The 5 Stages of Small Business IT Grief

When it comes to running a small business, there are a million things to manage. What do you keep in-house? What can be outsourced? Internal employees have a stronger connection to the company but they cost more in overhead. Payroll is the largest expense in business, which brings us to the in-house versus outsourced IT debate.

In-house IT employees only have so much experience. You’ll need a few people to spread the workload so that someone can maintain your systems while another can plan for the future. If your industry is tech-heavy, this may require more than 2 people.

An outsourced team is full of specialists, each with unique perspectives, skills, and levels of experience. When you combine them all together, you get one super-powered department of IT knowledge. From help desk geniuses to high-level tech engineers, the problems your company faces are now the responsibility of your outsourced IT team with a proactive approach instead of a reactive one. But you have to be able to trust the provider you choose.

When it comes to outsourcing, businesses are at a crossroads: Some are ready and some are wary. This often leads to feeling overwhelmed. Here are things we commonly hear:

We use the cloud. We don’t need IT support.

Wrong. The cloud is a storage tool. If your systems get hacked and you use the same passwords, it’s entirely possible your cloud storage will be compromised. The cloud isn’t a magic substitute for an IT team. With cybercrime on the rise, you need someone looking out for your cybersecurity.

It’s going to cost HOW much?!

In Eastern Iowa, an IT hire will cost you approximately $45-60k per year… for one IT System Admin. An analyst is roughly $67k, and someone with the expertise to rival an entire department will be near 6 digits. That’s before including the cost of benefits and overhead.

And then there’s the possibility of turn-over. Investing time and resources in an individual who may decide you can’t offer the experience or challenges they need takes up a lot of time and resources. After all of that, outsourcing may seem like a good alternative to payroll strain.

Why would I pay extra for monitoring and support services?

Proactive services greatly benefit your business. Imagine you come into work. Your technology isn’t functioning properly. Now you have to spend time waiting for your IT person to assess, diagnose, and resolve the issue. What if they’re out on vacation? Then you have to wait even longer for your in-house person to help.

All of that downtime cuts productivity and may interfere with business functions, all that could be avoided easily with an outsourced IT department.

I have an internal person. Should I outsource anyway?

Good news? You can keep your internal IT person AND get help from an outsource if you’re needing more IT power. This enables your internal team member to focus more on big picture strategy and growing their skills instead of getting bogged down by day-to-day maintenance. That career growth opportunity can keep talent you need AND they can communicate to your IT outsource for you to ensure you’re getting the best treatment.

Contact CCR

Obviously, there’s a lot to consider when deciding whether to hire internally or look outward for help. Have questions? Feel free to reach out for a chat!