Small Business IT Support Options
What's your best option as an owner to run your small business IT support?
The biggest advantage of having your own IT staff is that they understand your business. They are on-site and can quickly respond to any calls for assistance, provided they can handle simultaneous requests or are able to prioritize them. The question here is, how many people can you afford to have on board? What skills do they need? Each person in your IT staff will have to be equipped with the necessary tools such as desktops or laptops. You are also responsible for developing and maintaining your own infrastructure of servers and networks for all your users.
If you outsource your small business IT support, you will be dealing with professionals with the right technical skills and can usually gain a quick understanding of your business operations. They can offer 24/7 support with a backup arrangement that makes them available as needed. They will work using a more professional management structure when dealing with requests from the different departments in your organization. You will not need to invest as much capital expenditure on your IT infrastructure or on the operational expenses of hiring and training your in-house IT staff.
Another option is a combination of the first two options. It is a matter of finding the right balance that suits you best as well as partnering with a reliable, competent service provider. You could keep the core functions in-house and outsource only specific projects. Some functions that you could outsource on an ongoing basis include PC maintenance and support, network monitoring and performance, backup and recovery. Software development is a typical function that can be outsourced on a project basis. It has a defined start and end, and with peak staffing requirements that you would not need to hire on a permanent basis.
You know your own business best. Your choice of how to handle your small business IT support will depend on which you consider the most cost-effective, reliable, available and brings you closer to the attainment of your business objectives. Some companies even offer a complimentary IT assessment in an effort to help you make a decision.