How To Do More With Less Maximize The Value From Your It Staff Or Outsourced Provider

In a recession, it becomes even more important that you focus on maximizing the efficiency

of the person or group in charge of running and maintaining your IT infrastructurewhether that individual is you, another employee or an outside provider.

Internal IT Resource

If you currently employ an internal resource, its worth asking: Is information technology the only responsibility this individual has? If not, how much time and effort is this person investing to manage and maintain your IT? If this employee didnt have peripheral responsibility for IT, what other activities could he or she be working on that would add value to your company and your customers and help boost the bottom line? As a part time IT person, does this individual have the expertise to handle all your IT needs adequately, or do you still need to bring in an outside person on occasion?

If you are considering bringing on a dedicated IT employee, how do you know when having such a resource is a luxury? In the metro Atlanta area, a full-time IT staffer will easily command $5,000 per month plus benefits. You also have to factor in the hidden costs of training to keep this individuals knowledge base current in a field that is constantly evolving. How does that cost compare to outsourcing this function? And what are the quality and service-level trade offs of the different outsourcing options?

Hourly Outsourced Service Provider

If you are paying an outsourced provider by the hour, the question becomes: How do you minimize this expense? And when do you know if (or when) youve gone too far in cost cutting? In other words, how do you optimize the value of your hourly contract? A duct tape approach to IT maintenance and repairone where you avoid calling the hourly-rate service provider every time you shouldcan lead to catastrophic equipment or software failure. The cost to recover from such an event can easily dwarf the cost of an extra service call when there was still time to prevent the problem altogether.

Managed Service Provider (MSP)

In the past few years, a trend has emerged for small and midsize companies that want big company services at small-company prices: the IT managed service provider (MSP). This model is not for everyone. However, in light of the current economic slowdown, a growing number of businesses are finding that this approach makes better economic sense when cash flow, costs and risk exposure are all factored in. Most fixed-fee MSPs offer a number of benefits that are even more relevant in a recessionary environment. They include:

1. Ability to budget a predetermined annual amount for IT, which helps avoid budget spikes,spending surprises and last-minute breakdowns

2. Systematic preventative maintenance of the entire IT infrastructure and real-time monitoring for network instability or failures

3. Remote, large-company tools that allow immediate access to your IT network and problems, coupled with scheduled preventative on-site maintenance by certified network engineers

4. Bulletproofing your network for business continuity and disaster recovery, and fully documenting your network.

Because it is less costly to do fire prevention than it is to do firefighting, MSPs practice preventative maintenance. An MSPs cost structure and economy of scale can also give your business an important competitive advantage. Furthermore, because they charge a fixed monthly subscription fee, the burden of keeping your IT running efficiently falls on them.Companies considering this model should make sure that the MSP can both work remotely and come on site. Just as important, they should focus their search on MSPs that do not benefit financially when they recommend hardware or software purchases. That means they are not a vendor.

by: insol

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