The positives

When you have your own IT department inside your business premises, it can offer a number of advantages, including:

• The ability to speak to them in person straight away in order to solve any potential problems.
• Quick and easy support thanks to them being on your premises.
• The chance to get an eyes on view of any issues, which can be especially advantageous when the problem is to do with hardware rather than software.
• In-house teams will only be working on your systems, which should mean issues get fixed quicker, as there’s only one system for them to learn.
• Employing people in-house, means you can tailor training to them and make them a part of your company culture, which can help improve productivity.

The negatives

On the flip-side, there can also be a number of disadvantages to having your own in-house IT support department, including:

• The cost of having an in-house IT support team can be quite high, due to having to hire more members of staff. It’s a big investment that might not be a sustainable model for your business.
• Usually in-house teams are small, which means if one person falls ill or goes on holiday, your support level can drop severely. You might be able to encourage holidays for one person at a time, but you can’t control sickness.
• Internal support is only useful when it’s in the office, as soon as the team goes home for the day, any issues that arise can’t be fixed. If your small business is open for long hours, you may find in-house support simply can’t cover the all the hours.
• If a member of the team decides to leave your business, or you had to let them go, it can be difficult to replace them, and train a new person up quickly.

Outsourcing your support could be the best solution

Although there are some advantages to having your own in-house IT support for your small business, the most cost-effective and efficient solution could be for you to outsource your support.

Outsourcing can save your business thousands a year, when compared to creating your own in-house department. A dedicated outsourced IT support company will have access to more resources than an in-house team. They will be able to tackle any issues much more efficiently because of this, even when they can’t come to your business premises. Most problems can be fixed before you’re even aware of them, thanks to outsourced IT support having a much more proactive approach to fixes.

Many outsourced IT companies have many years of experience and expertise behind them, at Prism we don’t use third parties, instead we use our own highly experienced onsite and remote engineers, who can use their industry leading knowledge to deliver an award winning service. You’ll find that having an in-house team often means you simply won’t get access to this level of experience.

Unless you hire quite a large in-house team, you won’t get access to the same amount of support hours that an outsourced company can offer you. Outsourcing business IT support means less downtime and improved productivity, meaning you can switch the focus back to your other growing business requirements.

If you’re considering outsourcing your IT support as your small business continues to grow, then there are a few things to look out for. At Prism, we know that the success of your whole business can depend on having the right level of IT support and security. So please get in touch with the team today, to find out how we can help.

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