Making the decision to shift IT services to external management is often difficult for small to medium enterprises (SMEs). If you are a SME business owner or manager, you aren’t alone if you’re wondering if outsourced IT services are the right choice for your business. Will it cost you less, or more? Will it make work life easier for you and your staff, or more difficult? Will it improve your business, or not make waves at all?
In addition to making the decision to outsource IT services to an external service provider, the process of navigating the change can also prove challenging, especially for business owners used to having a feeling of control over all aspects of their business, including IT Services.
Here at Technetics Consulting, we understand that for owners and managers of SMEs, letting this control go is hard, however given that most SME leaders are time-poor, we’d posit that having an IT Consulting firm handle your IT services requirements can save you, and your business as a whole, a lot of grief.
This blog will help you understand if the current issues you face with your IT services provide reason to shift to external IT management. We also talk about the benefits Technetics Consulting provides, so you can determine if we’re right for you.
What types of businesses benefit from managed IT services?
Although not every business will benefit from managed IT services, those that sit within the category of being small to medium, with an online presence or online customer interface, gain huge benefits. The types of SMEs that find outsourced IT Services beneficial are as follows.
Those who need extra security
In the modern world, cybercrime poses an ongoing risk to SMEs. Businesses holding sensitive information of theirs or their clients’ should take IT security extremely seriously, as the damage to your business and reputation can be enormous if cyberattacks succeed.
Outsourcing your IT Services to a provider specialising in cybersecurity gives you an extra layer of security that in-house cybersecurity monitoring may not. There are various reasons for this, but a major one is that an IT Service Provider will have a team of people on the job of cybersecurity at all times. They work across a variety of businesses, see what new types of attacks are in the landscape, share this information, and apply their inside knowledge across the board.
Of course, monitoring for cyber security threats is only one component of the IT security picture. External cybersecurity providers are able to assess your business’s cybersecurity risk, conduct penetration testing and cybersecurity training with your staff, monitor the dark web, provide incident response, and more. (Expecting your onsite IT Services staff to achieve all this on top of their BAU responsibilities is a big ask.)
Those who are time-poor
Delivering IT Services is time-consuming. Business owners tend to be jack of all trades and do a little bit of everything, but adding IT Services to the task list is not wise, as dropping the ball on effective IT service is bad for any business.
That’s why SMEs will often first look to hire an in-house team member, so they can cover IT needs, and hopefully keep costs down. This seems the economical approach at the outset, but it doesn’t always make business sense. Employee internal IT staff comes with all the associated costs related to recruitment, remuneration costs (leave entitlements, bonuses etc.), and providing office space and equipment. In addition, IT staff require ongoing training to stay up-to-date with programs like Microsoft Azure and in current cybersecurity concerns etc.. This kind of training can be costly and time-consuming, and what happens to IT operations when staff are on a training day?
In addition, IT problems inevitably occur at inconvenient times, and relying on in-house members to be there to fix issues at all hours can strain their work-life balance.
This is why outsourcing to an external IT service provider takes away the potential headache for SMEs.
Those who need more data storage
SMEs with an app or with data storage of any kind will benefit from having their IT services managed. Storage requirements can go up exponentially when expanding a business or bringing on new team members, so data storage needs to be handled correctly to ensure a fast response time for apps and websites, along with ensuring sufficient or expanding storage space.
Those who rely on WiFi to do business
Nowadays, most businesses use WiFi on premises, or need WiFi to get their product or service to their customer, hence WiFi needs to be functioning, and functioning well. When your WiFi drops out in the middle of your work day, it can throw your whole week out, and what’s even worse is not knowing why or how to fix it. This issue is especially prevalent for those who work and manage team members located overseas or interstate. And if you rely on Wi-Fi alone, it’s a good enough reason to look at outsourcing your IT services.
How can SMEs benefit from outsourcing managed IT services?
If what we’ve included so far hasn’t sold you on opting for the kind of external IT services provided by a managed IT Service provider like Technetics Consulting, then here are a few more reasons you should consider outsourcing for your business.
Managing your own IT services comes with ongoing costs
Managing your own IT services can come with hefty and inconsistent costs, making cash flow an issue. You can also end up paying for services you don’t need or use.
When you work with Technetics Consulting, we assess your business’s requirements, and only provide you with the service(s) you need. We’re also transparent about costs throughout the process, so you always know what’s coming your way.
IT 24/7 Helpdesk
If you run or you’ve been a part of an SME, you know that IT disruptions have the worst possible timing. Technetics Consulting offers 24/7 IT support, 365 days a year, so if you have a security breach on Christmas morning, you don’t need to sit for hours trying to figure out the problem yourself, or waiting till your staff are back in the office to help.
Increased level of security
One of the reasons businesses shift to an externally managed IT service provider is because they want that extra layer of security for their data. All businesses will benefit from having an increased level of network security, however, the main benefits for SMEs are-
- Expanded periods of time when security is working at capacity
- Added security measures to ensure restriction of unauthorised access
- Extra protection against the risk of data loss
- Improved control for overall network security.
In conclusion…
Making the decision to choose external provided managed IT services can be difficult, but once you take the leap, you can focus purely on your business as a whole. If you’re struggling with your current IT management, get in touch with one of our friendly team members. If You’re looking for IT services in Melbourne, we can organise an in-person consulting session to determine how best to improve your IT management. Outside Melbourne, we can still meet online to discuss your IT needs.