Blog

IT Outsourcing: For the Good of Your IT Staff

January 24, 2018
Backup, Cloud, Colocation, Data Protection, Disaster Recovery, Hybrid IT, IT Services, Network

There are many great reasons to outsource certain IT operations — and you’ve likely heard them before.  

Outsourcing can help you convert capital expenses to operating expenses and variable costs into predictable costs, making budgeting easier. It can enable you to focus in-house resources on core business activities rather than on the tedious, never-ending maintenance requirements like installing software patches. Outsourcing to the right company can also provide you with access to expertise, new technologies and tools that your team doesn’t possess. 

One of the biggest but least talked about benefits of IT outsourcing, however, is improving the lives of your IT staff. While many IT professionals fear outsourcing because they worry about job security, the reality is that outsourcing can make their jobs better — less stressful and more meaningful.

Stretched Thin IT Staff

IT is increasingly essential to businesses in just about every industry. But in many companies, IT departments are understaffed and overworked. IT employees often find they spend more time “putting out fires” than identifying and implementing technology solutions that can help their organizations’ goals.  They’re not able to use their skills and expertise to the best of their ability; they’re too busy handling day-to-day IT tasks and often have tow work beyond a 40-hour week just to keep up. There’s no time for taking on major projects such as a cloud migration that could generate significant benefits for their companies, much less for staying on top of the latest IT security vulnerabilities or technology best practices.  

Many IT professionals also find themselves charged with handling tasks they aren’t necessarily proficient in or that they lack the resources for effectively managing. Tight deadlines, demanding end users and upper management expectations add to the stress. Let’s not forget that overworked employees can lead to less-than-attentive employees. When it comes to IT, that can lead to serious consequences.

The Benefits of Outsourcing for IT Employees

Offloading IT tasks to the right third-party organization can ease the stress on IT staff. Rather than “replacing” staff, IT outsourcing frees staff from time-consuming, day-to-day maintenance so they can focus on projects that can help move their organizations forward — projects that are often more fulfilling, enable IT staff to play a key role in their companies’ success, and that ultimately can lead to greater job satisfaction.

There’s less need for excessive overtime when the third-party company can be counted on to take on some of the work. As an extension of the in-house IT staff, these third-party organizations can also share best practices and lessons learned with the internal IT staff, helping them to increase their knowledge and skills so they can become more proficient in what they do and less stressed in handling tasks for which they might lack sufficient know-how. Bottom line: IT outsourcing can help IT staffs become more satisfied with their work, and less likely to become burned out and quit.

Outsourcing to US Signal

Improving the lives of its IT staff was one of the primary reasons a large benefits provider chose to outsource its data center and backup operations. It selected US Signal for the job because US Signal offered the “total package” — people, products and services. (You can read the customer’s story here.) As a result, the organization's IT staff is no longer having to work so many extra hours. They are also able to be "responsive to the business rather than worrying about what the next hardware or software upgrade is going to be."

To learn how US Signal can ease the burden on your internal IT staff, as well as deliver the optimal solutions for your IT needs, contact us at 866.2.SIGNAL or email: [email protected].