The outsourcing of IT services, also known as outsourcing IT, started in the ’80s and is a phenomenon that has developed alongside the industry itself.
The IT outsourcing experience involves transferring everything related to information technology from an employee or department of its own to a new entity outside of the organization. Contracting a partner to outsource IT services means taking over a complex set of tasks. Depending on the needs of the company that is outsourcing IT services, the package you choose can cover issues such as:
configuration and maintenance of the computers used in the company,
configuration and maintenance of related servers,
current or urgent repairs and repairs on the company's IT infrastructure,
IT network security, by configuring the routers, the firewall, anti-virus software,
backing up company data and responding to IT incidents involving data recovery,
providing support services for employees in the company who use computer and computer-specific peripheral equipment in their work (printers, scanners, video projectors, multimedia devices),
management of the company's domain, e-mail addresses, installation of various applications, management software, etc.
hosting and/or promotion services of the company's website,
development and/or upgrading of customized software solutions,
consultancy in IT acquisitions necessary to modernize the company.
At first, the main goal of outsourcing IT services was to reduce costs, starting from the premise that building a separate IT department in a company requires mobilizing too many resources, especially in a new business, when consistent investment management is essential. Later, as the industry expanded, IT externalization service recipients have seen other benefits of this approach. The following guaranteed effects of a successful it outsourcing experience can now be said:
Reducing costs and boosting earnings,
Increase productivity and growth of the business,
Providing highly specialized assistance and advice.
Let us look closely at each of the mentioned issues.
1. Reducing costs and boosting earnings is an important first effect obtained from outsourcing IT services. The most convincing statistics on this point indicate an up to 80% reduction in costs dedicated to the IT dimension of a company through the management of an external entity. This reduction comes from the elimination of staff costs, monthly and annual costs that reach a high level for the sector concerned.
This also solves some of the difficulties inherent in staff dynamics (an employee of his or her IT department may not provide availability, he can apply for a leave, be exceeded by the amount of work or the complexity of the requests, and in the worst case he can resign without facilitating a proper transition of powers).
More relevant is the mechanism to stimulate the gains from outsourcing IT services. When a firm receives the support of a dedicated team that focuses exclusively on the IT component of your business, that team is able to open the way for timely changes in the evolution process.
Through the expertise at your disposal, your IT partner could help you discover potential growth areas of your business, faster than you could do it on your own, without the vision of an IT specialist fully aware of the huge potential of technology.
2. Increasing productivity and the pace of business growth is another undeniable effect of
outsourcing of IT services, visible both to small businesses and to companies with an already consolidated place on the market. To know that you can rely on approved support within a clear contractual framework is something that is reflected in the company-wide time management and provides a certain state of interior comfort that leaves room for other concerns related to the development of the activity.
As a company expands and diversify, new equipment and technologies become a necessity. Actually, any business that wants to grow needs flexible and customized technical solutions.
Their own resources, exceeding the understanding of their own employees, who are specialized in the industry in which their firm operates and have limited IT skills, cannot meet these needs often. It is time an IT outsourcing service provider can be the best solution. It will take over the full list of specific tasks, relieving other employees of their technical responsibilities and allowing them to focus more effectively on other business projects and opportunities.
3. Providing highly specialized assistance and advice is one of the main factors that drive a company to turn to outsourcing IT services.
This is justified by the fact that having well trained, talented and experienced IT employees of your own, is a challenge that is hard to meet for businesses that do not have a real business to do with IT. They certainly exist, but it is a well-known fact that such employees are expensive, hard to attract, motivate and retain.
Therefore, outsourcing IT services is a way for any company today, regardless of the area in which it operates, to receive targeted interventions and IT advice from a highly skilled team.
This is not just a trifle, but it expresses the need to adapt as quickly as possible to the needs of modern society, where technological advance puts pressure, in one way or another, on every business.
Consequently, outsourcing IT services requires a variety of approaches that influence hardware, software, employees, and processes within a company. If you think about using a partner to take over the IT services of your business, be aware that by making such a decision you are paving the way for the following long-term effects. You will reduce costs, stimulate new opportunities to win, increase your team's productivity once you relieve it of overly complicated technical tasks, accelerate business growth and gain valuable time for innovation. You will provide your intervention and advice to the appropriate standards, without any improvisations and instant resolution of issues that have a direct impact on the good functioning of your business.
We Make IT easy is the team of IT specialists that can help you also have a successful it outsourcing experience.