In today’s world almost every company has IT (Information Technology) needs. There are many companies with IT needs that they may not even be aware of. From minor computer issues to full blown networks, the IT field is growing and every company should examine their needs. Misinterpreting those needs could end up costing your company thousands of dollars. There are three options companies have when it comes to dealing with IT: ignore your IT, outsource your IT, or hire an IT department.
We will start with the easiest of the three options. Ignoring the IT needs of your company is an easy thing to do but it could end up becoming very costly to your company. In this day and age, a computer can be a lifeline for almost any company. Between instant communication through E-Mail and Instant Messenger programs, custom designed applications to suit your companies needs, and internet access allowing your employees to access information faster, your IT needs if ignored could end up costing you money.
Let me explain, you are a fast growing company that offers some form of commodity on the internet. Someone purchases it, maybe through word of mouth or because you have an internet presence. How will I reach your customer support? Do you only offer over the phone support or can I reach you through the internet? If I can reach you over the net how do your support technicians access my support ticket? Either way you need someone to build you network for you so that those employees have access to the outside world. If all you have is phone support what happens if your phone system goes down. If you don’t have some kind of IT whether it is outsourced or in house how will you get back up and running in a speedy and efficient manner so that you don’t loose customers? It can start to add up quickly. Can you afford that kind of risk?
The second option is sometimes the most effective: outsourcing your IT. Small companies normally cannot support their own IT department. They don’t have enough computers or people to justify having staff on-site full time. That’s when outsourcing can be much more cost effective; it allows you to focus on your business rather than hiring additional staff. Outsourcing your IT gives you highly trained professionals who should have your company’s best interest at heart.
When choosing to outsource you should be wary of a few things. Make sure that they explain to you what they will be doing and what they are responsible for. Don’t think you have outsourced everything from phones to the computers maintenance and network, and in reality only have network technicians working on your stuff. Investigate the company and see if they can do everything you need them to do. If they are to handle your entire infrastructure make sure they are capable of doing it. Make sure they can explain in layman’s terms what they can offer you.
When they are on-site doing the work. Make sure you know what you should expect at the end of the day. If it is a hardware issue make sure they explain it to you what might have caused it and if you need to purchase equipment why that equipment is needed. When trusting someone else with your company’s IT well being make sure you understand everything that is going on through the whole process. This will help to give you piece of mind as well as making sure that the company you are outsourcing to is held responsible for whatever work they are doing.
The third and what probably ends up being most expensive option is to hire an IT staff. This could be just one person or an entire department depending on your needs. A small company with only a few employees should never really need an entire department unless you are running some type of data center. There are a few things to examine when deciding if having IT on staff is worthwhile for your business.
The first thing to look at is needed uptime. What I mean by that is do you need to be running 100% functionality 100% of the time? Now you’re probably thinking to yourself: doesn’t every company? Yes, that is the goal but it can end up being costly. IT people can be expensive to employ especially if hiring an entire department. Then you have the resources they require like computers and software. Some businesses only really need 90% or more uptime. One or two computers being down will not really affect their operation to the point that it is costing them money. Or at least not enough money to justify the expenditure of a full time IT guy.
The second thing to look at would be network complexity. How many computers is your network running? How are those computers connecting to the outside world? How do you want your network to be set up? Does your network reach to multiple locations? All of these things are huge considerations in determining network complexity and what kind of IT staffing you should pursue. As your network gets more complex there will be more and more of a likelihood of failure and your entire network dropping would definitely harm you more then just loosing a computer or two.
The final thing to consider is the long term plans of your company. Do you plan to expand rapidly with in a short period of time? These are things to consider because it will allow you to plot you IT growth as well. A significant growth in IT needs that can come with company growth can easily make having your own IT staff the right solution.
If you can say yes to any of these then you should probably take a strong look at getting your own IT person or department. It’s all about measuring cost.
No matter what choice you make, it will affect your business one way or another. Delaware.Net operates a world-class data center and we would be more then happy to have our experts come out and do a free evaluation for you. If outsourcing is the way your company needs to go we will be more then happy to have our technicians help your business grow and we will make sure your IT needs are met.
Call us at 888-492-7965 or Contact Us Today for more information.
