Technology has transformed the way we do business. It has created so many opportunities never before thought possible. However, technology is also complex, meaning every business needs some support to keep its technology up-to-date and working. That’s where IT experts come in. These individuals are responsible for your business’s technology, which is a 24/7 job.
But a 24/7 job is a lot to ask of one person (or even a small team). However, most small businesses can’t afford more than a few people to handle their technology.
Think, when was the last time your IT expert went on vacation? Or took a sick day? Many technicians must drag themselves into the office no matter how terrible they feel because technology is the backbone of most businesses. None of us can risk it failing.
The great news is that there is a solution, and it’s called supplemental IT support. Supplemental IT support is essentially outsourcing a little extra help for your technology. With this additional backing, your IT employee can now take that vacation they’ve been planning without your organization losing its technical support. Let’s talk about how this can benefit your business, employees, and overall technical environment.
3 Benefits of Supplemental IT Support
There are many ways supplemental IT support can assist your business. Here are just a few of them.
1. Help With Projects
The technical landscape is continually changing. As a result, many companies make major system updates or complete migrations throughout the years. These large projects require an increased level of technical knowledge and work.
If you are relying on your in-house IT expert to complete these projects, they will be spending large amounts of time researching how to complete the task successfully and then actually working on the job. And while they are working on the project, daily IT to-dos will probably slip through the cracks. Your technician won’t have time to help your other employees with small IT-related questions and issues, manage and maintain your current systems, and work on the extensive and complex project.
With supplemental IT support, you now have more hands. You can use the additional help to work on the project, getting it done more quickly and efficiently. Or you can have your IT team focus exclusively on the project while your supplemental team carries out daily IT tasks. Either way, you have a team of IT experts that will work together to keep your technical environment strong even during a large change.
2. Balancing Workloads
Another way supplemental IT support can benefit your business is by balancing workloads. For example, imagine you have a four-person IT department, but they are overwhelmed with the amount of work needed. Your company has been growing, and so have your technical needs. However, there isn’t enough additional work to warrant hiring another full-time IT employee. So, you can either hire someone part-time, in which case you will undertake the costs of hiring, training, managing, and more. Or, you can use supplemental IT support.
By working with an MSP, you can create a solution that is unique to your business and needs, using this type of support for exactly the amount of hours you need. Now you can have a team of four and a half. And you won’t have to pay the costs associated with hiring a part-time employee in-house.
And this additional support can fill any role you need it to. Maybe you already have an IT director or a Chief Technology Officer (CTO). These employees are busy handling the larger ticket items. In that case, your supplemental IT technician can handle the daily IT tasks. On the other hand, maybe you need someone to act more as a CTO and approach your network from a high-level perspective. Supplemental IT support can do that too. Whatever you need, outsourced additional IT support can do it.
3. Allowing More Flexibility
Like we talked about above, when you are the only IT person at your company, it probably feels impossible to take a vacation or personal day. However, to avoid burn-out and stay happy, we all need a break sometimes. With supplemental IT support, your in-house team can actually take a break because they know the technical environment will still be taken care of while they are gone. They can plan that vacation they have always been dreaming of and don’t have to worry about constantly checking their email to fix any issues.
The same can be said for any sickness or unforeseen circumstances. If your IT technician can’t make it into the office for some reason, you don’t have to be anxious about something not working or breaking. You will always have technical support to back up your business.
In Conclusion
Even if you already have an in-house IT team, adding supplemental IT support can benefit your business. Maybe you want to use additional support to take after-hours calls. Or you need help with a project. The great thing is that MSPs have technologists on hand that can help you with anything you might need. They can help you get the things done that your IT department has been trying to get done for so long. With supplemental IT support, you’ll get the help you need for a much more stable IT team, a more stable network, and just a more stable approach altogether to your IT.
