When should you outsource your IT support is a common question amongst SME businesses, and as with most things in business, there is no one answer that works for all.
Most businesses get started by setting up their own technology, calling on friends and colleagues to help where they can and relying on everyone’s best friend Google for everything else.
And this makes sense… most people start businesses on a limited budget and quite frankly, there are much more important things to spend this limited budget on that will see a higher ROI such as Digital Marketing.
Once you have your IT systems initially set up, managing them should not take up much of your time and it’s time spent which is the first metric that you should think about when considering outsourced IT support.
What is the value of your time?
As with everything that you look to outsource, it is important to understand the value of your time. Looking at this alone can be a great first step to help you calculate your budget for IT support.
If you charge per hour for your services, this is an easy calculation. However, many sectors do not charge in this way, making this calculation a little more complex but it is well worth the effort.
Are you an IT expert?
The second consideration is quality, most people have the ability to set up and manage a simple computer network, and even those who are not very technical often surprise themselves with what they end up knowing after spending a few hours on Google.
However, regardless of how much you learn along the way, partnering with an experienced IT support business will result in a more efficient, secure and robust network.
Security should be a serious consideration. Since the introduction of the GDPR, data breach fines have increased drastically and having an experienced IT support business to manage and secure your systems can drastically reduce the risk to your business.
Therefore, outsourcing your IT support should be done as early as possible, the simpler your IT setup the easier it is for an IT company to begin support without disruption to your business.
So… When is the right time to outsource your IT support?
Simply calculate the value of your time and use this to calculate your maximum budget. Once you have this figure, ensure that you are comfortable spending up to this.
There are IT support options available for all budgets, you often get what you pay for and you should always look at value over price.
Outsource Everything can help you select the right option, find the right partner and ensure you get the best value for your budget, if you are looking for IT support now, click here to get started.
