In years gone by, in-house teams used to be able to manage the IT footprint of a business with relative ease. However, as technology has progressed and taken over nearly every aspect of the world, things are now a lot different.
As a result, more and more businesses are looking to enlist the services of external IT companies. This can be to provide recommendations on equipment upgrades, deliver support when systems go down, or even carry out key internal functions.
But why use an external IT company if your business is already able to deal with these situations and scenarios? Here with some reasons is ProNetwork Solutions, an IT consultancy and support firm based in Northern Ireland.
Reduce Employee Outgoings
In addition to paying the salary of at least one IT expert, you also have to think about costs relating to recruitment, on-going training to keep them up-to-speed with the latest tech developments, and any other business-based benefits they might enjoy.
Some businesses won’t even be able to afford a dedicated employee to manage IT requirements, which means any periods of downtime could result in poor productivity as well as wasted time and effort to rectify the problem.
But with the help of an external IT company, costs can be reduced by choosing a fixed-price or flexible pay-as-you-go solution that meets the IT wants and needs of your business.
Manage Staff More Effectively
Seeing as an organisation’s IT requirements fluctuate on a day-to-day basis, dedicated members of staff might not always have work to be getting on with. Then again, if they perform other roles and responsibilities together with IT, they may not be able to keep on top of increasing workloads.
Also, if these same employees go on holiday, are off sick, or happen to be away with work when you suffer from a critical failure, there isn’t much you can do apart from contact a third-party.
So, if you can always rely on an external IT company, you will be able to manage existing members of staff much more effectively.
Improve Operations and Increase Productivity
With the landscape of IT constantly changing, it is often difficult to stay on point with the latest trends. There could be a new product, software upgrade or application that will transform the way you do business, but how are you going to know about it?
If staff are given this duty, they will be constantly distracted with trying to make improvements instead of focusing on their primary responsibilities. Constantly having to deal with niggling IT issues won’t do anything for productivity levels either.
However, external companies can be on hand to improve operations and increase productivity by issuing recommendations and managing IT functions.
Along with these advantages, an external IT company can plug gaps in your knowledge or complement in-house expertise, provide access to services and solutions previously unattainable, issue avoidance by proactively monitoring your systems, and enable you to focus on areas of the business that matter most. For these reasons, using an external IT company makes perfect sense.
