How Much Does IT Support Outsourcing Cost?
This question is a bit tricky because each company has different needs and requirements.
Most companies start with a basic service package that consists of remote monitoring, help desk, server management software, updates, procurements, and essential cybersecurity protection. Other organizations have more complex needs such as cloud hosting, cybersecurity requirements, and dedicated on-site assistance.
Managed IT providers that offer customer-facing applications and more integrated line-of-business applications will charge you a higher fee. But you get what you pay for. A more expensive outsourced IT support provider is more likely to deliver high-quality support and resources that your business needs to operate efficiently.
The costs of outsourced technical support services are almost synonymous with the service provider’s operational maturity level (OML). The costs should reflect how well the service provider functions. Your IT support partner needs to work with your business to prevent unnecessary IT costs and offer high-quality service for the fees involved.
If you outsource your IT support to Unity Communications, we offer you a pricing model that you can customize according to your company’s needs. With our flexible tech support packages, you pay only for the services you avail of. You no longer have to pay for employee benefits, other infrastructure expenses, and labor costs.
Advantages and Disadvantages of In-house IT Support
An internal IT department consists of dedicated tech support specialists who work in-house. They’re responsible for solving tech problems when they arise.
Advantages of In-house IT Support
- Troubleshooting: You can view the issue at hand. Being able to view the equipment under examination in front of you is a significant advantage when the issue is hardware-related.
- Access to one IT infrastructure: Your in-house IT department works on only one system—yours. The IT support specialists can easily get used to your processes and build a detailed picture of your network. This can help them solve problems faster and more efficiently.
- Company culture: You can be selective about whom you hire. You can choose only the candidates who fit your company culture best to improve collaboration and productivity.
- Training and education that match company requirements: Having an in-house team means that you can tailor training for them. Continuous training helps your company and your employees grow.
Disadvantages of In-house IT Support
- Higher costs: The biggest sticking point when it comes to in-house IT support is the cost of hiring staff. A two-person IT team can cost you upwards of $50,000 a year. It is a significant investment, and you have to consider if it’s a sustainable model for your business.
- Annual leave coverage: Internal IT teams are usually small. If somebody is on leave or sick, this will affect your levels of IT support. Of course, you can combat this by not allowing more than one person to be absent at the same time, but you cannot control people who fall sick.
- IT support covering only 9-5: What will happen if your IT team goes home for the day and you encounter a problem that requires urgent attention? Internal tech support teams cannot report to work outside their shift. If your business is open for long hours, it can be hard to cover all hours with an in-house team.
- IT employee replacement: Problems also occur when IT support staff resign. You must replace them quickly to maintain the level of IT support your business needs. But doing so takes a long time.
- One IT employee not knowing everything: Internal IT teams have a vast knowledge of their own business IT, but their knowledge and skillset are often limited to what they have experienced within those boundaries. When taking on a larger IT project, such as cybersecurity, you will probably need to outsource it anyway.
- High levels of trust: People you employ have full access to your networks and business premises. There’s potential for this to be a huge security risk. If the information falls into the wrong hands, it can cause lasting damage.
Conversely, IT support outsourcing allows you to work with an external service provider that looks after your system remotely. Outsourcing gives you the freedom to choose which provider to work with.
Advantages of IT Support Outsourcing
There are plenty of reasons to invest in outsourced tech support. Here are some of them:
More time for your core business: The most significant advantage of outsourced IT support is that you can shift your attention where it needs to be. An external IT support provider like Unity Communications manages your IT on your behalf so that you can focus on your core business.
Access to professional expertise: Unity Communications offers your business access to expert IT professionals who are always ready to answer questions and offer solutions when needed.
Quick IT support solutions: Unity Communication provides remote IT support in short order. With our help desk and remote monitoring system, our highly trained IT support specialists offer solutions to your untimely IT support needs.
Security risk reduction: Our IT support experts at Unity Communications prioritize compliance standards and regulations. When you outsource to us, you eliminate risks related to sensitive information and data breaches.
Employee performance improvement: Our dedicated help desk service improves productivity and minimizes downtime. Outsourcing to us guarantees error-free troubleshooting and better overall performance.
Up-to-date technology: New IT trends are constantly springing up. You remain on top of the latest developments at a fraction of the infrastructure maintenance cost by outsourcing your IT support to Unity Communications.
IT operating cost reduction: Our IT support services reduce the risks of expensive network problems and tech-related downtime so that you can save more. Unity Communications provides a detailed breakdown of the costs so that you know exactly how much to pay. No hidden fees are guaranteed!
24/7 coverage: A good IT support provider offers 24/7 support. Our help desk is always available, be it 3 PM or 3 AM. You can reach us anytime, no matter the need.
Fountain of knowledge: Our IT support staff at Unity Communications undergo rigorous training to ensure proficiency in information technology. They are more experienced and knowledgeable than an in-house IT support team because they have worked with various companies across different industries.
What IT Support Services Can a Company Outsource?
There are many services that a company can outsource to a BPO company. Here are seven that Unity Communications will offer if you outsource your tech support to us:
- Security and compliance: Security is the backbone of any good approach to IT management. Security and compliance are both essential to preventing data breaches.
Our IT support team at Unity Communications helps you enforce organization-wide security policies, improve auditing practices, and roll out configurations for best cybersecurity practices.
- Network management and server management: Your business might face several issues—viruses and system failures, for instance. To protect yourself and stay updated, you must monitor and maintain your hardware and software. For that reason, you need a dependable and secure network.
Outsourcing your tech support to Unity Communications helps you manage your entire network remotely. We mitigate outage-related downtime using our proactive monitoring system. You rest assured that your operations are running as smoothly as possible.
- Application and cloud management: Businesses need to keep their cloud environments under control to ensure normal operation and avoid jeopardizing security. Migration to cloud computing has numerous financial benefits.
Our IT support experts at Unity Communications make your transition to cloud computing as smooth as possible. We orchestrate and automate software deployments, secure your software as a service (SaaS) apps, and set up your file-sharing privileges. Working with us enables you to manage single sign-ins for accessing related systems.
- Backup and disaster recovery: Loss of data can have a massive impact on your business. It takes a substantial amount of time to retrieve lost data, causing permanent damage to your bottom line and reputation.
With our geo-redundancy and backup recovery, you rest assured that your data is safe from corruption or deletion. We also manage disaster recovery for you and establish a solid recovery plan for speedy reconnection.
- Data monitoring and insights: Do you have full visibility into the volume and types of support issues your organization faces? By identifying the trends and vulnerabilities within your company, you can make proactive decisions to improve your organization’s security and efficiency.
By outsourcing to Unity Communications, you get full access to a reporting dashboard showcasing relevant data. We offer real-time visibility into end-user requests and determine vulnerabilities within your company.
- Real-time support: The help desk is a crucial part of an IT support department. It’s the go-to resource of all employees for service questions and needs, making it a key player in any well-meaning business plan.
Outsourcing your help desk to us provides your employees with a single source of truth to troubleshoot problems. Our motivated IT support team helps you monitor and respond to user requests and incidents, answer tech-related questions, and manage daily IT activities.
- Employee onboarding and offboarding: Onboarding new employees should be an easy and pleasant experience. Offboarding should also be as stress-free. But that isn’t always the case. Most of the time, getting all the necessary credentials set up and updating security and access permissions can be time-consuming. But outsourcing can make this easier for you.
Unity Communications has transformed onboarding and offboarding into quick and easy processes for our clients. We increase employee productivity from day one. We help you give and revoke user access instantaneously and customize access settings across all department levels.
Technical Support Levels - Infographic