As the way businesses work has changed, so has the nature of IT support. Businesses, both large and small, are choosing to outsource their IT in a move to decrease costs, increase flexibility and improve service levels.

Technology is widely recognised as a source of competitive advantage to drive business efficiency and save costs. Cloud computing enables people to work flexibly and effectively from any device, in any location, at any time. This ubiquitous access means companies and their staff are more productive, but also more dependent on their IT systems.  Ensuring these systems are ready and able to meet demands requires ongoing administration and maintenance.

This is where IT outsourcing comes in. Managing and securing your increasingly complex and interconnected systems requires specialist technical skills, which are often too expensive to source in-house. Similarly, ensuring your staff are supported 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, simply isn't cost effective for many organisations.

IT support companies, often referred to as managed service providers (MSPs), leverage economies of scale and invest heavily in people and technology to cost effectively deliver high service levels. Through proactive monitoring and maintenance, they identify and resolve issues before they impact your business.

Businesses often fear that outsourcing means losing control. This doesn't have to be the case. Compromises are required but these should always be by mutual agreement. Moreover, outsourcing doesn't have to be an all or nothing equation as MSPs can complement in-house skill-sets to fill necessary gaps. We increasingly work alongside existing IT teams to provide out of hours or specialist technical support.

Top five benefits of IT outsourcing:

•           Lower costs: The average salary of an in-house IT manager is £30-40k (plus recruitment costs and associated benefits). Outsourcing keeps your overheads down and reduces costs to a fixed, monthly fee.

•           Breadth of expertise: The skills required to manage today's IT systems are diverse and finding someone to deliver helpdesk support, networking, backup, security and strategy can be difficult. Outsourcing gives you access to a team of experts to support all facets of your IT system.

•           Reduced risk: Relying on a single internal IT manager or designated employee can be risky. What if you suffered a critical failure whilst they were on holiday, off sick or in a meeting? Outsourcing guarantees resource availability 24/7, 365 days a year.

•           Quicker resolution times: Outsourcing removes dependence on a single person for support. Two people can report problems and receive help simultaneously.

•           Improved performance: IT companies on fixed price contracts are heavily incentivised to improve your system reliability and security, as every failure, outage and problem costs them money. This results in better managed and updated systems, improved performance and increased business productivity.

The benefits of IT outsourcing are available to all organisations. Small businesses arguably have most to gain by accessing expertise and technology which levels the playing field among larger competitors. Finding a trusted IT partner will not only improve the security, reliability and performance of your systems, it will reduce your costs and empower you to work more efficiently.

For more information visit www.foration.com