Outsourcing IT services can be a daunting prospect for any company. There are many concerns that come with handing over critical services to an external party, including potential risks to the company's ROI and reputation. Despite these fears, outsourcing IT, applications, and customer service support can provide numerous benefits and can play a crucial role in a company's success.
So, at what point does outsourcing IT services become necessary? And how do you choose the right outsourcing IT services company?
What Is outsourcing services?
Outsourcing services is when you hire an external company to perform or provide services you initially performed or provided in-house.
Many companies across many different industries outsource their IT operations, application support and customer service support services to increase customer satisfaction rates and maintain a good reputation and ROI. However, some companies are still under the mistaken assumption that keeping those services in-house is more cost-effective.
The truth is technical challenges can be time-consuming to resolve. outsourcing IT services can actually save time and money. As a company grows, so does the need for seamless business processes and a reliable technical support system. outsourcing IT services is a wise financial decision to support your company’s growth. In fact, IT outsourcing spending alone is expected to reach $519 billion in 2023.
Why You Shouldn’t Avoid outsourcing IT services
Disorganisation and poor management of internal operations can cause employees to feel overwhelmed and, in drastic situations, even desert your company. Flaws in internal process management, such as a lack of IT, applications and customer support services management, lead to delays and missed deadlines - ultimately damaging your company’s reputation.
Furthermore, a business ill-equipped to manage all departments efficiently is more likely to lose track financially and put itself in jeopardy. To avoid these disasters, outsourcing IT services is a viable option.
The Benefits of outsourcing IT services
Outsourcing IT, applications and customer service support through a trusted company allows you to focus time and resources on your core business activities. This can help overworked staff, improve processes, and boost team motivation.
Outsourcing IT services to a specialised, organised, and dedicated IT, applications, and customer support services provider offers extraordinary benefits. These include:
- Cost savings, achieved with strategic outsourcing IT services that enable your company to stick to a smaller budget and only pay for what you need.
- Greater competitive advantage, achieved by streamlining operations and focusing on your core business services.
- Expert consultation for any complex technical issues that arise.
- Timeous access to IT, applications and customer support services.
- Reduced equipment costs, as your company won’t need to purchase equipment specific to customer support processes (such as headsets and microphones).
- Increased availability to customers, as high call and email volumes can be difficult for a company to navigate; an outsourcing company will provide those services 24/7.
- Flexibility. Regarding customer support services, outsourcing IT services can quickly be adjusted to handle large influxes of communication from customers.
A Fully Outsourced Model that Strategically Improves IT Operations
Five Signs You Should Start Outsourcing IT Services
Is your company ready to start outsourcing IT services? Are you convinced that you truly need it? Here are several signs that it might be time to outsource:
Unmanageable Workloads
Outsourcing IT services can help alleviate staff members' multitasking burden to keep up with customer service. Outsourcing certain tasks allows the workload to be evenly distributed, and employee satisfaction will not be negatively impacted. Overworking employees is not healthy or wise, as it can jeopardise internal operations and lead to burnout. By outsourcing IT services, companies can prioritise employee well-being and maintain productivity.
But if you distribute work more evenly and thus remove the pressure from your current employees, you have a better chance of reducing employee turnover and boosting productivity. So how do you achieve this? Either hire more staff, which is costly and time-consuming or outsource certain services to an external company guaranteed to deliver what you need.
Financial Strain
It’s challenging to track what your employees and clients need while tracking how your operations impact your company’s profits and losses. The slightest disorganisation could be hugely detrimental to the company, and juggling responsibilities isn’t fun for you or your employees.
Cost-effectiveness is a key benefit of outsourcing IT services, applications, and customer support. Outsourcing can help businesses cut costs, particularly if companies provide services in places where operational expenses are considerably lower. Consider how in some cases, the exchange rate is in your favour.
Unsuitable Local Hires
If you can budget for hiring new staff, there’s no guarantee they’ll have the appropriate work ethic or skills to perform the tasks to a high standard. Regardless of how well the interview went or how great their CV appears, you still have to toss the dice and hope for the best.
To avoid a disappointing hire or simply the time and energy it takes to recruit and train them, rely on reputable external experts for outsourcing IT services.
If day-to-day operations are overwhelming and routine tasks occupy most of your team’s time, your employees will become demotivated and dissatisfied. Innovation will slow. Creativity will take a hit.
You know it’s crucial to generate new and relevant ideas in your business; it keeps you relevant and competitive. The good news is that when you rely on an experienced partner for outsourcing IT services, you create opportunities and capacity for new ideas, products, and ventures within your company.
In the modern world, technology constantly evolves, and businesses of all sizes and across all industries must be flexible to survive. Rapid fluctuations in the economy exacerbate this pressure. Outsourcing IT services can solve this problem by allowing companies to benefit from the latest technology and expertise without having to bear the costs of hiring and training in-house staff. However, if a company’s internal operations are rigid and outdated, weathering the storm outside will likely be more challenging, and business failure is imminent.
Outsourcing IT services, applications and customer support services give companies an edge, with the benefit of a team of professionals who are well-prepared to keep up with technological changes. This gives you and your team the flexibility to focus on core business operations.
Here are several indications of a trustworthy outsourcing partner:
- Specialisation. Your business will receive more effective, efficient, and higher-quality service by selecting a outsourcing IT services company that specialises in the service you need to outsource. For example, who better to resolve your IT problems than IT professionals?
- Organisation. Assess the prospective outsourcing company from the start, and pay attention to any tardiness, slow responses, or frequent rescheduling of meetings. These factors are red flags that point to unreliability.
- Communication. Lack of communication, confusion about goals and protocols, and a fundamental misunderstanding of your company’s needs clearly indicate an ineffective company.
- Customer Satisfaction. Research the company in question and see if you can find positive client testimonials and reviews; these reinforce the company’s trustworthiness.
- Employee Training and Development. Companies that value employee training and development are interested in equipping your business with a strong workforce.
- Infrastructure. Outsourced services must have good technology and reliable infrastructure to avoid outages and unavailability.
- Affordability. A budget-friendly company would be ideal; however, carefully verify what your business should pay before underpaying or overpaying anyone for their services.
solverASSIST offers reliable and effective IT applications and customer support services tailored to your company’s needs.
We provide technical support for your middleware, monitoring, and managed technologies, among other niche products. Our application services cover everything from liner and BI to financial applications and Salesforce support to guarantee that your company’s operations run smoothly.
With solverASSIST’s specialised help-service desk and escalation management services, your customer service requirements are handled timeously and professionally so that you can maintain world-class customer service.
Contact us today for outsourcing IT services that empowers your business and sets you up for success.