Outsourcing support services has never been more popular than it is these days, what with the high cost of hiring and training new employees, as well as the cost of typical benefits, including the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act right around the corner. Beyond these things, investing in an in-house IT specialist makes little sense for most small businesses, as it is unlikely that they will have enough work to keep such a specialist fully occupied.
At North Star, Inc., your Denver IT support specialists, we have put together a team of IT experts with more than five decades of collective experience and specialized training to help Denver small businesses meet – and exceed – their business goals.
What is Professional IT Support?
When you outsource IT support for your business, not only will you save money over hiring an in-house specialist, you will also acquire the services of a well-trained, experienced team of IT experts; a group of professionals who will offer their own experience, as well as that of their associates, at your disposal. This means you have not just one expert, but a group of experts available to keep your systems running smoothly; regardless of the time of day, the time of year, or the problem that needs solving.
Beyond giving your business access to expert IT support as needed, there are a few other benefits to outsourcing IT support:
- Reduce capital expenditures – and pay only for the services you need, rather than paying for a full-time employee who works part-time, as needed.
- Receive expert IT support – from a team of fully trained, experienced Information Technology (IT) experts
- Maintain company focus – on the things you and your employees do well, rather than wasting your employee’s time and energy on highly specialized functions for which they are not well trained
- Invest capital only where you need it – rather than investing cash in a single, highly specialized employee
- Reduce employee overhead – and save on the cost of training, health insurance, employment taxes, retirement plans etc.
Hiring an IT Support Company
It must also be said that any time you outsource aspects of your business, you may be taking a risk. Is the company you chose the right one for your business? Are your needs as important to them as they are to you? Who will be in control of your information technology? How will these IT techs interact with your team?
As with any vendor you choose to support your business, research and due diligence are required to minimize the risks and maximize the rewards of hiring an IT support company.
- Investigate the IT Company – before you hire them. Ask your friends and business associates for recommendations, and ask the company for references – and check out those references before hiring them.
- Interview the tech you will be working with – before you give them access to your systems and your people. If you’re not comfortable with him or her, move on.
- Check their bon fides – and ask about the experience and expertise – and the commitment – they bring to your business.
- Investigate their billing practices – as most IT support companies will charge by the hour, ask if they give discounts for pre-paid blocks of time
The Benefits of Outsourcing your IT Support
While it can be stressful at first to give up the responsibility of such an important function, as long as you’ve performed your due diligence, the rewards of outsourcing your IT support are likely to outweigh any problems.
The IT support company you chose should offer many benefits to which you would not have access without them:
- Access to the latest technology – since technology is the core of the service provided, your IT support team will have access to the latest and greatest technology available – no matter how quickly it changes
- Qualified IT experts – a single employee simply can’t know it all, so having a team of IT specialists at your disposal can provide you with solutions to the most obscure problems you may encounter
- Increased flexibility – with multiple sources of information and technologies at their fingertips, where a single employee will have limited resources at their disposal
- Consistent, ongoing support – with 24/7, 365 support for your business, even when you have employees on vacation, out sick, or changing jobs
While few business related solutions are perfect in every way, in the world of constantly changing technology and IT support, outsourcing that support makes a great deal of sense in the highly competitive world of small business in which we find ourselves today.
Give the IT experts at North Star, Inc. a call today at 303.552.0018.
This will definitely ease off things for sure! Thanks a lot! I needed this!
Great article Darryl. I don’t think any business can afford to neglect I.T support in this technological age. There is so much that could go wrong and this could be catastrophic to the functionality of your business. Surely it’s much better to have a team of professionals on hand at all times.