Outsourcing to an IT company can often be the surest path to greater network reliability and budgeting predictability.

What’s the best way to get the right IT support for your business? While the natural inclination might be to hire in-house IT staff, it’s not always the best option. Why? Because hiring IT staff members is a complex process that takes time and careful consideration. Even after you hire someone, there are difficulties to manage, such as vacation time, employee turnover, and the training they’ll need to keep their technical skills relevant. That’s where working with an outsourced IT company can give your business an advantage.

Outsourcing to a trusted managed IT services partner helps you solve all those issues. By giving you on-demand access to a full team of engineers and technicians who are armed with the latest intelligence and tools, you get the assurance that your technology is always well-supported and aligned with your business goals.

Below are some of the warning signs that it’s time to start outsourcing your IT to a trusted partner, instead of going it alone.

Network Downtime Has Become a Serious Problem

Chronic network downtime is one of the killers of business productivity. Reputable sources like Carbonite say that just an hour of network downtime can cost a small business between $127 and $427 an hour, while Gartner found the average cost rises to $5,600 per minute for midsized businesses.

Perhaps you don’t have an IT team, or maybe your IT staff is too small for your organization. In either scenario, if your team can’t handle each of the tasks below with confidence, it may be time to consider outsourcing.

  • Patching and updating hardware and software to keep systems secure and efficient
  • Proactive network health monitoring to mitigate issues before they harm business efficiency
  • Vendor management to ensure that all technology services are relevant to your goals
  • Build and test backup and disaster recovery systems to ensure long-term business health
  • Offer help desk support to resolve IT issues that staff face during their work
  • Manage regulatory compliance requirements and architect the appropriate IT systems

To ensure that important maintenance tasks are completed on time, many companies look to an outsourced IT support provider, like a managed IT services partner. For a single, flat monthly fee, a reputable MSP will help you handle all the above-mentioned work on an outsourced basis, helping ensure optimal uptime, saving you money, and giving your staff the morale boost that comes with reliable technology.

You Want to Add New or Cutting-Edge IT Capabilities

In-house IT staff often become the de facto technology experts in your company, but with the speed at which technology changes and evolves, it’s simply untenable to rely on them for expertise in all areas. The best way to access the latest IT skills and knowledge — without breaking the bank on expensive new hires — is to work with an outsourced IT partner.

Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a transformative new technology that continues to radically reshape how businesses share information, collaborate, innovate, engage with customers, and more. But even in 2020, after over ten years of experience working with cloud technologies, 33% of cloud migrations are still failing to meet their stated objectives.

The reality is that cloud computing success is still not easy. This is especially true when trying to integrate legacy on-premise systems with new cloud-based ones, or ensure optimal security of cloud applications. A reputable MSP with a dedicated cloud team can help you solve those problems.

Mobile Device Management
Today’s workforce is growing more mobile, thanks in no small part to the COVID-19 crisis. But pandemic aside, there’s ample evidence that shows millennial and younger employees all have high standards for their technology, which includes the ability to work from wherever they want using mobile devices.

Managing cell phones, tablets, and IoT devices takes a specialized set of skills and technologies. Whether you decide to go the bring-your-own-device-route (BYOD) or issue company-owned equipment to your staff, those devices (and the data on them) will need to be properly managed, tracked, and maintained to keep sensitive information away from unauthorized hands. Most of those skills are outside the expertise of an in-house IT team.

Managed IT services providers will help you ensure the success and security of your mobile solutions.

They’re helpful in things like:

  • Choosing the right mobile device management platform for your organization
  • Updating and patching mobile devices and applications for maximum security
  • 24/7 security monitoring for remote devices to detect security threats early

You Understand the Importance of Cybersecurity

Achieving and maintaining strong cybersecurity protections is a persistent challenge for businesses of all sizes. A global lack of cybersecurity talent means that even enterprises that have the resources to hire cybersecurity staff have a difficult time finding and keeping them. Small and midsized businesses that lack those resources are left to fend for themselves.

Because there is essentially no way SMBs can achieve strong cybersecurity protections without outsourcing, established MSPs have taken great length to design cybersecurity offerings that empower their clients to face their security challenges with confidence.

Outsourcing cybersecurity to a trusted partner allows you to realize enterprise-grade cybersecurity on a SMB budget.

  • 24/7 cybersecurity monitoring and incident response
  • Hardened network infrastructure that’s configured for maximum security
  • Deployment of other best-in-class security tools, like anti-malware software and firewalls
  • Cybersecurity awareness training for each department and role in your company

You’re Still Relying on Hourly, Break-Fix IT Support

For some small businesses, working with a break-fix provider who comes onsite and repairs your technology only after it’s started malfunctioning is an important phase. It allows them to only use support when they need it and keep tight control over cost.

But there comes a time in the development of every business when that ad hoc approach to technology becomes more of a liability than a benefit. Here are some of the indicators that you may have reached that point in your development.

  • Do you feel your business could be benefitting from technology in ways that it’s not currently?
  • Are there chronic IT pain points that are hurting long-term profitability at your company?
  • Do you feel your business would benefit from greater network dependability and uptime?
  • Are you concerned about cybersecurity or feel unprepared to mitigate cyber threats?
  • Do you lack a plan for using the latest technologies to increase competitive advantage?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, it may be time to upgrade your IT company and work with a technology partner that can help you address each of those areas, and many others, with confidence.

Complete Network – 20 Years of Award-Winning Outsourced IT Support

After nearly two decades, Complete Network has grown into one of the premier managed IT service providers in the country. If your business in Albany, New York, Charlotte, North Carolina, or Bluffton, South Carolina wants to maximize the impact of its technology while discovering a new level of IT confidence, we encourage you to reach out and see how we can help.

Our friendly, knowledgeable staff is available any time to ask your questions at 877-877-1840.

How To Supplement Your Internal IT Team.

In an ideal world, technology would be a consistent source of competitive advantage and benefit for small and midsized businesses. The reality is that many fail to realize that confidence.

Without the right resources and support, even a highly skilled technology team can become overwhelmed by the growing list of technology management duties. When important tasks get neglected, it creates ripple effects throughout an organization that damage productivity and efficiency.

The co-managed IT services model solves these problems by providing your existing IT team with all the support and resources they need to successfully plan, manage, and defend your network technology.

This guide covers:

  • • Aligning technology with business goals
  • • Reducing churn while preserving institutional knowledge
  • • Empowering your staff to maximize productivity
  • • Achieving the highest level of cybersecurity defense

Download it for free by filling out the form here.