A wise business owner understands the urgent importance of having an IT support team to ensure the smooth operation of your IT infrastructure, along with the rapid resolution or prevention of issues and bugs in your system. As we progress further to an increasingly digital market, the importance of having a dedicated IT support team can become only more apparent.

There are two general choices when hiring an IT support team. You can either hire an in-house team or you can choose to work with an outsourced team. Whether one is better for your business than the other depends on the specific needs of your business. Understanding the differences between these two hiring approaches will help you decide which is ideal for your business.

Cost

Hiring an in-house team costs more than outsourcing an IT support team because besides accounting for the salaries of your team members, you’re also going to have to shoulder equipment, software, and training costs. Not only this, but an in-house team costs higher in the long run because they get paid regardless of the varying workload given to them.

Inversely, an outsourced IT support team comes with their own equipment, software, and training, which can significantly offset their cost even if their initial asking price is higher than what you would pay an in-house team. This also means that outsourced teams can be deployed much quicker than an in-house team.

Degree of Supervision

The degree of supervision you’re allowed to do also varies between these two hiring approaches. Businesses can supervise in-house hires closely and point out any changes they want implemented for a more personalized approach.

Outsourced teams will often have trade secrets of their own, which means that businesses have less control over their work processes. This also means that businesses won’t have to monitor and manage outsourced teams, which allows them to allocate more resources into other operational aspects such as marketing, customer service, and HR tasks.

Candidate Diversity


With an in-house team, businesses are going to have to be more careful with who they hire because they’re going to be limited to these  few people when delegating tasks. This means that more care should be taken to ensure that the strengths and qualities of each team member complements those of other members.

On the other hand, outsourcing your team relieves your recruitment team of these problems as IT support agencies have well-rounded teams, and they also assemble their teams based on what clients need.

Security

An in-house IT support team will be far better for your security not just because of the implied loyalty they ought to owe their employer, but also because they are monitored closely thus adhere to your security standards. The fact that they also work within your business premises allows them to use the security measures you have in place. Outsourced teams do not work exclusively with one client, which means that businesses will have to be careful with the information they share with outsourced team members.

Which Approach Is More Beneficial?

Generally, small businesses would be better off by outsourcing their IT support team because these businesses need to prioritize growth, which means that cost-efficiency and rapid deployment are important. The fact that outsourced teams need less supervision also allows startups to focus on growing their business. A small business IT support team will also grant small businesses access to hardware and software that they would not have been able to afford otherwise.

Established businesses stand to benefit more from in-house IT support teams because these businesses prioritize security (as they will likely have an extensive collection of customer data) and they require a tailored approach to their unique business model.

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