However, choosing between hiring an in-house professional or team and outsourcing to managed providers can be difficult.
The key factor for most growing businesses is cost. Still, it is also vital to recognise that outages and downtime can cost multiple times that of IT assistance, with technical faults draining resources by thousands of pounds.
Pros and Cons of In-House IT Support
Perhaps the most obvious solution is to hire an outsourced IT support company, or create an IT department with autonomy over who you hire, the rates of pay you offer, and what areas of system administration, access control or fault monitoring they are responsible for.
The positive aspect of in-house support is that a technician is on-site and available immediately – provided, of course, any issues arise during office hours. Businesses can select candidates they feel will slot into their team culture and implement comprehensive training in all software, hardware, networks and communication systems.
Much depends on the size of the business and the budget available because this could directly affect the viability of recruiting an individual or IT support team:
- Highly experienced professionals command premium rates of pay; recruiting an entry-level IT technician or assistant may not be suitable for the needs of your business.
- Most workers in the IT service sector have specialties or areas of knowledge, and it can be difficult to appoint a single person with the breadth of skill you may require to manage every potential issue, hardware fault or security threat that arises.
- Employment costs should be budgeted for carefully. An in-house team or staff member will be entitled to paid holiday, sickness absences, and a workplace pension scheme at the very least. They will require the equipment and tech needed for the role, and a designated space to work, which can be challenging for businesses without a significant budget.
It is also important to consider cover for absences and holidays; if you are concerned about continuity or emergency IT support out of hours, hiring one person may not be sufficient, even if they are working full-time on a permanent contract.
The Benefits of Outsourced IT Assistance
Businesses may perceive outsourcing IT support as more expensive than employing somebody in-house, but the opposite is usually true.
The core advantage of using outsourced IT support is that it adapts to the needs of the company with ad hoc assistance as often, or as little as necessary, emergency responses to business-critical issues such as system failures or data breaches, and access to 24/7 helplines, regardless of whether a problem arises overnight, on a bank holiday or during a closure period.
Cost Comparisons of In-House vs Outsourced IT Support
Appointing a managed support team effectively provides access to an entire group of specialists without the limitations inherent in hiring one IT worker. The overall costs are substantially lower, particularly when considering the implications of outages or downtime outside of working hours or when an IT employee is unavailable.
Total Jobs reports that the average salary for an IT support role in the UK is £32,500 yearly. Adding employer's National Insurance and pension contributions means the cost per employee is roughly £36,517.
IT support specialists, Ingenio Technologies, uses a simplified pricing structure, helping smaller companies and early-stage organisations access professional assistance without a prohibitively high price tag.
Pricing starts at £30 per user for smaller business structures and £45 per user for larger companies, so for a workforce of five people, fully managed IT support, advice, troubleshooting, and network administration would cost around £150 per month, or £1,800 a year – a cost reduction of 95%.
Of course, those calculations are simplified, and we are always happy to provide an exact quotation. However, this demonstrates the huge cost savings available, particularly for SMEs who need reliable solutions that suit their budgets.
Specialties and Cybersecurity Considerations
Managed IT support providers have larger teams and can tap into specific knowledge areas to tackle issues, design a bespoke system or identify the best solutions within a particular industry.
This advantage can be crucial when you are dealing with a sudden and disastrous outage, with a managed IT provider on hand to guide you through the resolution, access your system remotely in real-time to diagnose the cause, or create a rapid response security patch to get you back to work.
In a world where cybercrime is one of the biggest threats to businesses, this cyber security services support – along with pre-emptive advice about vulnerabilities in your networks – can be invaluable.
Network administration and systems management also make it considerably less likely you will encounter a large-scale outage, using agile monitoring processes and in-depth knowledge of all major software suites and hardware to spot inefficiencies and identify data overloads or weaknesses that require resolution.
Choosing the Right IT Support Structure for Your Business
It is always important to consider all the pros and cons before you make important business decisions, and there could be potential downsides to using outsourced IT support. Examples might include being committed to a long-term contract or the lack of access to in-person support, with many managed IT providers offering solely remote resolutions.
Ingenio Technologies managed IT support company combines outsourced IT support experience with a team of friendly engineers and provides both on-site services and help desk assistance. We blend the advantage and cost efficiency of managed support with the convenience of having a capable engineer visit your business to tackle any training or diagnosis requirements that cannot be completed remotely.
We also offer full system design, commissioning and installation across the potential requirements you may have, such as telecoms, cabling, hardware and data storage devices.
Our 100-day guarantee provides the assurance that if you decide outsourced IT support isn’t right for you, there is zero obligation to extend the contract, and you have control over how you tackle your IT support requirements.
About Ingenio Technologies
Ingenio Technologies is a business IT support company based in Brighton that has grown to become a recognised leader in business IT support and cyber security in Sussex. We are known for being proactive in everything we do, and our organic growth is based purely on referrals from happy customers.
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