Delegation is the key that unlocks success in business, freeing you and your team up to handle tasks that best match your abilities and skills sets. But what happens when delegation causes more problems than it solves? Selecting the wrong IT solutions provider can cause a variety of costly problems. You must compare internal resource vs outsourcing when it comes to your IT infrastructre management. Training, upgrades, and mindset changes may be needed, even with quick fixes. Watch out for these 6 hidden causes of cost escalation when choosing an outsourced IT support provider (and learn more about how the right choice of outsourced IT support will benefit your company).
1) Contract Exclusions
Know what is covered in your support agreement – and also what isn’t. If a vital service or item of software isn’t covered by the contract with your outsourced IT provider, you could be stung with additional fees whenever you have a problem with it. Those fees can quickly add up!
Examine the contract carefully and thoroughly before signing to avoid any nasty surprises.
2) Additional Training Charges
As your business grows and changes, you will need new staff and new equipment to meet the challenges which come with scale. Often, this will mean training for new staff members, or additional courses for existing personnel. Your IT contract might not provide for this training.
Quality IT support providers will discuss options and offer mutually beneficial service packages. Seek out those providers which are flexible and which appreciate that the business landscape changes constantly.
3) Upgrades
So you’ve negotiated a low price for IT infrastructure management – but what happens when you need to upgrade or refresh systems and equipment? Upgrades to be expensive and may not be covered by your IT services contract.
What’s more, we’ve heard reports of unscrupulous IT support contractors hitting their clients with expensive and unexpected upgrade projects within weeks of the contract being signed. Don’t deal with firms like this.
4) Increased In-house Workloads
The point of outsourcing IT services is to reduce the pressure on in-house teams, to boost efficiency and improve service delivery. However, there is always a danger that outsourcing can have the opposite effect.
If your staff members are using valuable time and resources to manage contracted IT specialists, it represents a serious drain on efficiency. Remember to include the work of contractors in your regular efficiency appraisals – and make sure you are getting the value promised in the sales pitch.
5) Quick Fixes
Papering over the cracks is always a bad tactic, but in IT services it is a recipe for disaster. If the contractors you have enlisted to handle your IT services are not putting the appropriate systems and protocols in place to guard against future problems, this could cause you a variety of issues down the line, including data loss, database security breaches and other potentially catastrophic occurrences.
As any business owner knows, problems and issues cost money, so these temporary solutions could be putting you and your company out of pocket in the long run.
6) Reactive Mindsets
A common problem that many business owners report is that some IT service teams operate reactively, rather than proactively. This means they deal with problems only after they occur (and after they’ve had an impact on your business). That isn’t optimal as it fails to eliminate downtime associated with IT issues.
Good service providers will deliver a combination of things which will advantage your business, including planning, preparation and procedures, backed with advanced infrastructure monitoring software, to avoid problems before they happen. Make sure that’s the approach taken by your IT services provider – and avoid costly delays in the future.
Leap Consulting is the outsourcing solution provider of choice across Western Australia and beyond. With a proven ability to deliver support that improves operational efficiency, isn’t it time to see what we can do for your business. Download our free ebook, ‘8 Mistakes Businesses Make When Outsourcing Their IT’. Or, feel free to contact us on 1300-532-748 with any questions you’d like to discuss.
