Give Your IT Support Some Support

Through my experience in the WA IT industry I find that there are two clearly defined company sets:

1. Those that have internal IT capacity, and
2. Those that outsource their IT capacity

I have always wondered why this is because in my mind these are not mutually exclusive things and the two functions are really not comparing apples with apples.

Internal IT capability is generally intended for the strategic growth of a companies technology. This gives rise to title positions such as Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Operations Officer (COO).

What gets me is that there is this understanding that your University-Multi-Degree-Educated late twenties-to-early-thirties guy or girl who earns $80k+ for these expertise and experience are expected to help someone with iTunes as much as they are expected to develop strategic road maps for the technological strength of a company.

My questions with relation to this are:

a) What is more important? iTunes or the technological strength of a company?
b) What do you think the time of a CIO is worth as compared to that of a junior network admin?
c) How long do you think your CTO is going to stick around when they are bogged down with iTunes and email queries rather than being able to get on with the "important" stuff like new network roll-outs and platform development projects?

I think if we surveyed the internal IT capabilities of many companies the answers would be the same:

*I get bogged down with the little things
*I cannot get the big stuff done on time
*I have been fixing Outlook problems for too long!
*I am looking for something more strategic

So why are companies not outsourcing the little things and using their internal IT capabilities for what they are meant for?

The great thing about outsourcing companies is that the education level and experience of the technicians is the same if not more varied as they need to be able to deal with everything that is thrown at them. The even better thing is that there is more than one technician on the help desk - which means that there is a technician to fix that weird problem that your internal guy may have to re-educate himself on for pure lack of exposure.

"Your internal IT specialists know your
company. They know the business
that you are in the same way
that everyone else in your company does."

Another fantastic thing about outsourcing the day-to-day support of your network is that it costs much less than putting on the full-time expertise that you'd need on hand for such work.

You don't have to house more bodies in your office if you outsource this function, so what you pay is all you pay. There are no hidden costs such as power, phones, PC's and mobiles. All contracts are clearly defined.

SLA's (service level agreements) ensure that you get the best service all the time. No waiting for the bosses PC to be fixed first, everyones problems are sorted out in the same time frame when required.

So does this mean that I should get rid of my CTO and replace with outsourced help desk?

NO!

Your internal IT specialists know your company. They know the business that you are in the same way that everyone else in your company does. This is important because they can then guide you to the best way to enhance, grow, consolidate and make efficient the technology in your company. This is the important position that they have. An internal IT specialist is a strategic position that should be given the room to help enhance the company, not just keep your networks head above water.

So here it is: the best way to juggle the internal vs outsourced debate.

There is room for both and the best way is, in fact, to use both.

So to find out more about outsourcing your Support Services, please contact Evolve IT. We can help you out Australia wide and have the awards to back it up.