Outsourced IT Support, Is it really worth it?
4th September 2023 | Modified: 5th September 2023Categories: Outsourcing
“But it was working 5 minutes ago…!”
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, you’d be hard-pressed to find a business or sector that doesn’t rely on IT in one form or another. Whether it’s a factory, a shop, or an office, likely as not there will be a computer, a firewall, a broadband cable and an IT network of some sort lurking in the background, busy working away at the heart of the business.
The list of how IT can fail is endless.
The pain with IT is when it goes wrong. Haven’t we all been locked out of our network because of a password failure? Or you just can’t access your network from within the office, but everyone working remotely can access it? The list of how IT can fail is endless.
What do you do when your router fails? Similarly, with a gateway or a network controller somewhere, damaged cabling, or a security breach or your Wi-Fi decides to give up? All of these things and more can disrupt the normally smooth running of your business. If you are lucky enough to have your own internal IT team, then that’s great; just call them up and you’re sorted.
But what happens if you just want to run your business and that’s all you want to do? You don’t really want to get into the whole IT infrastructure thing! Then who are you going to call when you have a problem?
Outsourced IT: Keeping your business running.
Whatever the season, the ways in which we do business may be different, but the need to be successful is universal. New markets, new goals and, keeping everyone connected to your marketplace, are central to a successful business, but that can be the tough part.
However, it doesn’t have to be. That’s where outsourced IT support can help you to achieve those ambitions: allowing you to focus on how you engage with your customers and most of all how you collaborate as a company and work with your suppliers.
Outsourced IT support is often used when companies are looking to enhance operational efficiency, foster innovation, and build growth. Outsourced IT allows you to concentrate on your core competencies. It’s often seen as a strategic approach to business, allowing you to harness all the technological advancements in the marketplace, without having the burdensome overhead costs of the latest tech out there.
Running a company network is like a symphony, where the orchestra are your team, customers and suppliers, and you, the business owner, are the conductor, bringing all the components and parts to work together to create added value, and thereby a profitable business. And there are 1000’s upon 1000’s of moving parts to a company’s network which you must conduct!
As Benjamin Franklin, so aptly stated ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’. A little precaution before a crisis is way more preferable than having to fix your network afterwards. A good IT partner will continuously monitor your networks so that they can proactively address any potential concerns; thus, removing the worry and frustrations caused by computer downtime, in doing so reducing your costs and thereby, accelerating your time to market.
‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’. Benjamin Franklin.
Does outsourcing your IT save a business money?
Yes. Plain and simply, yes. Outsourcing your IT can be run on a fixed-cost basis so that you know what your outgoings are each month. When you compare it to the cost of running your own IT department, hiring, salaries, holidays and equipment, and it’s an area where you have to constantly train. IT is costly because it never sits still.
IT is all about overheads and budget predictability. If you outsource the various IT tasks that you use, you effectively convert fixed costs into variable costs; paying only for the services that you need. Your outsourced IT partner, if they want your business and to keep it, should possess all the technical know-how, as well as the ability to provide you with all the technology that your business needs. This allows you to divert all those cost efficiencies from the financial predictability of outsourcing to other areas within your business. Win, win.
Access to specialised expertise all in one place
No two companies are the same remember. Keeping your team and network on track is an art. And that’s where outsourced IT really shows its value. IT engineers must constantly train so that they can support you when you have a problem.
So, a good IT engineer needs to possess diverse skill sets and have expertise across the various domains of technology. They will also need the latest certifications, as well as having a clear understanding of industry best practices and, doing it knowing that when your business has stopped, it’s costing you money, so they need to deal with any technical challenges quickly and correctly.
Flexibility and scalability
The key to outsourced IT is its ability to upscale. If your business needs operational agility, this is where outsourcing comes into its own. Imagine if you had to go out and recruit extra IT staff and train them for your business. As your business expands, your IT requirements will increase with them. With the right outsourced IT partner, any changes to your business terrain can be accommodated seamlessly with a technology infrastructure and staff that will align with your growth objectives.
Focus on your business.
It does take a leap of faith to hand over the keys to the IT infrastructure of your business. However, delegating your IT to an external provider allows you to fully concentrate on your core competencies. If you like selling widgets, then sell widgets. Let someone who loves IT, do your IT for you. Let them optimise your production processes. Allow them to concentrate on driving innovation and services for you. Wouldn’t you rather be face-to-face with customers and building your brand, rather than working out why your IT isn’t working?
Cyber Security
Unfortunately, one of the saddest aspects of the digital age is the rise of cyber threats. What started out as a few hackers disrupting a computer or two for the fun of it, has evolved into an industrial giant. Hackers, now increasingly sophisticated, pose substantial threats to all business types, from a small one-man band to blue-chip companies and government agencies.
The good news is that as evil as cyberattacks are, outsourced IT providers have the expertise and tools necessary to look after your data. They are more than able to implement robust cybersecurity measures from the edge to the core, thus safeguarding your business from a potential breach and unauthorised access.
Armed with threat detection systems, data encryption services, and vulnerability assessments; Cyber security has not been sitting still; they have been developing systems borne from legislative compliance and lots of technological wizardry, and mitigating cyber crimes is well in hand.
Conclusion
Each new day, your business opens new doors and opportunities. Outsourced IT offers a broad range of services, not only to protect and serve businesses with the best in IT support but with the right IT partner, you’ll be able to navigate whatever comes next, capitalising on cutting networking technologies that bring your ambitions to life.
At CNC we can help you to build your business. Call us now on 01273 384 100 for more information or email us at sales@cnc.co.uk.
