Looking to hire an IT professional or specialist? Considering outsourcing your IT department to a managed IT service provider like Midwest?
As IT technology continues to expand its global reach, its systems have become more and more complex over the years. An IT professional or an outsourced partner is a necessary position to ensure your business system functions correctly.
Understand the pros and cons of having an in-house vs an outsourced IT solution for your business. Then, choose the approach that works best for your business.
Hire an In-House IT Professional
Is your business looking to hire an IT specialist in-house? Let’s explore the pros and cons.
Pros
- Hired to fit within the existing company culture, mission, and vision
- Trained according to the company’s specific IT needs
- Can potentially fill roles outside of IT if needed
- They can become an inhouse workflow expert on certain software or programs
- They are physically onsite to review issues immediately
Cons
- Challenges of hiring a qualified and experienced IT professional and then retaining them in a competitive market
- Added costs of being an employer including taxes, insurance, headhunters, potential liability and more
- Limited expertise to one or a small group of in-house IT professionals
- Poor after-hours availability for IT-related issues
- Turnover is expected and very disruptive to the company
- IT Employee’s expectations or passions may not line up with the company’s needs
- Outsourcing is still needed on certain types of projects
- Typically internal IT employees have a hard time recognizing business needs and can have limited perspective on both technology and current industry standards. Complacency can become a real threat
- A disgruntled/malicious IT person has the ability, access, and potential to wreak havoc with much less recourse and oversight than a company would have with external IT
Outsource IT
When a company is looking to outsource or use dedicated outside consultants and IT partners it means it’s leaning on external resources to perform operations and functions. Why would an organization want to hire an IT professional from outside of its company? Outsourcing has been an effective solution for global businesses to increase labor productivity, and reduce investment costs. Outsourcing to a local company can carry competitive advantages for firms looking to stay on top of their technology needs.
Pros
- A team of experts with both a depth and breadth of experience
- Dedicated support hours as required are built into the service and staff
- Fixed costs
- Stability and reliability with a larger team
- Scalability up and down as needs organizational needs change
- No turnover or disruptions when employees leave
- Higher levels of experience with all the types of projects the business may perform along with quick team changes for different types of work
- Significantly higher level of expertise with projects and workflows than a internal team could be expected to posses. Useful for companies that don’t have the resources to hire subject matter experts in multiple areas
- A strict focus on the needs of the business without getting sidetracked on personal projects or interests
- A experienced management team focused on delivering quality results derived from business goals. Accountability for all employees
- Dedicated project managers
- Constant exposure and experience with industry standards across a variety of environments can help identify and solve problems quickly. All solutions are paired with a business plan
Cons
With the right outsourced team like Midwest, there are considerable advantages to outsourcing. But like hiring any professional service, the quality of your IT partner can lead to challenges such as:
- Communication issues with managing an external team
- Higher-than-expected service provider costs can occur if scopes of work are not clearly defined
- Data security requirements must be understood, outlined and met by all parties
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