Outsourced vs In-House IT Teams: Advice from Consultants with 120+ years experience

When companies scale up, there’s an increase in the number of systems and the problems that come with it.

Some companies prefer to hire an in-house IT team to fix issues. It becomes easy this way to be kept in the loop during the whole support process.

Other companies prefer to outsource IT services to dedicated service companies. This helps companies to cut costs. 

So, which route should you go?

Here are the Pros and Cons of in-house IT Teams and Outsourced IT Teams. Make an informed choice based on your business context.

5 Pros of Hiring an In-House IT Team

1. The biggest advantage of hiring an in-house IT team is that it is only a call away when it comes to fixing your systems. This minimizes financial losses that may result from system downtimes.
2. The team can be trained to suit the specific needs of your company. An in-house IT team will have a good idea of how the employees and managers use their systems daily.
3. The team will have a good idea of the internal networks. They will be able to identify the source of the problem quickly. They will document the problem and the solution for the future.
4. Your IT budget remains fixed every month. Outsourced IT companies can increase their hourly rate depending on the complexity of the problem they fix. On the other hand, your in-house team can work on any problem for a fixed hourly rate.
5. You can hire talent and put together a quality in-house team. You don’t have to worry about the expertise of the technician that comes to fix your system.

3 Inevitable Cons of Hiring an In-House IT Team

1. Finding talent is hard. 
   Training them is expensive. It takes plenty of time to put together a team that understands your business and its needs.

   Training an in-house IT team is a never-ending expense because your team needs to be kept updated on the latest systems and hardware.

   They need to constantly update themselves and get certifications which in return help your business indirectly.

2. What if you run into a problem that your in-house IT team can’t fix?
   This is a possibility especially if your in-house team consists only of a few members.

   An individual and often a team can’t be knowledgeable about every problem that a company might potentially face.
   
   So, you’ll ultimately be limited by the knowledge and skills of your in-house team.

3. If you’re planning to overcome #2 by hiring more IT professionals, think again.
   On an average, IT professionals earn at least $74,000 per year. The cost doesn’t stop there.

   New members will need extra systems. You’ll also have to bear all the costs of software, hardware and other equipment that your IT team might require.

If you’re running a business, you know how important both time and money are. So, if you want an in-house IT team, consider the costs that come with hiring and the inevitable limitation posed by the skillset of an IT team with limited members…

...And don’t stop reading until you’ve read the pros and cons of outsourcing IT. You won’t be disappointed, we promise.

7 Pros of Outsourcing IT service

1. Cut down your costs.
   IT technicians make about $74,000 a year. This means you’ll be spending approximately $750,000 a year if you have a modest 10-member team.

   This excludes the cost of hardware, software and equipment that your technicians will use.

   If you outsource your IT service, you’ll spend far less. You also don’t have to invest in software and hardware since the company will take care of that for you.

   You also don’t have to spend a single dime on training and putting together a team. IT service providers give you ready-made talent tailored to fix any issue you might be facing. You also get fixed rates because you only use the services that you need.

2. Get 24 x 7 x 365 support.
   Want a problem fixed in the middle of the night? No problem. IT service providers work round the clock to fix your issues.

   If you have a 2-3 member IT team, you’ll have to tackle problems on your own or put them off if the members are on vacation/sick.

3. Never worry about being limited by expertise.
   IT service providers have various technicians and specialists working round the clock.
   
   So, you get access to solutions quickly despite the complexity of the problem.

4. In case of a natural disaster or cyber-attack, plenty of work has to be done to get the company running again.

   Important data should be recovered and restored quickly. There’s a high chance that the company might go out of business otherwise.

   Most in-house IT teams don’t have the required expertise to carry out these tasks.

   However, IT service providers have specialised teams to restore data and ultimately, the productivity of your workplace.

5. Most business owners are reluctant to outsource IT because they don’t want sensitive information to fall into an outsider’s hands.

   However, outsourcing IT is the safest option since they have specialists that conduct various tests and propose various solutions to keep your systems and information secure.

6. A company’s IT requirements don’t stop at fixing systems with problems.
   It extends to Network & Wireless Security, Cabling issues, providing un-interrupted Audio-visual Services, managing Mobile Devices, and more. 

   An in-house IT team can’t handle all these services on their own.
   
   What's more, Managed IT Support Service Providers give you access to a wide range of services like cybersecurity, structured cabling, apart from the IT service itself.

Managing a business is a Herculean Task on its own and you don’t want to be adding IT woes to the list.

Outsourcing your IT Support lets you take a lot off your plate and lets you focus on your business without worrying about all the snags.

3 Cons of Outsourcing IT

1. Sometimes, companies don’t know how to find the right service provider for their IT needs.

   There are plenty of options available and they tend to get overwhelmed with it.

2. You don’t oversee how the tasks are being done. You lose some control here but if you’re working with an IT service provider that you trust, this won’t be an issue at all.

3. Communication could be a major issue if you’re working with remote IT service providers since you don’t meet them face-to-face.

The important thing is that these are all fixable problems with the right Managed IT Services Provider.

Conclusion

Outsource your IT Support if you want to cut costs and get better security.

Hire an in-house team if you’re worried about losing control over the tasks.

If you’re convinced that outsourcing IT is the better option, check out Bay Tech 360.

We’ve retained clients for more than 10 years and have a team with a collective experience of 120+ years.

If you’ve other opinions on outsourcing IT vs In-house team, comment below.

Do share this article if it helped you end the mental debate of in-house IT vs Outsourced IT Support.