Comprehensive IT management is incredibly complex. It requires a whole lot more time, effort, and dedication than most small & mid-sized business leaders realize. From selecting the right tools and platforms to integrating products and services into workflows across different departments to securing and supporting each and every device and scrap of data, a great IT team is worth their weight in gold.
Most importantly, hiring the right partner is a critical decision to the health of your business. Top-performing managed IT services firms and their clients are well-prepared for the unknown and unexpected. That’s why companies who had chosen a great IT partner before the COVID-19 crisis hit were able to seamlessly transition their people and operations and quickly adapt to the new work-from-home world.
Running a small or mid-sized business is no easy task. Today’s business leaders face unprecedented challenges such as COVID-19 restrictions, protests and strikes, and navigating ever-changing government regulations. Frankly, our current challenges make major issues like employee retention and managing cash flow look downright routine.
Yet in this period of constant change, IT has become ever more important. For many companies, their technology platforms have become their new “office” as they operate primarily or partially in a virtual setting. With many employees working from home for months or even years to come, executives and managers need to make sure their teams have the right tools and techniques to get the job done and keep their companies moving ahead.
That’s why having the right partner who provides IT management services is so important. With the world constantly changing, it’s nearly impossible for small to mid-sized businesses to navigate all of the technology and security challenges without a professional IT team to help. Building an internal team is expensive and time-consuming. That’s where a great managed IT service provider in Seattle comes in.
Architecture, Legal, Real Estate, Non-Profits, and Construction.
Why Companies Choose Managed IT Services Provider vs. Hiring Internally
For most growing small or mid-sized businesses, the choice comes down to whether to build an internal IT team or partner with an outside firm that provides IT management services (also known as IT consulting or outsourcing).
Building an internal team is a huge undertaking. It usually takes a year or more to build an internal IT department from scratch. Internal IT departments require a minimum of three unique skillsets to work correctly:
To provide leadership, strategic direction, planning & budgeting, and oversight of the rest of the team.
To design and manage the more complex elements of the IT systems, such as the network, servers, security and cloud services.
To provide the routine hands-on and remote IT and software support services that your team needs to get their job done.
Just as you find highly specialized trades in the building and construction world (i.e. an electrician, finish carpenter, or plumber), each IT role is also unique. Hiring a single IT generalist rarely results in a positive outcome for the business, as no one employee has all of the specialized skills required to perform each of the IT functions a growing company needs. As a general rule, it makes little sense to hire internally for IT roles if your annual IT operating budget is less than $300,000 per year in labor-only costs. That’s about the minimum it takes to pay for salary, benefits and employer-side taxes for the three roles listed above.
The alternative is to hire an outside IT firm that provides IT management services. Also referred to as IT outsourcing, these firms are essentially a pre-built IT department for hire, and they specialize in efficiently managing and supporting the IT needs of multiple small and mid-sized businesses.
Managed IT services providers (MSPs) typically perform at a much higher level than a small internal IT department could ever hope to. The reason for this is twofold:
For small and mid-sized businesses that are evaluating how best to comprehensively solve their IT management challenges, partnering up with a top-performing service provider is almost always the best and most cost-effective choice.
Partnering with a managed IT services firm allows you to harness the skill and efficiency of a full IT department at the cost of a single internal employee.
At Dynamic Computing, we’re here to walk with you at every phase of your workplace IT growth. From security services to strategic planning to backup and recovery, we’ll keep your work safe and on track.
This isn’t a band aid fix or a one-size-fits all model. This is managed IT tailored to your business operations.
Let’s get started. Contact Dynamic Computing to begin laying the groundwork for your business’s IT success.
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