Outsourcing IT: More Efficient for Small Businesses

In this day and age it’s nearly impossible to have a business without Information Technology, or “IT”, a fancy way of saying computers and stuff. However, most small and local businesses can’t afford to have their own IT department or even a full-time IT person on staff. So unless the business owner is particularly tech savvy, these businesses are likely missing out on important advantages technology can offer.

And even with a tech savvy business owner, they probably won’t have the time to spend working on IT matters.

The solution? Outsourcing IT.

This doesn’t have to mean hiring a company overseas to manage everything virtually. In fact, a large part of IT requires a physical presence because until the network and computers are up and running, there’s nothing anyone can do remotely with them. Fortunately, local IT shops like Clayburn.Digital can provide that physical presence and tech support businesses need.

The Many Advantages of Technology

Computers have been around a while now, particularly in everyday business use. Despite this though, there’s a good chance you’re working with outdated equipment or a poorly designed system that was scrapped together out of necessity.

While that approach might get the job done, having a professional and efficient IT system in place can provide your business with many great advantages.

One of the greatest advantages has become more apparent over this past year during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Many businesses had to transition to work-from-home, but it can be difficult for employees to get work done from their own homes when the company doesn’t have strong IT infrastructure like a shared drive, VPN or cloud-based programs.

Even when not facing a global pandemic, though, having great IT can make employees far more efficient in the office. A shared drive, for example, can be accessible by anyone with access anywhere in the office, meaning less time spent back-and-forth trying to get someone to send you the right file. Plus, you can be sure that you’re working with the latest version of a file, which is very important for collaboration. You’ll also find that files can be much better organized in a shared drive than as email attachments and having your business’s own shared drive on a network is more secure than using a consumer cloud service such as Dropbox or Google Drive.

Speaking of security, this is another big advantage IT can provide. Without a standard IT system and policies in place, a business often resorts to a free-for-all among their employees which creates vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers and other bad actors. It also means a disgruntled employee can do more damage to the company if they want, and it doesn’t have to come down to sabotage, which can be prosecuted at least. If you’re allowing employees to use their own personal accounts and equipment, then when they leave you have no way of getting back important information or access to business accounts without their compliance.

Technology is also great for solving a variety of unique and specific problems for your business. There are tools that can improve your current business processes and custom tools can be created to help as well.

Easier Than Hiring a Full-Time Employee

When you outsource your IT department, you don’t have to worry about all the overhead and you only pay for what you need. Hiring on your own IT people could easily result in a lot of downtime if there are no pressing IT matters on a given day, but you’re still on the hook for their salary.

Hiring a company like Clayburn.Digital, you’ll get a free estimate upfront so you’ll know what to expect, and we can be on call at a set hourly rate for any computer troubles that might arise. So in this way you can always have somebody ready to fix your IT problems without having to pay someone to wait around for something to do.

Aside from the efficiency outsourcig provides, you’ll also get a level of service that carries the insights from a variety of other businesses and industries. An in-house IT team might be responding to a problem for the first time and they’ll have to troubleshoot the best way to handle it, but with an IT company, chances are they’ve already seen similar situations from other clients and won’t have to learn on the job.

Better Than Hiring a Part-Time High Schooler

One thing that often happens in the tech world is that a business will reach out to the kid of a friend of a friend who they’ve heard is “good with computers”. On the positive side, hiring a young person to do a bit of IT work is inexpensive, but it does come with risks and while an amateur might be able to do some things, they won’t usually understand the best way to do it for your business.

A business’s IT system should be managed by professionals that take the work seriously and have experience working with businesses on a regular basis. Setting up a company’s VPN is a lot different than installing your grandma’s printer, and the stakes are higher.

Also, when hiring an amateur, they typically won’t be able to tell you what you need, which is an important part of hiring an IT expert. As a subject matter expert, you’ll want to defer to their guidance and experience to let you know the things you don’t know and set your business up right for its needs. An amateur may be good at taking direction, but they won’t be able to provide the important strategy and oversight that will make a winning difference.

Fewer and Reduced Technology Costs

There are many ways an outsourced IT company can save you money, particualrly when it comes to technology costs. For many problems, a specific piece of technolog is required to fix it. These can sometimes be very expensive, but with an IT company like Clayburn.Digital, they can either lend out the equipment for free or rent it out at a reduced cost. So rather than having to purchase our own equipment at full price, which might only be used once or twice, you’re able to benefit from the equipment already on hand with your IT provider.

IT professionals can also better guide you in making technology purchase decisions. Computers, for example, can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. Which one is right for your business is important to understand so you don’t spend more than you need on features you won’t use.

Get Started Today!

Give Clayburn.Digital a call at 575-208-4877 or use the form below to send a message. Consultation is easy and 100% free.