How 20 Minutes Can Save Your Business: 4 of 4

In my previous post, I promised 4 topics that if considered may make you re-think outsourcing IT. We started with the specialized knowledge required to keep IT running smoothly for a business today. No one (or two) person will have it all. If you missed it, check it out here. Next we covered the strategic role IT should play in your organization. Here's #2. In my third post, I covered reducing risk. Sometimes we don't consider how much key-person risk we have in our businesses. This post will help you consider that. Today, I'm going to focus on cost.

Reason #4 - Cost is King: Why Managed Services are MORE Affordable

For small businesses, costs are a critical measurement. The cost to maintain an internal employee’s technical acumen can be monumental. Salary, workers compensation, benefits, and payroll taxes are not cheap. Small companies do not have access to healthcare discounts that large enterprises can harness. Adding regular and expensive training for an IT staffer is a significant increase to those costs. Every course sponsored by your company makes an employee more valuable on the open market. Every course neglected creates risk for your business.

If you are making investments in hardware to maintain an on-premise environment, what happens in the event of an economic downturn? There is no better example than that of the ever-changing Oil and Gas industry. I have seen large infrastructure investments made during a growth period, followed immediately by a downturn. Many found themselves paying for hardware they can no longer utilize effectively.

All things considered, outsourcing IT is less expensive than the cost to maintain a full-time employee. If your industry is facing a downturn, a managed services agreement allows you to scale down. When you experience growth you can easily scale up. You gain access to a team of experts instead of relying on the expertise of one person or a small team. A recent Gartner study cited that 80% of small business would “realize significant savings from outsourcing e-mail management alone.” Imagine the savings in outsourcing other technology components.

Bottom line: If you own or operate a small business you should be evaluating IT outsourcing. A 20 minute conversation might just change your life.