Outsourcing is happening all over the place. It doesn’t matter if it’s machinist parts, call centers, or clothing manufacturers, it is all being outsourced. But what about IT? IT outsourcing is a bit of a different animal.

Outsourcing your IT department can be done through your local cloud provider – if they have that as an option, and if they do not, then you may want to reconsider your provider. In today’s world of cloud computing, there is not much need for an IT department, at least, not in the traditional sense. All of your hardware and software needs can be performed by a reputable managed service provider.

What is IT’s Function at your firm?

In many cases, insurance firms find that their IT department is a money pit. A constant flow of money goes into them just in case something bad happens. Yes, they still do maintenance on the servers, and install applications as they are needed, and update software as necessary, but that can all be outsourced. Unless you are a large enough firm that requires a team to constantly update your infrastructure or gather new departmental strategies for your internal network, then you are probably spending money unnecessarily.

Get Rid of Your Servers

Servers can be located off site. In fact, they should be located away from your home office in case of a natural disaster. A fire that damages your office building can also reach your servers. All of the daily operating functions of the insurance firm and client data could be lost. You may have had the foresight to backup your servers to an alternate location in the city, but if the disaster is a hurricane or tornado, then your data is still at risk. IT outsourcing allows you to keep your servers and your data, safe at a completely different location. It is possible that this data could be stored in a completely different state.

Maintenance

There are a couple of things to remember about outsourcing your IT needs. First, if set up correctly all your applications and day-to-day systems are stored on the server remotely. Second, your computers can link to these remote servers via a virtual computer network. What this means is that if your office did burn down then you could still access everything from your home via your laptop or tablet. In fact, if authorization is given to the employees, they could all access the servers remotely.

Although it may take a couple of weeks to get your office up and running again, it does not mean that you cannot work during the renovation process. Find out more, and download the white paper: Small Business Networking.

Servers are fully maintained by the managed service provider who is responsible for your outsourcing. Updates are automatically applied as needed, and any hardware issues are automatically fixed at no further cost to you. In a more positive direction, if your business grows and you have no issues, then you are not paying excessive salaries for IT employees. Also, since everything is done virtually, if your office grows and you need to add more computers, then all you have to do is install the computers at a workstation, and connect with your login credentials. Employees can be up and running within hours, and sometimes less than an hour depending on your provider.

IT outsourcing allows you to pay a monthly or yearly subscription, and be finished with your IT services. Almost everything your IT department is doing right now could be done through your outsourcing company. The difference is if your IT department has issues then they will contact you with estimates on how much it will cost to fix everything. A managed service provider has analytics and in many cases can fix issues as they develop, instead of waiting for problems to expand. They fix the issue, there is no extra bill, and in most cases you won’t even know anything happened. Don’t wait, get a free assessment now!