a variety of equipment and applications. Businesses and organizations also want to save more money on their operating expenses and upgrade to a more advanced IT infrastructure. Organizations also want to have the knowledge and expertise of professionals they may not currently have in their internal IT staff.
Strategic and business-specific issues play a critical role in the decision for many businesses and organizations to outsource their critical IT functions. It is
important that any business or organization that is considering outsourcing performs an analysis of their operations and resources before making a decision as important as outsourcing. To effectively determine if your IT functions require outsourcing, a full assessment and analysis would be needed.
Organizations that want to outsource will face a number of decisions about how to start a partnership with a third party. Creating a solid and long-term with an outsourcing partner will require organizations to take the proper steps so solid safeguards can be implemented. Organizations do not want to partner with a provider that does not understand its unique needs because that could seriously hamper the organization’s ability to remain competitive.
Outsource Your Critical IT Functions To HRCT
Organizations should partner with a provider that understands their needs and takes steps to detail the measures that will be taken to ensure that the organization’s data will be protected and that the proper measures will be implemented to fulfill current and future goals. Your systems are essential to your organization’s operations. You need an IT ally so that you can place more attention on running a successful operation. An IT provider can uncover the issues you may not know how to look for, reduce the number of interruptions, and protect you from threats and attacks. We are here to help. Contact us today to book a meeting.