IT is a fundamental component of your business's operations and, when implemented properly, will contribute to long-term business growth. Choosing between internal IT support and outsourced IT support can be difficult. The stakes are high because making the wrong choice could expose your company to more significant cyber risks, increased attrition, and other possible drawbacks. However, you’re not alone. Many non-technical leaders wrestle with this dilemma.
To help you make a decision, this blog post provides valuable insights and guidance to help you navigate this process.
Pros of In-House IT Staff
A Deeper Understanding of Your Business
Internal IT staff have the advantage of being very familiar with your company's internal workings. This deep knowledge allows internal staff to create customized solutions that integrate seamlessly with your business processes.
You Have Greater Control Over Hiring and Cultural Fit
Hiring an internal IT team allows you to select the candidates that best fit your company's culture. As the saying goes, teamwork makes the dream work. If you can afford it, an internal IT team can greatly accelerate the productivity of your entire organization.
More Intimate Knowledge of Your Technology
Additionally, internal IT staff will have an intimate knowledge of your technology infrastructure as they deal with it daily. Therefore, they can handle issues quickly and implement tailor-made solutions that best help your organization.
Cons of In-House IT Staff
Knowledge Gap
As technology constantly evolves, it’s often difficult for internal IT staff to stay current. Unless they are committed to a rigorous continuing education program, they are often blind to the latest security threats and industry best practices.
Higher Cost
When you look at it from a “cost per end user” basis, hiring an internal IT team often costs much more than outsourcing. First, you will need more than one IT person to ensure proper redundancies. Then you must factor in staff salaries, benefits, training, equipment, security, and IT management software costs for ticketing systems, monitoring, and remote management.
Loss of Knowledge If Staff Turns Over
There is a tremendous demand for IT professionals in the labor market right now – often leading to higher turnover. When an internal IT specialist leaves, they take their knowledge of your systems. Without solid documentation and management processes, it can be difficult for the next IT staff member to come up to speed.
Lack of Redundancy
Smaller companies often have just a single internal IT manager. When that person is sick or on vacation, you’ve got an elevated risk of an extended business disruption.
Management
Someone must manage your internal IT staff. Who within your organization has the technical expertise to provide strategic direction and supervision? What KPIs (or key performance indicators) will you track to measure their results? Non-technical leaders sometimes feel “trapped” with subpar internal IT personnel but avoid switching to a different solution out of fear of the transition.
Pros of Outsourced IT Support
Turn-Key IT Department
By outsourcing your IT support, you can have a fully functional, turn-key IT department with personnel, equipment, and knowledge. This relieves you of the responsibility of hiring, developing, and leading an internal team.
A Cross-Trained Team with Deep Technical Knowledge
Outsourced IT support providers deliver an entire team with deep technical knowledge. They have a scale that allows them to have specialists in various areas such as security, networking, server management, and end-user support. This diverse skill set ensures a better experience for your users.
Greater Security and Alignment with Best Practices
Outsourced IT vendors are typically more up-to-date on the latest security measures and best practices. Compared to internal IT staff, they simply have greater exposure to multiple systems and more peers. That translates into a better-managed environment for you.
Cost Savings
Getting help from outside eliminates the costs for full-time salaries, benefits, tools costs, and the other expenses associated with in-house staff. Thus, your business can save money, get a better result, and lower your risk – all at the same time.
Flexibility and Scalability
In our current business climate, your needs can change quickly. Outsourced IT management relationships allow you to be more agile. Since there are no fixed teams, companies can scale up or down, depending on their needs at a certain period.
Cons of Outsourced IT Support
Contractual Commitment
Outsourcing involves signing contracts, be sure you understand the flexibility within those contracts should you need to scale up or down suddenly.
Less Intimate Knowledge of Your Business
Outside vendors work for you part-time, meaning they might have less knowledge of your business and needs. Ask about their process for understanding and documenting your business and its systems.
Risk of Vendor's Internal Issues
When you work with an outside vendor, there is a risk that their internal difficulties become yours. Those risks could include employee turnover or disruptions from their mergers and acquisitions. Ask about their employee turnover rates and if they are considering M&A activity.
Benefits of Co-Managed IT
Co-managed IT means that you have both in-house staff and an outsourced IT partner.
In-House Staff
Your internal IT team's primary focus is supporting your core line of business software and helping you get the most out of your investment. They take care of things such as business process enablement, data analytics, training users, and integrations with 3rd party systems, all while serving as the first point of contact for user inquiries.
Outsourced Partner
The outsourced IT partner manages the underlying infrastructure and drives the process of alignment to industry best practices. They assure performance, security, continuity, and compliance with technical standards. For your internal staff, they add more resources, knowledge, and redundancy, thus improving their skills.
Making the Right Choice
Whether to hire internal IT staff or outsource must be carefully considered. To make an informed decision, consider your business's size, strategic priorities, and financial resources. For example:
- If you have less than 125 computer users, outsourcing your IT will almost always make more sense.
- Co-managed IT should be a strong consideration if you have fewer than 250 computer users.
- Typically, only organizations with over 250 users have the size and scale to justify two or more in-house IT staff.
From a business strategy perspective, while business size is a primary determinant, there are some exceptions. You might want to consider a co-managed model at a smaller scale if:
- Your core business is IT-centric (e.g., you develop software for 3rd parties)
- Your business is extremely reliant on your IT systems (you are out of business if your systems fail for longer than a specific period of time)
- You are part of a heavily regulated industry (e.g., banking)
As a seasoned IT service provider, we recognize the critical need for an organization's dependable and effective IT infrastructure. We offer various services, including fully managed and co-managed IT solutions that empower businesses like yours by reducing downtime, improving internal IT procedures, and promoting long-term growth.
Interested in understanding the cost differences between full outsourcing versus co-managed? Visit our free calculator.
