Top 5 Reasons You Should Outsource IT Support Services

As a business owner, it can make sense to have everything proprietary. From solutions to talent, businesses enjoy greater control when the work is being done within. This has been the way for a long time but in 2022, the option to outsource IT services is far more rewarding than maintaining an in-house IT team. 

A recent Fortunly report presents a strong case for IT outsourcing. According to the report,

• 49% of companies want to outsource IT support to free up resources
• 45% outsource their IT projects to save money
• 71% of financial businesses outsource key or part of the key operations to third-party companies

It’s evident that executives and decision-makers have opened up to transfer parts of their operations to professionals outside of the companies. The pandemic has played a major role in accelerating the digital transformation in these companies and outsourced IT support has only made the transitions smoother. 

Outsourced IT Support vs In-house IT

If you’re still not sure about managed services providers (MSPs) to handle your IT support, read on.

Control your payroll cost

When you hire employees for an in-house IT team, you’re looking at a significant investment. For instance, prospecting, hiring, and onboarding in-demand IT talents costs a lot of money for recruitment managers and the process can drag on for weeks and months. According to Indeed, the average salary of an IT support specialist is around $54,000/year while software developers cost around $105,729/year. You also need to take care of 401(k), dental and health insurance, paid training and time off, parental leave, and others. On top of that, there’s the issue of employee overturn. When employees leave, you have to attract new talents by repeating the same process, including internal training. 

In contrast, outsourced IT requires you to only spend on areas that are essential to your project. With a flat fee based on the scope of work, you can avoid paying for insurance, retirement plans, vacations, training, and seminars. MSPs bring their set of experienced professionals who are on top of new industry trends. It’s like an out-of-the-box solution that helps you save payroll costs. 

Increase business efficiency

In-house teams require elaborate SOPs and it leads to more paperwork. There’s also less flexibility when it comes to on-the-go decisions. For instance, 44% of companies think they will face a severe skill gap within the next five years. Staying on top of a rapidly evolving tech industry is already challenging but outsourced IT teams are better equipped to bridge this gap. Having the flexibility to change the scope of work on short notice or start additional projects also improves business efficiency.

Apart from the flexibility, IT outsourcing also improves budget allocation. When you have more budget to spend on core business areas, you can improve day-to-day efficiency and employee productivity. 

Save on infrastructure cost 

In-house teams don’t just eat into payroll costs. You’re also responsible for providing them with quality infrastructure for work. This starts from real estate investment such as office space, parking lot, and other office amenities and covers everything from hardware and software. As a result, your expenses shoot up without seeing immediate results. 

Outsourced IT, on the other hand, is all about immediate value. It has a low barrier of entry for new businesses because you only pay for the services, not ancillary devices or infrastructures. Most of the time these teams work remotely so you also save on office space. Remote IT teams bring their set of tech stack that helps your business achieve faster results. By outsourcing IT support, you can maintain a lean SaaS profile for your internal projects. This means more flexibility and fewer monthly fees to worry about.

Reduce security risk

Security has been one of the key factors that stopped companies from relying on outsourced support earlier. They always felt that it was more secure to keep everything within the company. But as things stand now, it is nothing but a red herring. Here’s why:

1. Security risks have gone off the charts in the post-pandemic world. According to a VMWare survey, 93% of companies suffered data breaches in 2021. There are more cybersecurity attacks than a company can handle on their own. Outsourced support helps in reducing the risks of cybercrimes by sharing the responsibilities.
2. Apart from offering more options, remote IT teams have grown stronger in terms of security. They have superior skills to proactively detect, neutralize and prevent new threats than in-house teams. 

In fact, security has now become one of the strongest reasons for IT outsourcing. According to the Security Magazine, 83% of leaders considered outsourcing IT security to third-party teams in 2021. 37% of the respondents listed security to be a high priority going forward. When you outsource IT to MSPs, you bring in expert security advisors who not only protect your systems but also train your workforce to be safer. 

When does it make sense to go in-house vs outsourcing?

Despite many benefits of IT outsourcing, the in-house IT team has its place in a company. You should stick to in-house teams if:

• Your team is working on a long-term project that is not expected to hit skill gaps anytime soon.
• You’re working on sensitive data that cannot be compartmentalized or siloed before sharing with independent talents.
• Your company is not expected to grow rapidly so there’s no risk of stretching resources too thin.
• You have a large IT team that can work flexibly and without slowing down the progress.
• You have a solid security infrastructure in place and saving money on outsource IT is not a top priority right now.

Beyond these, you should definitely look to offload parts of your IT support to MSPs. Based on project requirements, you can even opt for co-managed IT that brings in-house and remote teams in a hybrid model. If you’re worried that your company may be at risk of cyberattacks or perhaps the in-house teams aren’t meeting the company goals, MyTek can help. As an Arizona-based MSP, we have helped small and large businesses digitally transform themselves by taking care of their security, Microsoft Office configuration, data storage protection, and helpdesk enhancement. To know more about how we can help you, get in touch with us today.