Many basic IT services are very general and not business
specific. Services such as anti-virus protection, data backup
and IT support can benefit from the economy of scale an
outsourcing organisation offers. For a small business taking
care of these areas effectively may prove difficult. While there
is a cost associated with outsourcing there is a far higher cost
to not maintaining and looking after IT services.
The main benefit outsourcing can offer is expert support
without the associated inhouse costs. It can take care of
systems security, data backup or even provide complex system
support. For small business the key attraction here is that
expert support. Even in organisations with their own IT support
there may be some benefit through the outsourcing of selected IT
services.
A further advantage of outsourcing is that a business can
choose which individual services to allocate to an outside
provider. Different services can be provided by different
suppliers, although this may involve extra management.
A potential downside of outsourcing can be the loss of control
over IT systems and possible loss of expertise to the business.
This is true if there are key systems that the business depends
on. This may not be what the business wants, especially if it
has invested heavily in technology.
One way to overcome this possible loss of control is for an
organisation to agree levels of service with their outsourcing
partner.
These should include
© Guarantee of service
© Specified service hours
© Level of support provided
© Security policies for customer systems
© Data Protection policies
IT outsourcing is not a panacea and for some SMEs it may not
provide any immediate solutions, but given the growing
complexity of IT systems, it is something that should be
considered.Just because a business is small it doesn’t mean it’s
not entitled to quality support.
specific. Services such as anti-virus protection, data backup
and IT support can benefit from the economy of scale an
outsourcing organisation offers. For a small business taking
care of these areas effectively may prove difficult. While there
is a cost associated with outsourcing there is a far higher cost
to not maintaining and looking after IT services.
The main benefit outsourcing can offer is expert support
without the associated inhouse costs. It can take care of
systems security, data backup or even provide complex system
support. For small business the key attraction here is that
expert support. Even in organisations with their own IT support
there may be some benefit through the outsourcing of selected IT
services.
A further advantage of outsourcing is that a business can
choose which individual services to allocate to an outside
provider. Different services can be provided by different
suppliers, although this may involve extra management.
A potential downside of outsourcing can be the loss of control
over IT systems and possible loss of expertise to the business.
This is true if there are key systems that the business depends
on. This may not be what the business wants, especially if it
has invested heavily in technology.
One way to overcome this possible loss of control is for an
organisation to agree levels of service with their outsourcing
partner.
These should include
© Guarantee of service
© Specified service hours
© Level of support provided
© Security policies for customer systems
© Data Protection policies
IT outsourcing is not a panacea and for some SMEs it may not
provide any immediate solutions, but given the growing
complexity of IT systems, it is something that should be
considered.Just because a business is small it doesn’t mean it’s
not entitled to quality support.
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