How Outsourcing Your I.T. Support Can Optimize Your Business Functionality

Should your organization handle all the duties necessary to run the entire operation in-house, or should some processes and tasks be outsourced?

Both management theory experts and real-life practitioners struggle to determine the best combination of outsourcing an in-house operation. However, just trying the find the optimal mix begs the question:

Why is outsourcing some of a business's activities better for quality output and the bottom line?

A straightforward example of how this question arises for any business is whether to rent or own the physical locations needed for the operation. If a business chooses to own a property, they get the tax advantages associated with the mortgage interest, the investment potential derived from (likely) increasing property values and the security of not being beholden to a property owner. They maintain complete control over such issues as maintenance quality and aesthetics. However, there is the flip side. By owning property, you assume all the distractions involved with understanding maintenance and property upkeep issues. You have less agility in re-locating should growth or new opportunities suggest moving would optimize revenue growth. Property ownership is expensive and time-consuming. These issues can distract from the core competencies needed to run a business.

What drives the decision to outsource some tasks or operations to an outside vendor?

There are a least three good reasons why a business may look to move certain operations to an external provider:

1. Efficiencies

Because an external provider is deeply skilled in one area, they can focus effectively on providing efficient, high-quality service. Building that kind of in-depth knowledge within your organization takes time and may not be feasible, given staffing restrictions.

2. Distracting from Core Competencies

Your business must focus on its key skills and goals. Some operational and other duties, however critical they are to your business, represent skill sets that distract you from your primary focus. This is particularly true when you have operational needs requiring deep expertise that fall outside your business's core competency.

3. Economies of Scale

As you produce more units of a product or service, the input costs to create that product or service drop. We call that concept "economies of scale." For example, a business with a limited need for a particular skill set, such as I.T. support or building maintenance, is better off moving such tasks to an outside vendor. Because an external provider offers its services to a variety of clients, it can spread the infrastructure and fixed costs of providing those services across the entire platform of clients.

All three of the benefits discussed here regarding outsourcing define why our monthly security packages can be a benefit to any business or not-for-profit organization that relies on an I.T. infrastructure to conduct its operations.

Outsourcing your I.T. management and security to Standard I.T. Security will benefit your business or not-for-profit in the following ways:

Efficiencies:

I.T. infrastructure is not a single, narrow field. I.T. encompasses a broad field of areas of expertise. Examples include:

• Cloud hosting

• Cloud storage

• Backups and recovery

• Cybersecurity

• VoIP

• Procurement or Hardware Purchasing

• Network support

Most businesses require some degree of support in all of these areas but finding and training a knowledgeable staff in these disparate areas takes a lot of work, even for larger businesses. Standard I.T. Security provides all these services and more to a diverse range of clients and companies. We bring our years of expertise to the table to serve your business goals.

Core Competencies:

Core competencies are the essential skills and abilities that allow your business to stand out from the competition. You got into your business to offer your special skill, knowledge, or product, be it healthcare, manufacturing, legal services, accounting, architecture- the list goes on. You didn't get into it to design, maintain and troubleshoot I.T. You also didn't get into it to devote part of each day to learning new technologies in order to understand how they might strategically improve your business and increase revenues. Utilizing our monthly security packages lets you move these tedious but necessary tasks off your plate. We want to get you back to managing your business, not I.T.

Economies of Scale:

I.T. infrastructure has to be supported 24/7. For all except the largest organizations, it does not make economic sense to pay in-house to have all available resources on hand "just in case" the need arises. However, no business can afford downtime if some part of the I.T. structure fails and an expert cannot immediately address it. Standard I.T. Security can offer you the support that large organizations enjoy at a fraction of their in-house cost.

Understanding the basic concepts driving decisions about outsourcing vs. handling in-house helps to clarify why utilizing I.T. support from Standard I.T. Security should be an intrinsic part of your business model. We are ready to help you meet your goals by optimizing your business functionality. To learn more about our services, contact us today. Schedule a consultation today! https://meetings.engagebay.com/Brandt