In-house or Outsourced IT Services? That’s Easy

Small business owners see life through dollar-sign glasses. They just can’t help envisioning money spent everywhere they look in their companies. Money is always top of mind, especially when deciding between in-house or outsourced IT services. 

Spoiler alert: There really is no comparison. Most companies save money by outsourcing IT. Would you come out ahead by outsourcing? Here are factors to consider:

Cost to Hire

As you face this dilemma, the hiring process might come to mind first. Think about how much time is required to post jobs, screen resumes, interview candidates and negotiate terms. All of these tasks most likely fall to someone on your staff who has other important job duties and growth goals to meet. Hiring is simply time-intensive. 

Another good way to make this comparison is to research a going salary for the type of IT expert you need. In Fort Worth, the current average salary is approximately $80,000 for an IT manager.  Add on overhead costs in terms of benefits, office space and equipment. Divide that figure by 12 to see what you would pay monthly for a single person. Now, compare that figure with the monthly fee for outsourced services.  

Say you decide to hire. When that person leaves (and most do within five years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics), you start the listing/screening/interviewing/onboarding process all over again. And while a new person takes time to get up to speed in your organization, companies with outsourced IT services are purring along without interruptions. 

Providing Coverage

For the sake of argument, let’s say you discovered that for your specific company, hiring an internal IT manager would be more economical. With just one staffer, how will you handle: 

• Covering that person during his or her vacation time or sick leave? 
• Supporting your IT needs during off hours or over the weekends? 
• The person-power needed for big and necessary IT projects like cloud migration? 

Considering these factors may lead you to conclude that your in-house person will likely need back-up from an outside source. In that situation would you still come out ahead dollar-wise?

Weighing Expertise in In-house or Outsourced IT Services

Is IT your core area of expertise or is it something you need to do your job? As you weigh in-house or outsourced IT services, think about the best use of your team’s time and skills. Which option would remove tech issues more fully from your day-to-day concerns?

Peace of Mind

While costs are cut-and-dried, there’s a less tangible, but still very real, value to having peace of mind. Tech troubles will always arise. When you’re facing downtime or an outage, you need help fast. With outsourced IT services, you have an expert team to get you back on track to productivity.

Unlike a single IT staffer, an outsourced team has the experience of working for many other clients under similar circumstances. That big-picture view is a resource you can tap into. 

When you choose an outsourced IT service, you can rest assured that your IT work is done right following best practices. Your outsourced IT team is incentivized to make your systems run smoothly: It means they have to spend less time working on your systems. An internal IT staffer doesn’t have quite the same motivation.

Tool Awareness and Pricing

In-house or outsourced IT services? Think about the costs your individual company would have to shoulder in terms of tech support tools like network monitoring tools, backup solutions and antivirus software. Larger IT teams have greater access to these tools at volume costs. They’re also responsible for keeping all of them patched and updated–another worry you or someone on your staff doesn’t have to contend with when you choose an outsourced IT provider.    

What’s on the Horizon?

Think about agility when considering in-house or outsourced IT services. If your company ramps up, would one IT staffer be enough? If not, could you really afford two people or an entire department? What if your organization needs to scale back? If the IT manager job has to be cut, who will take care of your business’s IT needs? The cost of outsourced services often vary based on number of users or number of workstations. Therefore, costs will increase or decrease along with your growth or contraction.

Your Choice

We understand that decisions that involve IT can be overwhelming and that comparing providers can be difficult. If you have questions about what’s best for your business, contact us for a no-obligation consultation.