While only 41 of the Fortune 500 companies consider themselves classic technology companies, that number is misleading. In the modern day, every company is a tech company, no matter the industry.
Consider this, the Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs has stated that the finance firm is actually a technology firm and employs more engineers than the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and other top internet companies.
Meanwhile, Wal-Mart, the #1 business on the Fortune 500, has maintained its position because it was willing – and able – to reinvent itself in the face of Amazon.
Business leaders are constantly overburdened by the increasing amount of business applications that are necessary for success in the digital age.
Whether it be in the enterprise, which sees on average 1,000 apps used, or in small businesses, which sees 72% building their own mobile app on top of the apps they may be for business operations.
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The importance of technology has technology leaders seeking the best ways to structure their IT teams in order to best manage the many business applications that are in use. In many cases, that means deciding whether to focus on building a robust in-house IT department or turning to outsourcing IT to third-party experts.
What Are Your Most Important Business Applications?
The decision of choosing between in-house IT and outsourced IT can only be made once you have a complete understanding of your core IT operations.
The reality is, there is no one solution fits all deal with technology. What works best for some applications may not be suited for others. You want to find the correct balance between in-house and outsourced IT services.
The idea is to find what tasks are best suited for your team. So much of IT is spent on monitoring and maintenance and not enough on innovation and advancing the overall business.
For example, if your current IT capabilities are bogged down by tasks as simple as helpdesk support, putting those tasks into the hands of a trusted party can free up those operational resources.
Additionally, think about where your resources are located. Is your IT staff comprised of numerous remote workers or spread out among different offices? Is your internal team supporting remote locations from one business?
If that’s the case, outsourcing IT to monitor remote workers and offices would be no different than having an internal team travel to do the same.
In-House IT vs. Outsourced IT:
It’s all about balance. Whether it is a balance of tasks within your current IT team or with a managed IT services provider, you want to find what structure works best for your operations.
In-House IT
With an internal IT team, you can rest easy knowing that there will always be experts in-house that specifically tend to the business applications that only apply to your operations. These team members intimately understand how your business operates and no outside partner will be able to replicate that type of knowledge.
Consider the most efficient makeup of your internal team around your business applications.
You may have an entire project manager overseeing the implementation and development of various applications. That team may consist of various specialists, support leads, developers, and IT security that may require a single person per role.
By having all of these roles and positions in-house, you are able to build a team that ideally will work with your specific business applications for many years, and become intimately familiar with how to run your business at every level of applications development and deployment.
Outsourced IT
The biggest concern among CIOs remains securing IT talent. Each business requires its own skill set, and hiring for that skill set can be time consuming and costly.
Look at what it costs to maintain each individual on your IT team, and what it could cost to add members. IT skills are in high demand and those workers demand a wage that represents that demand.
You may also have to worry about turnover which presents its own problems, as you then have to go through the motions of training acquired talent to your specific operations.
Depending on your business applications, it may be more cost-effective to seek third-party support rather than constantly maintaining a staff on-site that requires a specific set of skills.
Managed services partners provide that experienced team that not only can handle the challenges that your business presents, but also stays consistent.
By outsourcing, you don’t need to worry about the specific makeup of your IT team. Those decisions are taken out of your hands.
But it’s not just taking hiring off your plate, outsourcing can reduce costs and improve business efficiency so that your remaining in-house IT can focus on innovation rather than just maintaining current systems.
Choosing to outsource puts the responsibility of having the necessary tools and skills on the third-party partner, freeing up your own operations costs.
Struggling to Structure Your IT Team?
Let us help eliminate the guesswork
Outsourcing with Application Management Services
Finding the correct structure for your IT team can be a strenuous task. As a technology leader, you want the best possible structure for your business applications in order to achieve as much growth as possible.
A common form of outsourcing IT comes in Application Management Services. This is the act of a third-party providing constant support for your apps.
Your AMS provider can handle tasks that may bog down your internal IT team(s) like maintenance and monitoring. This includes required application tasks like releasing patches, bug-fixes, and any other necessity.
The idea behind AMS is to alleviate unnecessary pressures from your own IT team. Think about all that goes to maintaining an app, let alone multiple apps.
Spending valuable resources on a rotating cast of IT can make it difficult for internal teams to constantly maintain the security and overall stability practices that are needed for a smooth and efficient practice.
Whether it be the enterprise or small- to medium-sized businesses (SMB), the cost of maintaining an efficient IT team may hold back the growth of your business. If that’s the case, consider an AMS provider.
Resolute Technology Solutions specializes in providing expert Application Management Services for businesses looking to simplify IT operations. Contact us today to learn how outsourcing your IT operations to experts who care for your business can allow you to focus on doing what you do best: support your customers.
Learn More…
- Common IT Challenges Fast-Growing Companies Face and How to Resolve Them
- What to Do When Important IT Talent Quits
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