5 Cost Benefits Of External IT Support Services

When you own a company, run an organization, or are responsible for technology, cost is always on your mind. You want effective solutions that will give you a leg up on the competition, but you need to weigh that against the potential financial implications.

We get it. We work with lots of companies like yours and understand the constant cost vs. benefit analysis running through your mind.

In this article, we’re going to define a couple of options for external (or outsourced IT support) and then we’ll jump into an explanation of 5 cost-effective benefits that external IT support services can provide for your business.

Armed with this knowledge, you’ll be able to make an educated decision about whether external IT support services might be a good solution for your organization.

And, don’t worry; I’m not writing this article to convince you to work with us. We take great pride in our ability to provide honest, unbiased information that business leaders can use to make the right technology decisions for their organizations.

What Is External (Or Outsourced) IT Support?

External IT support services can range from a break-fix arrangement to fully managed IT support services.

Depending on the size of your business and the complexity of your technology framework, one of these options could be right for you.

Related article: Outsourced IT Services & Solutions For Small & Medium-Sized Businesses

You may decide that you want to focus on your business and have someone else handle some or all of your technology needs.

You may have one internal staff member who handles the day-to-day technology requirements of your users, but need help with strategic long-term planning. You may want help with a project like a cloud migration or an infrastructure upgrade. You may need help addressing compliance issues.

The services you are looking for will play a role in deciding which type of IT support services would be best for your organization.

What 5 Cost Advantages Can Outsourced IT Services Provide?

While there are many cost advantages that outsourced IT services can provide, we’re going to talk about the top 5 benefits, so that you have an idea of the kinds of savings you can achieve.

1. Shared Professional Cost

When you work with an outsourced (or external) IT support services provider, the cost of services is divided among the provider’s customers. In other words, you pay your “fair share” for comprehensive services, but you don’t get stuck paying the entire costs.

With IT expertise at a premium, the cost of having the full complement of IT experts you need on your internal staff can quickly escalate into several hundreds of thousands of dollars (and more), making external IT support an attractive option for many small and medium-sized businesses.

2. Proactive Long-Term Strategic Planning

When you have an effective partnership with an external IT partner, they can help you develop proactive, strategic plans to support your organization’s goals for the future. This makes is possible for you to be prepared to provide what your organization needs and avoid surprises. 

If your business is on a growth trajectory, an outside IT support organization knows that you’ll need not only an increased number of devices, but also potential infrastructure adjustments that may be required to support the addition traffic on your network.

Helping other organizations through growing pains has seen organizations succeed and fail, making them a great resource to help you figure out what you’ll need.

Outside IT support service providers can also help you plan for the near and longer term.

They know the questions to ask to get you thinking about your future goals (not only for your technology, but also for your entire organization) and can help you put in place the technology to support your future endeavors.

3. Security Advantages

When you have a small (or nonexistent) internal IT staff, it is unreasonable to expect them to stay on top of the patching, updates, and maintenance required to secure your network. Add in the ever-changing cyber threats and it quickly becomes apparent that something is going to slide.

An external partner knows what it takes and has technical experts dedicated to following cybersecurity developments so they know how to keep your organization’s infrastructure safe, available, and efficient.

By proactively maintaining your equipment and installing updates, your provider helps your organization avoid the financial and reputational costs associated with cyber incidents, the inconvenience and disruption of recovery efforts.

4. Responsiveness

External IT service providers can be responsive in numerous ways.

First, they can respond quickly to your service requests minimizing your downtime.

Second, some providers focus on proactive monitoring and maintenance which helps avoid issues before they even happen minimizing expensive and unexpected repairs.

Third, if the person handling your network leaves, the provider is responsible for assigning a new person, so there is no interruption of your service and no hiring hassle.

Make sure you know which type of provider you are working with so that you know what to expect.

Related article: What Is A Normal IT Response & Service Time? 5 Things To Know About SLAs

5. Flexibility

Every infrastructure needs the same elements of care, just on a different scale. When you work with an outsourced IT service provider, you pay for what you need; nothing more, nothing less.

While most providers will recommend a minimum level of service to ensure the security and efficiency of your technology backbone, they also have experience with scalable solutions that can provide options for seasonal businesses or organizations that are experiencing growth.

For example, rather than investing in on-premise server solutions, they may work with you to migrate to a cloud-based solution that can easily be scaled up or down to meet business needs.

Related article: In-house vs. Cloud-based Servers: The Pros & Cons For Business

What’s The Bottom Line?

Before you consider working with an external IT support service provider, make sure to really think about what you need and explore your options. 

After reading this article, you understand some of the potential cost benefits of external IT support. It's fairly easy to understand how sharing professional services can be a cost-effective solution.

Some of the less tangible but equally important ways that outsourced IT support service providers can help you achieve cost savings include proactive long-term strategic planning that can minimize the costly, urgent repairs that often are necessary to minimize your organization's down time. 

Security advantages help to minimize your cyber risk, which saves you the cost and downtime associated with cyber incidents.

An outside provider often is more responsive, providing faster, more effective solutions in addition to proactive monitoring and maintenance which can help your organization avoid issues before they even hit your network. This yields increased productivity and efficiency as well as less user aggravation and down time. 

Responsiveness includes providing seamless transitions when there are personnel changes on your IT team. With an outside provider you have the flexibility of paying only for what you need, reducing the overhead costs associated with hiring full-time staff. 

The bottom line is that only you can decide whether working with an external IT support service provider would be a good choice for your organization. If you are considering it, we encourage you to explore several options to ensure that you get one that is the right fit for your business. 

Learn the 10 best questions to ask any external IT provider.