Should You Expand Your IT Team or Outsource IT for Additional Support?
- January / 21st / 2020 | Ashok Badugu
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In the modern world, technology is everywhere. It’s integral to every industry and it has become an essential part of our day-to-day life. But as the number of devices we use each day continues to grow exponentially, many companies are struggling with how they can keep up with managing their IT infrastructure while still focusing on what makes them unique.
Should you expand your current team or outsource IT for additional support? There are a lot of factors that go into this decision – including budget, time constraints, expertise required and level of risk tolerance. This blog post will walk through some considerations when weighing these options so you’re better prepared to make the right call for your business.
It’s impossible to exist in today’s marketplace without going digital. Even smaller businesses need robust data storing, back-up, security, and support capabilities. Naturally, the question then becomes whether to bite the bullet and set aside large funds for network support in-house, or to outsource the responsibility to a vendor. Both come with in-built risks and benefits. Here’s what each option has to offer, to help you make up your mind.
In-house IT department
Pros:
Complete control: With a well-staffed internal IT department, the business has direct and complete control over its operations. This ensures that any technical issues, network glitches or hardware and software failures can be dealt with almost immediately. In-house IT departments are intimately familiar with all software changes, technical specifications, and security protocols being used to keep the data safe and are equipped to provide network support much faster than a third-party vendor.
Better responsiveness: Greater accessibility leads to better responsiveness. Unlike outsourced IT resources, the in-house department’s only priority is to ensure seamless operations for your business and resolving all tech-related issues as close to real-time as possible. This can be an important component to consider if the enterprise is in the business of rolling out products on aggressive timelines.
Cons:
Stagnation: Even though IT support is an important function, once the processes have been set up, it becomes largely a support function. IT executives need to step in only when there is a problem, and if they’ve done their job well, there shouldn’t be too many of such situations. This can lead to underutilization and stagnation.
Insecurity: In-house IT staffers can face job insecurity because essentially, their task is to create systems and set up processes that make the need for network support redundant. The insecurity of no longer being needed can make them, in some cases, take decisions that are not in the company’s best interests — either by deliberately not opting for more efficient software, or by building needless complexities into the network that only they can resolve.
Cost: And finally, there is the all-important cost factor. Staffing the IT team in-house requires the business to factor inexpensive hardware, tools and equipment costs, real estate costs, training and skill-updation costs, the cost of medical and paid leave, turnover costs, and the cost of having to hire more personnel in a hurry to deal with sudden peak periods and underutilization later.
Outsourced IT department
Pros:
Cost efficiency: Over the long term, companies stand to save significantly by outsourcing. Instead of having to pay for expensive infrastructure up-front, they can pay a set fee, and pay more only for the duration when there is peak demand. By outsourcing, business owners no longer need to concern themselves with mundane HR concerns.
Updated technology and bigger talent pools: In a world where IT skills require constant updation and certification, and new software and tools are launched in the market every other day, it can be difficult for smaller businesses to independently afford the best resources internally. By outsourcing to an IT specialist company, even small-scale start-ups can access technology and talent pools that rival larger enterprises.
More focused business approach: When businesses are no longer forced to spend time and resources taking care of staffing concerns, they can focus diligently and aggressively on mission-critical goals. Owners can run and manage the lean organizations, spending their money only on those resources that will help them achieve their core business objectives.
Cons:
De-prioritization: At the end of the day, outsourcing means remote support — which means delays. Also, the people assigned to your business ultimately owe their allegiance to your vendor, not you, which means that in the event where they have to choose between what’s right for you and what’s right for their employers, they will almost always choose their own employers.
Diminished control: Outsourcing to a third party means trusting them with important customer and other data regarding the inner workings of the business, which comes with the risk of inherent risk of misuse. It is true that most outsourcing agreements have iron-clad clauses regarding security and non-disclosure, but all it takes is one disgruntled employee to cause havoc.
Benefits of outsourcing your IT to Monocept
Monocept has a platoon of Microsoft Azure experts and DevOps specialists who have previous successful experience in building large scale transactional applications. Monocept is proud of its strong engineering fundamentals with a cumulative of 20+ years of industry experience. Monocept boasts of an innovation-led approach with high-quality consistent delivery.
Read more: Should businesses outsource their cloud transformation support or keep it in-house?
- January / 21st / 2020 | Ashok Badugu
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