You bring out several valid points about outsourcing IT for SMB organizations.
However, if an SMB is looking to outsource its existing IT support, in whole or in part, they will need to completely re-assess their expectations, needs, finances, security and business support goals. Similar to hiring consultants or contractors for a business or IT effort, the firm needs to consider all the benefits and detractors to this option.
As just two example, lets consider support and security expectations.
For a growing SMB, their stereotypical business creativity and speed to market are expected to be played out and supported by their IT support team. An inhouse IT team can provide that level of dedication at a known cost: salary + benefits + late night pizza & RedBull. An outsourced IT support team, however, will enact SLAs and escalation policies, and higher hourly costs.
On the other hand, what inhouse IT staff tends to offer in dedication and flexibility they give up in scalability, and vice versa for outsourced IT.
Related, inhouse IT staff can make business-oriented exceptions to security guidelines more readily than an outsourced IT team. The former can make decisions and offer more creative solutions in shorter timelines because they are solely focused on their business' needs. An outsourced team, however, must always meet the minimums of and deliver towards the ideals of their contracts and SLAs. Further, the firm needs to implement more, not less, security oversight by internal IT management, for compliance requirements to "watch the watcher".
In short, an SMB considering outsourcing their IT support needs to be sure to include in their analysis the impact to their own bottom line when inserting another firm's bottom line into their own processes. Will the theoretical benefits of outsourced IT's depth and breadth play out in real world delivery? Are the cost discounts and failovers in place to balance an outsourced IT's missteps and failures sufficient to overcome their greater costs? Are their efficiencies in scale greater than their lost efficiencies of shared resources?
Larry,
You bring out several valid points about outsourcing IT for SMB organizations.
However, if an SMB is looking to outsource its existing IT support, in whole or in part, they will need to completely re-assess their expectations, needs, finances, security and business support goals. Similar to hiring consultants or contractors for a business or IT effort, the firm needs to consider all the benefits and detractors to this option.
As just two example, lets consider support and security expectations.
For a growing SMB, their stereotypical business creativity and speed to market are expected to be played out and supported by their IT support team. An inhouse IT team can provide that level of dedication at a known cost: salary + benefits + late night pizza & RedBull. An outsourced IT support team, however, will enact SLAs and escalation policies, and higher hourly costs.
On the other hand, what inhouse IT staff tends to offer in dedication and flexibility they give up in scalability, and vice versa for outsourced IT.
Related, inhouse IT staff can make business-oriented exceptions to security guidelines more readily than an outsourced IT team. The former can make decisions and offer more creative solutions in shorter timelines because they are solely focused on their business' needs. An outsourced team, however, must always meet the minimums of and deliver towards the ideals of their contracts and SLAs. Further, the firm needs to implement more, not less, security oversight by internal IT management, for compliance requirements to "watch the watcher".
In short, an SMB considering outsourcing their IT support needs to be sure to include in their analysis the impact to their own bottom line when inserting another firm's bottom line into their own processes. Will the theoretical benefits of outsourced IT's depth and breadth play out in real world delivery? Are the cost discounts and failovers in place to balance an outsourced IT's missteps and failures sufficient to overcome their greater costs? Are their efficiencies in scale greater than their lost efficiencies of shared resources?
Mark Cummuta
CIO