IT Departments v Outsourced IT – 21 Talking Points

What should I consider before outsourcing the IT department? What are the advantages of having an internal IT resource? Would the benefits of outsourced IT be a better fit for our organisation?

It’s straightforward for IT providers such as Dunedin IT to sing the benefits of outsourcing the IT department. The majority of our client’s experience has benefited from such a strategic decision. In this blog post, we address both sides, which could help decide whether to outsource and what questions you should ask your IT provider or IT Manager.

IT Department Advantages

Advantages of IT departments and strengths over an Outsourced IT Provider.

1. Knowledge of organisation systems – It will always take time for incoming IT provider to understand your setup fully. An IT department would have installed the systems they look after.
   
2. Exact Costs – Outsourced IT company may charge you for consultancy, and indirectly for engineers to learn your systems on the job.
3. Time to action – When you have an IT emergency, how long do you need to wait? What about those simple requests that frustrate staff? An internal IT department is always present to either action or provides instant feedback.
   
4. End-user push back – With an outsourced IT support, your staff will need help themselves and can not rely on a physical visit for all IT issues.
   
5. Losing control – There is the potential to lose control of IT resources, and in extreme cases, become locked into bespoke solutions that the organisation becomes critically dependent upon.
6. Trust and Culture – With an internal IT department, its easier to build trust, manage security, and instill company culture.
7. Security and Liability – If above “Trust and Culture” isn’t present with external IT providers, then security and liability are going to be an issue with outsourcing IT services.
8. Quality of work and Ownership – An IT department only has one customer to serve. They will have more time to spend on the details when delivering IT services.
9. Continuity – Outsourced IT providers struggle with this one. The ability to follow a companies standard practices, different engineers will provide various solutions. 

IT Department Disadvantages

IT department’s disadvantages and weaknesses over an Outsourced IT Provider.

1. Reduce and manage costs – Let’s start with the most significant benefit, cost savings. IT Management systems, labour, holidays, training, tools, and even physical space can remove from your IT budget. 
2. IT Support when you need it – IT providers can cover outside of business hours, weekends, and don’t require holidays.
3. Pay for specialised skillsets only when you need them – With access to a diverse skillset, an outsourced IT provider will have more engineering resources with a wide range of IT experiences that your internal department. 
4. Invest in your staff toolset – Money saved can be re-invested in new hardware and services to enhance the workforce that does the work for the business.
5. Spread the risk with a hybrid approach – If businesses are not comfortable with fully outsourcing all IT services, then they should consider a mixture of internal and external IT resources. For large organisations, this often the best approach.
6. Don’t miss out on the latest technology – An outsourced IT provider will deal with many organisations that require different IT solutions. Over time this exposure to new technologies and the ones that benefit companies can be shared with their client base.
7. Reduce risk with standardisation – With Cloud Technologies, the majority of reputable IT companies will implement mainstream solutions. They will often be resellers for more significant IT providers, allowing easy transferring of IT services to others.
8. Business first solutions – IT departments and individuals can become bored, and over-engineering solutions that don’t provide any business benefit. Outsource IT provider has to generate a profit and will focus on solutions that deliver benefits for their clients to ensure they continue being a customer.
   
9. On-demand Resources – For IT emergencies, a managed service provider can throw resources behind critical events or critical upgrades. This could be people, hardware, and even its key vendors to help.
   
10. Reduce exposure to Cyber Crime – Outsourced IT providers will have real-life experience of cyber-attacks given the diverse range of clients they look after. Often they can demonstrate this further with government-backed and industry lead certifications. 
11. Save with purchasing power – Outsourced IT providers will have higher spending that an internal IT department. They will leverage this for their clients to save money on IT purchases.
    
12. Business-focused advice – Outsourced provider will have IT consultants and business owners that understand the importance of an IT strategy that underpins the companies goals.