1.
A permanent "desktop support" member of staff will cost between £16k - £25k p/a (excluding benefits).
A good outsourcing company can supply more, and end up costing less.
Why? because the companies that outsource have already put in place the processes and systems focused on offering support services.
They have far more resources available so your problems get resolved quicker.
An outsourcing company will have employed some very high-level engineers, not appropriate for general support, but their knowledge allows for the quick resolution of even the most complex problems.
Which, no matter the size of your business, will occur from time to time.
2.
At times, an individual within a company takes on board the IT support role as this is perceived as a cost affective solution.
This is not only a poor use of the individuals time but a common myth that costs the company more through downtime and future system instability due to either the appointed person not having time to stay on top of potential issues or they are unable to perform the duties required.
3.
A permanent person will get ill and needs holidays.
So do outsourced engineers, but the company will have more that can provide cover.
4.
A permanent person has a finite skill-set.
Supporting a business requires an in-depth knowledge of various technologies, amongst others, email, networking, firewalls, Operating Systems, and back office systems.
The outsourced company will have several engineers with different skill-sets to ensure that you always receive top service.
5.
When problems occur outside the skill-set of a permanent support person, they have an interest to learn and expand their knowledge.
Unfortunately, this often means that they make the wrong decision when attempting to resolve a problem, causing:- more downtime for the business, the likelihood that a third-party will need to be brought in at additional cost, and a raised probability of data loss.
Outsourcing resolves this.
6.
Do you have someone with the appropriate skill-set in house to interview this new person? How do you know if he/she is any good? By outsourcing you bypass this issue and will always have someone on hand to fix the problem within a set SLA.
7.
You don't get a guaranteed service level with your own permanent support person.
With an outsourced support contract, you do.
And, you can get detailed reports to show how well the outsourced company has performed.
8.
If the permanent support person doesn't work out, he/she may be difficult to remove and, if he/she has passwords and other administrative access, it can become a problem if there is any bad-will when they leave.
9.
When your own permanent support person is involved in the future IT planning of the business, their opinion is often biased towards their own skill-set, not necessarily the best solution for the business.
10.
You can maximise you cover by having important servers monitored 24 x 7 on a proactive basis which will maximise your up time.
So, it comes down to a couple of things:- * Money.
* Speed of resolution.
* Cover.
* Available resource.
* And, Skill set.
Is there any comparison? Look into outsourcing your business IT support.
You'll be pleasantly surprised.