Small business owners generally have many hats – accounting, marketing, customer service etc. But that doesn’t make them qualified to handle these areas and owners should closely look at what services they can outsource.
A small business may only have a few computers for its small number of employees and having an in-house person dedicated to IT support is overkill. Letting another staff member handle any IT issues may be ok, but are you getting the best out of your IT infrastructure and can you do things better? This is where an outsourced IT provider can be beneficial and add value to your business.
Having an outsourced IT partner can add value by:
- helping you avoid bad technology purchases;
- identifying where you can be more efficient with tools you already have, which can save money;
- providing knowledgeable IT support and help;
- quickly solving issues;
- learning business needs and making recommendations about the best IT for your business goals;
- protecting your business technology and ensuring your computers are up to date with security patches and antivirus software.
Advantages of Outsourcing
As you and your staff are experts in your business area, you may overlook or not know about things that are happening in the world of IT that can either harm or benefit your business.
One such area is cyber security. According to Accenture, 43% of cyber-attacks were aimed at small businesses, and only 14% of the SMBs were prepared for defending their networks and sensitive data.
Your partner will keep you informed of the latest best practices around security and can help protect your business against attacks by using the latest methods.
Your small business, for instance, may not have a data protection procedure. You might be thinking you don’t have a lot to backup and store. But the quantity may not be the primary concern. Can you recover if your business loses an email chain it was keeping for legal or compliance reasons? What would happen if the computer holding your accounting database died? An IT partner can identify where technology changes can better ensure business continuity.
When you outsource, your partner will also inventory all your tech assets. They will need to know everything about your infrastructure and your business’s technology capabilities. Your current team may recognise the importance of securing the business’s intellectual property, but are they also protecting customer data and employee records? Your business needs to be intentional about confidentiality, availability, and safety. An IT partner or MSP can help.
The cost of outsourcing is often a stumbling block for the budget-conscious SMB. Managed IT services can often lower costs for clients by streamlining processes, managing vendor relationships, and ensuring that the business technology is best suited to current needs. And you’ll pay a fixed regular fee for a technology team member who can help you avoid big, costly tech surprises.
No business is too small to outsource IT. Having access to a full-time IT professional via a proactive service provider can improve your operations, enhance productivity, and lower cyber security risk.
Find out more about what DP Computing can do for you! Contact us on 08 83264 4364 or via email at
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