Every Spokane business understands how crucial technology is. When it’s working properly, it supports your entire organization and keeps things running smoothly. When it’s not working, it can derail progress, productivity, and efficiency. To keep your technology in top shape, you need people with the sole focus of maintaining and managing all of your systems and your network. That’s where IT technicians come in.
But next comes the question of whether you should hire IT staff in-house or work with an outsourced partner. The truth is there are pros and cons to both. In this blog, we’ll discuss the benefits of outsourcing your IT to help you have a clearer picture of which route will work best for your business.
Benefits Outsourced IT for Spokane Businesses
1. Knowledge and Experience
Technology is complex and ever-evolving. That’s why you need someone completely dedicated to understanding the latest trends and tools to support your systems. Not only that, having multiple experts at your fingertips can be a major advantage.
If you are hiring in-house, you may only have the resources to hire a few technicians — or maybe only one. The vastness of the technology industry makes it extremely difficult for one person to be an expert on everything.
On the other hand, with a managed IT provider, you’ll often have access to dozens of qualified professionals. Here at Executech, we have over 150 experienced technicians. Many even have specialized knowledge in specific areas. Along with many other providers, we also ensure continual technical training to keep our technicians up-to-date on new technologies.
With this in mind, you can feel confident that many MSPs will have a technician on hand who can solve any problem you are having. The pool of knowledge and expanded resources an outsourced provider can offer is a huge win for your business.
2. Security Minded
No matter what the size of a Spokane company, cybersecurity needs to be a priority. From phishing to ransomware, there are so many types of cyber attacks that can lead to businesses closing their doors for good.
Managed IT providers understand the importance of cybersecurity and how to create a layered approach for your business. They can ensure that your firewall is set up correctly to keep bad actors out. They’ll help get every device up-to-date anti-virus software. Especially now, as many businesses are working from home, MSPs can create solutions for remote work that keep your business safe and secure.
3. Predictable and Affordable
If there is one thing that your accountant (and you) will love when it comes to outsourcing your IT, it will be the predictable budgeting. When you work with a managed services provider, you will most likely come up with a monthly price in exchange for agreed-upon services. Some providers charge differently, but this model is the most common.
Because of this monthly model, you will be able to budget for the cost of your IT services each month. If you pick the right provider, you won’t have any surprise fees or charges affecting your monthly bill. This predictability can benefit cash flow and makes your accountant’s job easier.
Even more, you’ll only be paying for the services you use. Maybe your business doesn’t need 40 hours of onsite IT work every week. You can work with your provider to create a plan that includes only the resources and hours your business requires. This might be 7 hours a week, or it might be 30. Whatever it may be, only paying for the services you receive is extremely cost-effective. And don’t forget you can often scale up or down your hours as time goes on. You are much more limited with an in-house employee.
4. Fills in the Gaps
Last but not least, another reason Spokane businesses would benefit from outsourced IT is that they can fill whatever gaps you need. Maybe you already have an in-house IT department, but they are overwhelmed and don’t have enough time to complete everything you need to be done. In that case, you can outsource IT as a supplemental resource and fill some of the holes.
This can mean that your in-house department works on larger projects while your provider covers more daily, helpdesk tasks. Or vice versa, your provider fills a more CTO-level role and helps your in-house staff create a more strategic, overall plan. Outsourced IT can jump in anywhere you might need it and help you improve your technology environment.
