It’s no surprise, really, that the IT world is moving exponentially faster by the day. At the rate things are going, it’s nearly impossible for IT administrators to stay on top of technology changes while also doing their day jobs of running networks, coaching users, protecting data, and prepping for tomorrow’s expanding to-do list. Admins are playing catch-up in an environment that’s simply moving too fast for them – or for any mere mortal.

But, it’s not entirely their fault. In practical terms, IT staffers handle the workload of two or more employees and they rarely have time to stay on top of ever-changing technological advancements in the areas of managed security, managed storage, servers, clouds, network connectivity, applications, and much more. IT professionals require consistent and extensive training, which is time-consuming and also quite expensive.

What to do? Companies large and small have started looking for ways to handle this latest tech crunch, and one of the most common and effective ways of tackling it (before it becomes overwhelming) is by outsourcing. Improved efficiency is the name of the game, whether it is a function of time or money, and outsourcing certain IT functions via managed services from local providers is becoming very popular.

Note that outsourcing is not offshoring: workloads stay local and business relationships are built from the ground up on trust, competency, and expertise rather than on price.

Below are some of the benefits of outsourcing IT through managed services:

Controls IT Costs

• With managed services, costs become variable (depending on work done or services used), which allows a company to budget effectively. This “pay as you go” approach makes sense to many businesses because they only pay for what they use when they need it.

Reduces Labor Costs

• Hiring and training an entire staff of IT professionals is expensive and takes a considerable amount of time. By outsourcing, a company’s focus can be where it needs it the most. Outsourcing means hiring professional data center services at a fraction of what it would cost in full-time, in-house manpower.

Increases Overall Efficiency and Competitiveness

• When companies attempt to do everything in-house, including IT, there are usually much longer research, development, and implementation times, which increases costs. But by using a colocation site, for example, servers and valuable data can be housed in a datacenter with access to greater bandwidth, lower latency, specialist services and systems, and constant security – all at a lower cost.

Helps Implement New Technology Quickly

• A quality IT service provider has the resources to start new projects with new technology right away for a company. Again, handling projects like these in-house generally involves quite a bit of time, which of course means money.

Helps Stay Focused on The Bigger Picture

• Companies have limited resources. Outsourcing can help companies stay focused on their core business and not waste valuable time by making complex IT decisions. Many companies, especially smaller ones, don’t have the time to worry about or troubleshoot issues such as cloud services or network security.

Keeps Risk at a Minimum

• By outsourcing IT services, the outsourced IT company assumes and manages most of the risk associated with the service, including crucial security and compliance issues. Managed security is very important to businesses of all sizes and it’s reassuring to know that a professional datacenter provider is constantly monitoring sensitive information.

Levels the Playing Field

• Small companies generally don’t have the same budgets that larger ones do for in-house support for IT services. Outsourcing can help by giving these smaller companies the same access to similar technology, experience, and expertise that larger companies have. Imagine a managed storage solution as well as network connectivity on par with some of the biggest companies in the world – not to mention the oversight needed to ensure the highest functionality possible.

The bottom line is simply that outsourcing IT services is a smart solution to a widening problem. More and more businesses are turning to managed IT services to help them save time and money – and to remain competitive in their marketplaces.

Sources: smallbusiness.chron.com, essent.com, peer1.com