Monday, October 06, 2008

IT Outsourcing - Some of the Pros and Cons

There are many pros and cons of IT outsourcing you might consider when you are looking for the right support team. It is very important to make the right decision for your department to be successful.

When you have employees that work for you internally, you have the benefit of team members who are already onsite. These employees are available to fix problems as soon as they occur. They are often on call and will come in on the weekends or in the middle of the night.

When you select IT outsourcing you often have to wait for the people to be available to fix your issues. This may cause bigger problems and cost a lot of money depending on how long you have to wait.

Employees in an IT department know the equipment better and are capable of fixing things quickly. Employees are often the ones who set everything up, and they know the quirky things that occurred during setup as well as the configurations.

When you practice IT outsourcing you might get a different person each time you call about an issue. This may take hours to fix a problem because they need to learn the system.

There are positive sides of IT outsourcing which can make it a tempting solution. If you are tight on a budget and cannot afford full-time IT staff within the company, outsourcing is the best option. You save a lot of money because you are not paying salaries for positions but rather as the people are required to come in and fix issues. If you never have issues then you never pay for anything. You also don't have to pay for benefits to employees when you outsource your staff.

There are many pros and cons of IT outsourcing which you may consider when needing to put together a staff of IT people. You first need to consider your budget and what is right for you and the company.

Determine your needs and how often calls are coming in for help with the computer systems too. These factors can help you make a smart decision.

Nick Pegley is a marketing expert with All Covered: Technology Services Partner for Small Business, providing information technology consulting and IT services in 20 major U.S. metro areas. Outsource your procurement, installation and technical headaches...