MSPs vs. In-House IT: Which is Better for Your Business?
You may ask yourself, “Which is better for my business – hiring and maintaining an in-house IT team or outsourcing to an MSP?”
In this article, we will explore the benefits that both MSPs and internal IT teams have to offer.
The first consideration is your organization's size. If you have a relatively small team, the economics of having an internal IT resource are often challenging, unless there are special circumstances. For example, if you are a small team of highly profitable day traders and lost computer time translates to tens of thousands of dollars, you may consider having a full time team member on staff. There's not a good reason to not do so.
Response time is the next topic. If you are a law firm with a response time mandate of 5 minutes or less, you should give consideration to an internal resource as a third party is going to struggle to staff to those response times on a consistent basis. Is that response time really needed? Maybe.
Large scale manufacturers can also have a strong reason to have an internal resource to aid with specialized equipment to keep production operating.
When working as desired, an in-house IT resource is also a good cultural fit with your team and technically competent. These are very valuable attributes. Recruiting, hiring, training, managing and retaining quality IT resources is difficult for any organization -- even more so if your expertise lies in another field.
When you have an "IT resource", you generally need to consider having more than a single individual to provide the desired level of service when your primary team member is taking PTO or is busy with another user. This holds true also if you have more than a single location.
The reasons companies outsource their IT support include:
Scalable teams -- navitend has a large number of qualified staff to assist your user base, even after hours.
Experience and qualifications - navitend has team members equipped to handle a wide variety of technologies, vendors, equipment and software.
Leadership - You need guidance not only for your current needs but to be prepared to respond to shifing needs of the marketplace. navitend leads clients through a comprehensive business, technology and security review to help you navigate obstacles and opportunities.
Cost - navitend provides service at a fraction of the cost of adequately staffing an internal team.
After this discussion of MSP versus In-house IT, there is one other alternative worth considering -- Co-Managed.
With Co-Managed IT support, there is typically a W2 team member available to do things like wrestle with a printer jam with timeliness backed up by a professional team from navitend.
Not sure if an MSP is right for you, give us a call to explore your options. Not ready for a call, consider these four questions:
1. Do you trust the guidance and service you are receiving from your internal or external IT team?
2. Do you get adequate responsiveness for your business?
3. Are your IT needs resolved in a time-frame which works for your business needs?
4. Are you receiving Value from your investment in Information Technology? Value is Benefit divided by Cost.
If you can answer all four of these questions to your satisfaction, congratulations, you're doing great. If not, consider giving navitend a call.