In this digital era, almost every business relies on IT at some level to run multiple operations. Day to day operations, communications, customer relations, manufacturing, and finance are all powered by software and IT systems. Therefore, businesses can only be as good as their IT systems. Application failure or unexpected downtime can frustrate end users and devastate your bottom line.
Apart from just putting Software and IT systems in business, It needs to be maintained and updated as technology evolves. You need to ensure you’re using the latest functionality and techniques, that your methods comply with industry standard and regulations, and not least, that your systems are secure, efficient and robust to avoid breakdowns that could impact business continuity and reputation.
As business owners, we may sometimes feel that we need to know every detail and micromanage every single process that involves our business. What we fail to realize is that we really can’t do everything. If we truly want to make our business grow, we need to find people or company that’s going to do a better job on your product than you could do yourself, hiring onsite people so we can focus on the core business functions that will lead to better chances of an ROI. (If you want to know more about how to select the right technology partner please review our article here.)
The cost of onsite or poor IT “Support”
Modern day software and IT systems require full-time management in the digital lead business place. However, many organizations, even those that operate in the ‘tech’ sector, still view IT not as an integral part of their business strategy but as a back office “support” function.
In many small to medium businesses, this means IT can fall by the wayside hence business do not give more attention to upgrade the skills of the team or systems they are using. Software products become obsolete in every two or three years if it’s not getting upgraded to the latest technology and it becomes unused because they are not fit for long term purpose. As a result, growth potential and efficiency suffer and expansion stalls.
Quite often, this comes down to cost, and when businesses are stretched, funding to upgrade IT functions are not prioritized. But what is the alternative? The cost of poorly maintained IT systems can be detrimental, from simply hindering growth to a major security breach.
The ultimate goal for any business is growing and that can only be achieved when you’re free to focus on the things that drive the biggest ROI. Creating new products, developing your service, improving your scalability… those are efforts definitely worth your time. Taking care of the paperwork, sorting out payroll problems, making sure your software and website is running properly or designing an advertisement are not.
Why Do Companies Outsource?
There are many reasons why a company may choose to outsource certain business functions. Some of the most common reasons include:
- Reducing and controlling operating costs
- Improving company focus
- Gaining access to world-class capabilities
- Freeing internal resources for other purposes
- Streamlining or increasing efficiency for time-consuming functions
- Maximizing use of external resources
- Sharing risks with a partner company
But these reasons aren’t enough to implement a successful outsourcing program. Companies must ensure they consider every component and can meet the requirements for successful outsourcing. In the early days, cost and headcount reduction were the most common reasons to outsource. Today, the drivers are often more strategic and focus on carrying out value-adding activities in-house where an organization can best utilize its core competencies.
Focus on core processes that require your attention and let someone else do the rest
Outsourcing your business processes would free your energies and enable you to focus on building your brand, creating new products, invest in research and development and move on to providing higher value-added services.
Freeing up the time to focus on what is truly important is, of course, a lot easier said than done. For most small business owners every minute of every day is already crammed full. So what are your options? For many firms, one of the most popular is to outsource. Choosing an outsourcing company that specializes in the process or service you want them to carry out for you can help you achieve a more productive, efficient service, often of greater quality.
For many businesses, the primary driver for choosing to outsource will, of course, be cost efficiency, and this does have a significant impact. By outsourcing your IT management, you reduce the costs of maintaining infrastructure and training people to implement new systems, mitigate security risks or fix problems.
Outsourcing can also help to make your business more flexible and agile, able to adapt to changing market conditions and challenges while providing cost savings and service level improvements. You minimize the risk of investment while gaining greater flexibility and agility: your IT support provider should be able to recommend products and systems that support your business strategy and scale as your requirements grow.
Here are Top Five Benefits of Outsourcing
- Lower cost with better quality: When you outsource software development, you gain access to a large pool of talent and technical expertise which lead you to stronger products and better ROI.
- Get access to skilled expertise: Everyone knows how frustrating it is to go through the long process of hiring employees yourself, but when you outsource, you recruit an entire team quickly sometimes within a week.
- Outsourcing frees up capital for growth: Saving money isn’t just smart; it’s a necessity for most companies. Why? Saving money frees up capital you can invest elsewhere in your business.
- Staffing Flexibility: Outsourcing certain independent tasks, allows your business to maintain financial flexibility when there is an uncertainty in demand. You can scale up or down comfortably.
- More innovation and possibilities: Outsourcing team has the experience of working with multiple clients in multiple domains. They can share a huge amount of knowledge with you about what can work and what doesn’t.
GTC is a leading outsourcing company that specialises in providing dedicated remote staff and offshore staffing services. Learn more about our services.
Our vision and promise as a technology partner is that the allocated team will perform well as one that was hired in-house by you and we practice well structured code, tested, and optimised for the intended environment; and that technical documentation is accurate and user friendly.
