For centuries, there has been this concept in the business world that the best companies are internally self-sufficient. It is considered ‘best’ to have in-house staff for every function you require, from balancing the books to marketing the product. Hiring contractors and outsourcing expert-level work has been seen as some kind of failing on the part of the business because they did not already have an internal employee to handle certain business needs. But let’s face it, this is a remarkably corporation-centric viewpoint.
Big companies with multiple facilities and fully staffed departments have a lot to gain by touting their in-house resources. But the business world has changed significantly since the 80s big-business corporate culture reached its peak. Today, a startup has a real chance to make it big while remaining sleek and efficiently staffed. Through online technology, a small business can make as much of a difference as a corporation with a great website and a popular e-store.
The key is optimizing your IT solutions, from the right office network infrastructure to your business management software to a superbly designed website. With the right technology, you can make a big-business sized impact on the world and your target market from a small office with an even smaller team.
Why In-House IT is So Impractical for Small Businesses
Of course, you may be wondering how that is possible. No matter what your industry may be, it’s true that good IT implementation takes the work of an expert team of technicians. One IT professional is almost never enough. The IT skills needed to set up a competitive small business tech infrastructure are almost never seen in a single person.
To properly set up even a small business with high-end IT infrastructure and support, you need a diversity of very skilled technicians. A hardware tech to set up your office and computers, a network administrator to create a fast, secure network, wifi, and guest wifi for your office. A security admin to make sure you are as safe as possible from external attacks, and a web developer to make sure your website is up to the same quality standards as your office IT.
There’s no way most small businesses can internally hire an IT team of the caliber you need. You neither have the budget to pay them all industry-competitive salaries or the resources to compete for their high-demand skills. And, to be fair, most of these technicians only need to spend a few hours or perhaps a few days on your system before it is properly set up. After that, your need for IT services drops to a modest maintenance level. Meaning that even if you did internally hire all the technicians you need, you would soon be paying them to do busy work when everything is functioning correctly or you would have to shortly let them go.
This is actually why specialized tech agencies that offer managed IT services formed in the first place. To fill a need in the market for small businesses to receive the same high quality IT infrastructure and support that big businesses build with their internal IT departments.
The Small Business Alliance: Outsourcing Together
The IT industry is in a very interesting position right now. Consider the small business IT needs. The pattern of work is inconsistent. You need access to the full IT squad of experts for your initial setup, then the amount of work drops significantly. Then, when you need to restructure, update, or open a new location you need the whole team again. It would be impractical both to hire an in-house team or to try and ‘go it alone’ without support for big projects and disaster recovery.
As it turns out, the availability of IT technicians is in a reciprocal state. There just aren’t enough skilled technicians to go around. Due to a supply shortage, it would be impossible for every business with a tech infrastructure to hire their own in-house team. In this unique situation, outsourcing is the solution that has worked out best for everyone, especially small businesses who only need the occasional use of an entire IT department.
IT services agencies are also small businesses. But rather than running a retail shop with a staff of clerks and managers, they put together expert teams of diversely skilled IT technicians and admins. Together, their business model is to share the workload for dozens of other small businesses who need intermittent IT support. This clever plan ensures that each technician always has work to do within their specialty even if each client company only needs a few days of any particular kind of IT support.
Outsourcing IT Is the Best Solution for Small Businesses And Tech Teams
If you have been wondering if outsourcing your IT needs is a good idea, let us answer with a resounding “YES”. There’s no need to compete with the big corporations to hire top IT talent for your in-house team, especially if your business won’t be needing constant advanced support. Instead, join the small business alliance of outsourcing.
Just as a restaurant is happy to cater lunches for a business without an in-house kitchen staff, or your business would be happy to offer your services to another small business in need of your expertise, don’t be afraid to outsource your IT needs with a team that is ready to provide. In the modern era, small businesses can get an incredible edge on bloated and slow corporations by banding together.
Hire only the staff you need for your day-to-day functions. For managed IT services and the ability to call on the full-force of an independent IT department, outsource!
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Here at Kraft Technology Group, we believe in the small business alliance of outsourcing. Your business, your clients, and your budget deserve the most practical plan for fulfilling your needs and our expert team of technicians is ready to help. Contact us today to find out more about the outsourcing services we provide and how we can help your small business gain a big-business tech advantage. Let us be your IT department!
