CEO Julie Bishop discusses the whys and hows of outsourcing services to get the best outcome for your business.
If your business relies on IT to run successfully, you could take the view that it is one of the most important parts of your business.
But managing your own IT Infrastructure can be a real headache. You can’t be experts at everything, so outsourcing this crucial element or any others could save you time, leaving you to focus on what you are best at.
What is Outsourcing?
“Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity that is or could be done internally” – Wikipedia.
Reasons for Outsourcing Services
Outsourcing can be a key tool for companies and there are several reasons why you would choose to outsource some services. The most common is so you can focus on your core business.
Here is a list of some other ideas and reasons to outsource:
- Revenue growth – You could choose outsourcing services like sales, marketing and lead generation.
- Improving the customer experience – choosing to outsource you customer service will ensure they get the best experience with increased availability and speed of reply.
- Save money – by outsourcing your 24×7 IT service desk operation, you don’t have to have lots of staff to cover all the shifts.
- Skills shortage – whether its IT, HR law providers or a Translator for international business let someone else take the strain instead of recruiting and retaining a staff member.
The most common types of work businesses outsource range from accounting functions, IT Services to recruitment.
Tips for Successful Outsourcing
There are many horror stories of unsuccessful outsourcing agreements which you may have heard and could be clouding your judgement.
So how can you make sure you get it right?
- Think about why you are outsourcing and what you want from them.
- Don’t just focus on cost but on value.
- Think carefully about your contract and what drives your payments.
- Ensure you trust the company. However much you may have tried to think of everything there will be something you missed (global pandemic for instance)
- Remember you still are accountable for the process you outsource. Ensure you have regular meetings with the outsource company so you are aware of what is happening and can continuously improve the process or consider any changes in legislation or technology.
A great outsourcing services agreement means that you can be confident your processes are being managed well, by companies that are experts in their field.
The outsourced company should be on top of any legislative changes and will be able to keep you compliant, taking the weight of your shoulders. You will have a team of experts to call on when you need them and it should cost you less than managing the process in-house.
At IT Naturally we focus on our customers and managing their IT Infrastructure, so we outsource to experts in legal and marketing. We aim to have a trusting partnership with companies, not a transactional relationship.
IT Naturally is a Managed Service Provider who can look after your IT Infrastructure.
