What are the Benefits of Outsourcing IT Support?

In our highly-digitised modern world, it has become an imperative for businesses of all sizes to maintain a robust and efficient IT system. Whether you’re an ecommerce startup or an old, high-street café, your business won’t run without competent IT usage. Websites and apps need to be maintained, invoices need to be sent and received, internal and external communication needs to be facilitated, data needs to be backed up, and assets need to be safeguarded. IT serves as the mechanism that allows your business to function, and with more businesses making the transition to remote or hybrid work for their staff, IT competency has never been more important.

For this reason, many companies choose to outsource their IT support to specialist providers to save time, to save money, and to take advantage of the provider’s expertise. Outsourcing is the practice of hiring these external providers to undertake the necessary IT tasks that your business requires- be it Office 365 migrations or the running of a helpdesk. This can take the form of a fully managed service- wherein a company outsources all of their IT needs to a provider- or it can take the form of select services. Companies might also opt for co-sourcing, where they hire a provider to assist their internal staff with a project.

There are many reasons why businesses- particularly small businesses- choose to outsource their IT support, and in today’s post, our team are going to outline the benefits of doing so.

Types of IT Outsourcing

  • Homeshoring- this is where a business outsources their IT support to an external provider situated in the same country
  • Nearshoring- this is where a business outsources their IT support to an external provider situated in a neighbouring country, typically to ensure that travel and communication is easy for employees
  • Offshoring- this is where a business outsources their IT support to an external provider situated in a foreign country, typically but not always far away, so as to take advantage of lower costs and taxes
  • Out Staffing/Body Leasing- this is where a business pays for the work of employees from an external IT outsourcing provider for an agreed period of time

Typically Outsourced IT Services

The Advantages of Outsourcing IT Support

  • Cost-Efficiency
    First on our list is perhaps the most common (and obvious) reason why businesses choose to outsource their IT support: typically, it saves them a lot of money. By outsourcing to an external provider as opposed to maintaining an internal team, businesses avoid having to pay for overheads. When considering the hardware, storage, equipment, and maintenance that comes with an in-house IT team, these cost savings are significant. Furthermore, paying for the services of an outsource provider is often cheaper than having to pay for the wages, benefits, and training that comes with maintaining an internal team. And finally, when using outsource providers, businesses only pay for the work they require. This is ideal for smaller businesses whose workflow might fluctuate and therefore cannot justify the costs of maintaining an internal IT team.
  • Better Quality
    It’s in the interest of IT outsource providers to keep up with the rapid advancements of the tech world, as their business runs on leveraging their quality to other businesses. Their employees are generally very well trained and their offices outfitted with resources (such as hardware, software, and other equipment) that most small-to-medium companies would not be able to afford. By utilising IT outsource providers, businesses are able to gain access to a higher level of IT expertise than they would be able to recruit themselves.
  • A More Diverse Talent Pool
    This is perhaps more of a benefit of outsourcing in general, but it follows on nicely from the above point. With outsourcing, businesses are not limited to local applicants, and can make use of a vast pool of talent around the world- ensuring that you find the right people for the job.
  • Time Efficiency
    With a fully managed IT service, your business will typically deal with one contact from the provider who handles everything on your behalf. This allows clients the ease of having a single point of contact for the breadth of IT services they receive. These services might then be subcontracted by the provider to other suppliers. Your contact will serve as the liaison between your business and these external suppliers, handling all of the necessary negotiations, service agreements, and bureaucracy so that you don’t have to.
  • An Outside POV
    An often-overlooked advantage of using an external outsourcing provider for IT support is that they serve as a fresh pair of eyes on the inner workings of your business. IT outsourcing providers can offer a much more objective, alternate perspective on your business and suggest ways in which you can save yourself time and money.

Quality IT Support with a Microsoft Partner

At CAB IT we offer our clients a plethora of high-quality IT services, from consultancy to cybersecurity and beyond. Our business model runs on flexibility, meaning that we specialise in the creation of bespoke packages to most efficiently suit the interests of each company we work with, big or small, with the aim of saving the most time and money.

For more information on our industry-leading IT services, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our friendly staff today.