Tag Archives: #OutsourceIT

How to Run Your Business Without Hiring an IT Employee

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Small business owner, woman in blazer, smiling, working in the IT industy with IT employees

Outsource your IT and get a staff of qualified techs for a fraction of hiring one internal employee

Today, IT professionals are in high demand, and the labor shortage makes it more than a little challenging to find one who can join the staff at small-business prices. Not when corporations are already hotly competing for every technician, admin, and developer on the market to fill their own in-house staff.

But that’s no need to worry. Fortunately for small business, the IT industry has you covered. There a wide variety of IT teams who work hard to provide outsourcing options in every manner of IT service you might need. This arrangement works for everyone, as the IT teams get to keep busy even when your entire network is running smoothly. Small businesses also get the IT support they need, when they need it, at small-business prices.

Today, we’re here to share a few trade secrets on how to get the IT support your small business needs without competing to employ your own on-staff IT employee. With a combination of the following services, you should have all or most of your IT bases covered.

Managed IT and Cybersecurity Subscriptions

Managed IT is the primary resource that every small business need to know about. Often abbreviated to MSP (managed service provider), what this means is an IT team that will curate your network, your software, and your cybersecurity for as long as your small business is subscribed to their service. Managed IT teams are there to be your outsourced IT department in many ways, but they also only deal with computers, software, and networks.

Rent Printers and Copiers with Tech Support Included

To cover that special equipment need, you can rent your printers and copiers along with other office equipment from a service that also provides complete tech support for their devices. Large-scale office printers and copiers often need a significant amount of IT support and maintenance, making supported rental far more practical for a small business team if you don’t have an IT printer expert on staff.  Just be sure that your rentals are with a company that offers full support of both the hardware and software required to keep your printers and copiers humming.

Full-Service Website Hosting

For your website IT, many small businesses benefit from working with a high-quality hosting provider. The company that provides your online server can also help you maintain and secure your website. The key is to look for a full-service package from a reputable hosting provider. Don’t be taken in by cut-rate hosting, as the services are often well below standard and the perks are non-existent. Realize that when you invest in a mainstream host like Azure, AWS or Digital Ocean that part of what you are paying for is the support of their on-staff IT to keep your website safe, secure, and even properly updated with the right supported hosting package.

Local Computer Repair and Refurbishing Services

Finally, for all your additional on-site needs, you can partner with a local computer repair service. These teams and workshops often specialize in riding to the rescue when you need them most. When a computer is physically malfunctioning rather than simply experiencing a software problem, local computer repair teams can make it right. Not only that but when your devices get old and it’s time to get new ones, these teams are often eager to buy the gently used computers and mobile devices from you and help you find a good price on new or like-new refurbished models.

Small businesses have a surprising amount of options outside of hiring on-staff IT to cover every one of your universal or unique IT needs. If you need managed IT services, security, or cloud communication solutions, then contact us today! We look forward to supporting your company with our shared technical expertise.

5 Reasons to Outsource Your Business’ IT Work

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High angle shot of a group of outsourced IT agents working in an office

Outsourcing your IT department is cost effective, provides peace of mind that everything is getting done correctly, and allows you to concentrate on what you do best.

In the last twenty years, IT support has become absolutely mandatory for any business, no matter how small or niche. Your team uses computers, mobile devices, and a full stack of cloud-based software to streamline the work. Your website and server need to be secure and maintained. Your workplace internal network needs to be kept safe from hackers so that employee computers and client files are protected.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that every business under the sun needs an on-staff IT team, or even just one IT employee. In an environment where IT is required for every type of business, it only makes sense that IT outsourcing has become incredibly popular. From network security to website management, many companies are bringing in IT when and where they are needed without worrying about hiring in-house.

Let’s take a closer look at five of the leading reasons why businesses choose to outsource their IT.

1) You Don’t Have Enough IT Work for a Full-Time Staff Member

A large number of small businesses, simply don’t have enough ongoing IT work to keep a single full-time IT professional busy. Once your tech stack is set up and your network is secure, you only need to be checked in on a few times a year and have someone to call in case of emergency. The vast majority of outsourced IT comes from small businesses who partner with contractable IT teams. This partnership works well because you only purchase as much IT support as your business needs. At the same time, the IT professionals get to stay busy by helping dozens of companies with their setup and troubleshooting tasks.

2) You Are a Startup Without a Plan for On-Staff IT Yet

Many a startup also choose to outsource their initial IT and may continue to outsource for a long time. Even highly technical startups who may eventually staff their own team of IT will outsource at the beginning in order to get that launching momentum. An independent IT team can help a startup set up their initial computers, software, and security so that they can start selling and worry about hiring a larger team in-house later when the revenue is right.

3) IT Hiring Competition is Fierce

You may also have noticed that IT professionals are in incredibly high demand, pushing up the hiring price and employment packages that are standard for each job title. Larger companies that are big enough for their own IT teams are clamoring to hire the technicians and admins available, but there just aren’t enough to go around.

So why worry about competing to hire your own IT professional when you can outsource from the independents who have opted out of the dedicated corporate support lifestyle? In fact, by offering outsourced IT, these teams are making sure there is enough IT support to go around even with a limited pool of technicians and admins.

4) In-House IT is Covered, But You Need Website Management

Another interesting variation are businesses that do already have an in-house IT professional or an entire team, but with needs beyond in-house IT tasks. On-staff IT may have your network security, backups, and software stack maintenance down-pat but the most common outsourced task is related to the website. In fact, any IT professional will tell you that website security and maintenance is a somewhat separate skillset from server, network, and internal software maintenance. So it makes sense to outsource for specific website needs or projects that are outside the ken of your on-staff team.

5) You Temporarily Need IT Specialists to Rebuild Your Software Stack or a Big Project

Finally, there are instances when you need outside IT support temporarily for some big technical undertaking. Rebuilding your software tech-stack, for example, is a huge task that your company or even on-staff It may not be comfortable tackling on your own. Large projects that are extremely time-consuming like data transfer or a super-sized backup recovery project can also lead businesses to temporarily hire outsourced IT support. This allows your regular IT maintenance team to keep providing their everyday support while the outsourced team handles the huge load of technical work that is only needed for a short time.

Is your company considering IT outsourcing for the long-term, for a special purpose, or to tackle an oversized technical project? We can help! Contact us today to find out more about how outsourced IT teams can enhance your business functionality, security, and efficiency based on your unique company needs.