Pros and cons of outsourcing IT support

Emerging technologies have created a complex IT environment, necessitating a full-time, professional support solution for almost every business. Many companies need help managing their IT infrastructure and grapple with the question of whether they should manage IT internally or outsource it.

Sadly, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, so you must weigh the pros and cons of outsourcing IT, balance the risk, and decide which path to take. 

What is IT outsourcing?

IT outsourcing is a business strategy in which you employ an external IT service provider to manage your information technology infrastructure rather than hiring an internal team to handle the responsibility. Businesses may choose to outsource only a part of their IT function – some outsource day-to-day IT support, others prefer to outsource bigger IT projects to third party providers.

Why outsource your IT support?

Companies often choose to outsource IT, not so much because of the benefits of outsourcing or the potential drawbacks, but more because there are issues they believe outsourcing can solve. Some examples include:

• Insufficient IT staff
• IT Support experts handling minor problems
• Repeated security issues causing extended downtimes
• Decreasing company efficiency
• Training new staff is time-consuming and expensive

After businesses outsource their IT and resolve the initial issues, they realise the advantages inherent in using external service providers while negating the potential risks.

What’s the cost to switch from in-house to outsourced IT support?

We believe that there are no costs when switching to outsourced IT support, there are only savings. The transition is straightforward and hassle-free – no capital expenditures, only operating expenses.

The only question is: do the pros outweigh the cons for you?

What are the pros and cons of outsourced IT support?

The pros and cons of IT support extend across a range of business factors, including cost, security, subject matter expertise, and company culture. This is because IT support touches every area of your business. Therefore, it’s important that you consider every potential impact of outsourcing your IT.

The pros of outsourcing your IT

Lower operating costs

Outsourcing IT support can significantly lower operating costs compared those of an in-house IT team. In the UK, an IT manager earns more than £40,000 per year, and this doesn’t include bonuses, vehicles, and pension contributions. And if a company is considering switching to an in-house IT team, besides an IT manager, they’ll need a whole team.

Currently, recruitment agencies charge £3,000 per new worker and the cost of recruiting a specialist role, like a seasoned IT professional is often much higher. In the end, even if your company’s IT team only consists of a few workers, the combination of their wages, benefits, and training will likely exceed £100,000 per year.

And all of that assumes that you’ve made the right hire. Any business owner will tell you that hiring people can cost a business far more than they first expect.

So, how does that compare to the average annual cost for businesses that outsource IT support? Well, that’s just £4,000. So, by outsourcing, you could save at least £96,000 per year. 

Of course, this figure will vary depending on the needs of the individual business, but it goes a long way in showing how much you could lower your operating costs by outsourcing IT.

Expertise and access to technology

IT support providers employ some of the best minds in our industry. This is because they only focus on IT-oriented issues, and often specialize in a single facet of IT, such as:

• Cloud Storage
• Data Cabling
• IT Consultancy
• SharePoint Migration
• Business Continuity

For most businesses, hiring a specialist comes at such a high upfront cost that it’s almost impossible to justify. By engaging a third-party IT team, you get all the knowledge, experience, and advice you need to make the right strategic decisions for your business’s technology.

Scalability

Scalability and speed are vital to maintaining a competitive edge in a world where technology makes everything faster. Outsourcing your IT gives you operational flexibility that means you can respond faster to changing business needs. You can scale up or scale down your IT services instantly, without having to hire, fire, or reshuffle your teams.

Robust cyber security

Did you know that in 2022 alone, 39% of all UK businesses identified a cyberattack in their organisation? And today, cybercrime is more sophisticated than ever. Most businesses look to their IT support providers for cyber security solutions because they know that simple in-house solutions aren’t enough.

To meet this need, IT service providers offer varying levels of cyber security, so whether your organisation is large, small, regulated, or has unique challenges, like a charity, you get the appropriate level of protection.

Better productivity and improved focus

By outsourcing IT support, companies can focus on dedicating their resources to areas that will help further business growth. For some businesses, this can increase operational efficiency by as much as 65%.

Imagine what you could achieve with all that extra time.

The cons of outsourcing your IT

Complex IT functions aren’t easily outsourced

Some businesses have vast and arcane technology estates that include on-premises legacy applications that don’t play well in the cloud, bespoke integration solutions that retrofit disparate solutions together… the list goes on and on. And even cloud-first businesses aren’t immune from complex IT stacks.

Hardware and software integration and network architecture implementation are highly involved processes, and companies with such complex estates maintain that they should be kept from third-party service providers.

On the other hand, complex organisations (such as financial or educational institutions), with relatively streamlined IT stacks, can make common outsourcing duties such as audits and project management difficult because they require in-depth business knowledge for proper handling.

Lack of coordination

A recurring issue with outsourcing IT support is a need for more communication between the business owner or staff and the service provider. Communication is crucial in helping service providers familiarise themselves with the internal functions of a company. However, it’s not always the outsourced provider who’s to blame for poor communication; instead, it’s the contractor.

One of the challenges that some IT service providers have is their limited ability to influence how their customers think and operate so that both parties can have a mutually beneficial relationship. Outsourcing any function requires a relationship and a successful relationship requires both parties to compromise.

Impact on company culture

Positivity in the workplace promotes efficiency and productivity. Unfortunately, when a company uses a third-party vendor, it can lead to concern and negativity among the internal staff, who may feel that their job is in jeopardy or fail to understand why the work is being outsourced. Without effective change management, an outsourced function could inadvertently cause disruption across the business.

So, do the pros of outsourcing IT outweigh the cons?

Suppose your company wants to lower operating and labour costs, increase cyber security, and improve efficiency and productivity. In that case, you’ll want to consider outsourcing IT support. While there are some minor disadvantages to outsourcing IT services, you can negate them with proper communication.

And remember, outsourcing doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing deal. Many businesses split or share responsibilities between external service providers and internal resources. Working with external providers gives you more flexibility, reduces risk, and lets you do more with what you already have.

So, while switching from in-house IT support to outsourced support can be a bit daunting, in the end, we believe that it’s well worth the effort.