Why Should I Outsource My Business' IT Management Needs?
- Network Monitoring
- Monitor IT Program
- Prevent IT Program
- Managed IT Program
- IT Manager Cost Case Study
Outsourcing has been a part of the economic landscape for generations. From office cleaning to parts manufacturing, outsourcing is a part of how businesses operate, and will continue to operate. No business executive would think of building their own electrical plant to generate their electricity, outsourcing is the very fabric by which our service economy functions.
So why outsource information technology? Historically, outsourcing IT services was a business decision focused on saving money by reducing internal IT costs. While this can be a factor in the decision-making process, it had best not be the cornerstone for the decision. Let's take a moment to outline the other reasons by which you should evaluate IT outsourcing as an option for your business.
There has been a lot of discussion on the business value of outsourcing your information technology (IT) to an outside vendor. Some of the reasons most frequently mentioned by businesses for outsourcing IT management include:
- Plans Available for any sized business
- Not core to your business. Distracts you from your core business
- State-Of-The-Art and up-to-date IT expertise
- Many fields and layers of expertise, like the medical profession, not interchangeable - deep in area of expertise
- Certifications required, continuing education
- Staying on top of industry changes
- Future direction of technology that guide IT investment decisions
- Experience
- Broad knowledgebase of experience
- Efficient work/productivity; ability to minimize risk through experience
- Operational production servers
- Best Practices exposure
- Get the expertise of an entire IT department for a fraction of the cost
- Business knowledge
- Leadership from executives with management experience, business experience, management of people/organizations
- An understanding of the underpinnings of risk and how to manage risk successfully
- Pay for only what your business requires
- Employees will fill time to be able to say they are busy, creating job security, but NOT necessarily creating business value
- Outsource partner agreement minimizes non-value add costs associated with IT
- Accountability
- Accountable for money spent on IT
- Document spending: amount spent, on what, and by a variety of categories, including:
- New Technology
- Hardware
- Software
- Break/Fix
- Preventative Maintenance
- Training
- User Support
- Strategy/Plan/Consult
- Research
- Etcetera
- Accountable for customer satisfaction, end-user up to the executive
- Year over Year costs tracking and cost management accountability