Benefits of IT Outsourcing: Comparing an Internal vs. External IT Team

Benefits of IT Outsourcing: Comparing an Internal vs. External IT Team

Even if you don’t love superhero movies, there’s one big lesson we can take from all those Marvel films: ‘teamwork makes the dream work’. 

Or, to be a little less cliché, a team of heroes can handle a heck-of-a-lot more than a hero running solo. 

When it comes to handling IT for your business, you get to decide whether to hire a solo hero to tackle your terrible techno troubles, or enlist a whole team of heroes. (Do you hire internally, or go with managed IT services?)

Either way, you need someone with a super-understanding of technology to keep your business running smoothly.

It’s great when your tech is working—but there’s a variety of villains that could strike at any moment: corrupted data, cyberattackers, technical mishaps, network outages… the list goes on. 

So it’s time to answer the big question; when things go wrong, ‘Who you gonna call?’

Choose Your Character: 

Internal Vs. External Vs. Augmented

You have options. It’s all a matter of picking the type of support that will match your business needs. 

Let’s take a quick looks at your three big options:

Internal IT Employee — You hire a full-time IT employee within your organization. Here is your solo hero; a dedicated personnel that can provide on-site support. They’ll be able to rapidly respond to issues by having direct control over your data and technology. 

External MSP — Enlisting a external Managed Service Provider (MSP) to support your IT needs is like enlisting a whole team of heroes. You have access to a wide range of individuals, each with their own area of expertise. Whatever problem you might encounter, you now have a specialist in that area by your side. 

Augmented IT Support — A hybrid model that works well for businesses that have an IT hero on staff already. Your internal team member might handle the day-to-day issues, while your external MSP gives extra support for your business to scale up, or perhaps they’ll help you handle more complex issues. 

Key Differences: The Benefits of Outsourced IT Support

At first glance, it might seem like the most attractive option is to hire a dedicated internal staff member. After all, you’d have an individual that’s familiar with your company's needs and culture, plus they’re on-site to directly solve every issue. 

But are there some less obvious downsides? Internal IT hires can be great for businesses in certain situations, but here are some things to consider before you hire your very own IT superhero:

The Downsides of Internal Hiring 

• Higher Expenses: Salary for a skilled IT individual, plus benefits and ongoing training can quickly add up to a significant amount.

• Sunk Costs: After hiring costs and time spent recruiting, an internal employee may still be a poor fit within the team and culture of your company. 

• Jack of All / Master of None: Even with ongoing training, it’s impossible for one person to stay up-to-date in the ever-changing and ever-expanding world of technology. 

• Single Point of Failure: The departure of a key internal employee can disrupt business continuity. You could also be at the mercy of one person holding access to all your passwords and data.

• Limited Availability: Full-time staff members will require holidays, sick-days, and personal time off (even Spiderman is just Peter Parker half the time).

By comparison, let’s take a look at the benefits of outsourcing your IT. Here’s where the ‘teamwork makes the dream work’ comes in. 

When you partner with an MSP for your IT, every single one of those concerns listed above essentially becomes moot. Which isn’t surprising—the IT outsourcing services model was designed to directly tackle all those concerns and provide businesses with a better alternative. 

When you find a quality MSP to partner with, you'll find that there’s a substantial list of benefits:

The Benefits of Outsourcing IT

• Reduced Overhead: Avoid the cumulative cost of salaries, benefits, and ongoing training. Instead, you pay a significantly lower, fixed cost. Your budgeting will be simplified and your expenses will be reduced. 

• Predictable Costs: As long as your MSP uses a transparent pricing model, you’ll never be surprised or confused by the price of the services provided. 

• Team of Experts: You’ll have access to a diverse team of IT professionals. Whether you face a cybersecurity threat, a network issue, or need software support, there’s always an expert available to address the problem.

• Checks & Balances: No single person will hold all the access to your passwords or data. MSPs use multiple layers of protection and industry best practices to safeguard your information and ensure security.

• Total Availability: MSPs can provide 24/7/365 support, ensuring continuous monitoring and maintenance, minimizing downtime, and keeping your business running smoothly. No sick days or holidays needed.

• Scalability: Easily scale up your IT services and as your business grows, there’s no sudden need for additional staff or training. Whatever additional needs your business has can simply be added to your existing package.

• Proactive Protection: If your MSP uses an All-In-Seat pricing model, they are motivated to keep everything running smoothly since any issues or downtime are already included in their packages.

• Cutting Edge Knowledge: Your MSP will be highly motivated to stay up-to-date with the latest technology and cybersecurity trends, which will ensure your business also benefits from these solutions.

The Middleground of Managed IT Services: Staff Augmentation

Perhaps you already have an internal IT staff member, but that big list of the benefits of outsourcing IT still caught your eye. Well you’re in luck! There’s a way to have the best of both worlds, it’s called Staff Augmentation, or Co-Managed IT. 

This hybrid model enables your internal IT staff to handle day-to-day tasks while leveraging the specialized skills and support of an MSP for more complex issues or projects. It’s a simple way to fill in the gaps within your existing team.

With this approach, you’ll have the flexibility to adjust your level of external support as needed. You can enhance your team's overall capabilities while mitigating risks by distributing responsibilities. It also optimizes your budget, since you’ll only be paying for the extra support you need. 

By combining the in-depth knowledge of an internal team with the expertise of managed IT services, your business can continue to scale while accessing the latest technologies and best practices.

Conclusion

It’s hard for anyone to hold the whole world up on their shoulders alone—even if they are an IT superhero. If you really wants to make the dream work, it takes teamwork. 

Maybe you're looking for managed IT services to handle all your technology needs. Maybe you want to supplement your internal staff with external support. Either way, the additional support you’ll receive will make everything run smoother. Before trouble comes along and people start asking ‘Who you gonna call?’, give us a call! We’d be happy to chat about how we can help your business grow.