For small businesses with limited budgets, the tendency is to try to keep as many business functions in-house to reduce those costs. While this strategy certainly makes sense for primary functions such as sales and marketing, for more specialist skills, looking outside the organisation for assistance can be an investment that really pays off.
Having efficient and functioning IT equipment and processes in place is essential for just about every business these days. However, enterprise-level IT skills are not something every business has at its disposal. Rather than hiring employees to fill this skills gap, it can actually be more cost-effective to search for the assistance of an outsourced team.
Experienced and professional IT support can be invaluable, but just what business benefits can it bring?
1. Improve service delivery to your customers
With reliable IT support in place, you can deliver the services your customers are paying for without the risk of interruptions. A slow or failing system could impact your ability to meet deadlines and potentially prevent customers from accessing services or making purchases online. Having an outsourced IT support team you can call on at any time of the day will ensure all issues are resolved quickly without having to make do and mend your systems in-house.
2. Keep a closer eye on costs
Maintaining a healthy level of cash-flow is one of the biggest challenges for small and growing businesses across the UK. With the average small business owed more than £24,000 in unpaid invoices, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep cash-flow at sustainable levels.
Outsourcing the IT support function can help to boost the cash-flow in your business by reducing recruitment costs and other unexpected expenses such as software licenses and hosting fees. You can work with your IT partner to develop a support plan that fits your budget so you can better manage your spend. You’ll then have a consistent and controlled monthly cost that you can meet.
3. Make the most of your resources
If you are constantly redirecting your talented team away from their core activities to resolve IT-related issues, you’re not making the most of your resources. Your team should be able to perform their roles without having to worry about IT issues. You’re paying your staff good money because they have the skills to drive your business forward. Diverting them away from those functions into areas where they lack expertise is an all too common example of resource inefficiency.
Outsourcing your IT allows you to make better use of your resources to improve business outcomes. An IT support team will be able to solve issues immediately and keep abreast of the latest IT innovations in your sector and make recommendations to boost your efficiency. That gives you and your team more time to focus on what you do best.
4. Boost your cybersecurity
Keeping IT systems secure is one of the biggest challenges today’s small business owners face. Cybersecurity professionals are in high demand, and although resources like https://www.lynxpro.com give you access to skilled cybersecurity contractors, they can represent an additional cost many small businesses simply can’t afford.
Outsourcing your IT support to a team with cyber security expertise can help you find simple and effective ways to counter the security threats you’re likely to face. They’ll be able to advise you and your team on best practice and recommend tools to protect your data.
5. Access data management expertise
More and more businesses are planning big data projects to gain customer insights that can help them grow. However, many business owners say they are struggling to find the talent to lead their projects. If you feel your business could benefit from big data or analytics projects over the next year, outsourced IT support services could be a cost-effective way to access the technology and resources you need.
Is it time you let go?
We understand that small business owners like to keep control of as many functions as they can, but that doesn’t mean you have to do everything yourself. With significant performance and cost benefits associated with outsourced IT support, is it time you let go?
