A guide to IT support outsourcing models for SMEs

IT outsourcing models for SMEs can help reduce the IT costs and access new technologies. It begins with understanding which IT operations would benefit from being managed by a third-party service provider, which could be an offshore outsourcer, or someone based on-shore.

It is always good to go with small business IT support for your SMEs because that will help in keeping your business stay ahead of its competition. It can be a difficult task to manage your business; especially when you don’t have IT onsite support; and for that it is always good to have a third-party that acts as your IT department in order to maintain the smooth functioning of your business.

The best part about outsourcing is that there are a variety of possible services. Here is the list of services that small business uses:

•       Infrastructure or Hardware as a Service (HaaS)
•       Backup & Disaster Recovery
•       Email
•       The Cloud or Hosted Services
•       Help Desk or End User Support
•       Data and Network Security
•       Partial IT Support & Management
•       Full IT Support & Management

A lot of businesses are reluctant to outsource  managed IT support initially, but are relieved when they inevitably face IT issues. Choosing to outsource your IT services is a business decision and therefore one should think it through carefully. Think about what kind of IT support services you need for your business, talk with your employees, and then take a decision from an IT perspective.

What to expect from your IT Contract/Service Agreement?

Once you have chosen the best onsite IT Support  service provider, then you should check out the contracts and ensure clarity. Your IT support services provider should willingly answer all your questions, and if they are not willing to help, then that team is not for you.

Here are some lists of things that should be understood and addressed in your contract:

•       Services – What are the services that they are providing and to what extent?
•       Response, reliability and availability – Can you rely on them? Will they be available for you whenever needed? This should be considered, and also their response time when you are reporting an issue.
•       Best Practice Standards and Proactive system maintenance procedures – This should be included in order to maintain the smooth functioning of the business.
•       Operations and Systems Requirements – Escalation procedures and minimum standards of quality of services should be considered.
•       Onboarding process – What is their procedure for onboarding you as a new client? Ask for a plan in writing.

Picking the right company to manage your IT support services is only half the battle. Next is learning how to work with them and communicate properly. You need to be clear with your IT support provider about what kind of communication you expect.  Everything should be transparent between you and the IT service provider, so there aren’t  complications in the future.

Conclusion

Outsourced IT support or managed IT services are a great source for small businesses. The possibilities are endless with fair proof backup and recovery, Think better, more capable infrastructure and support. With the help of this guide, your business can go ahead and pick the right team for your business.