Today, IT and business are linked at the most fundamental level. From enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that streamline manufacturing and logistic workflows to customer relationship management (CRM) tools that enhance client interactions, IT systems are now playing a pivotal role in business operations across all industries.

Given that high level of dependance, when an IT disruption occurs it’s not just an inconvenience, it’s an expensive crisis that can decrease productivity throughout your organization, harming customer relationships and impacting your company’s bottom line.

The IT help desk play a crucial role in minimizing the frequency and severity of downtime events, but the question remains: Is it better to hire an outsourced IT help desk provider or run your help desk team as an in-house function? For most small and midsized businesses, it makes more sense to outsource to a trusted provider. Here’s why.

1 – Maintain Peak Company Efficiency

At Astute Technology Management, we feel the primary goal of an outsourced IT help desk solution is to keep your company’s staff working at peak efficiency, not just to support your technology. Business outcomes are the priority; stable IT is just a means to that end.

Handing  IT help desk to a reputable managed service provider (MSP) helps you make this critical shift from focusing on pure IT outcomes to comprehensive, strategic business outcomes. Our team has decades of experience helping businesses make this cultural shift and can help your team make a smooth transition to comprehensive, proactive IT management.

This perspective shift ensures a broad alignment between your IT support and business goals, keeping your staff engaged and productive, and allowing them to concentrate on their core tasks.

2 – Avoid Costly IT Hiring Cycles

Hiring IT staff internally can be a challenging process that involves identifying the right talent, familiarizing them with your culture and technology, upskilling them as needed, and keeping them happy to reduce churn. These are all persistent struggles, especially considering the high demand for skilled IT professionals.

As of last year, 4 in 5 employers are reporting hiring challenges. Outsourcing the help desk to a trusted MSP eliminates the complexities of internal hiring, reducing HR costs, alleviating stress, and ensuring a consistent and guaranteed level of service quality. It also offers a significant advantage over in-house teams, as the initial capital expenditure associated with hiring and maintaining an internal team would not be applicable.

This reduces internal stress, frees your HR staff of an enormous burden, and provides a cost-effective way to access top-flight IT talent without uncertainty or unexpected costs.

3 – Access Highly Skilled IT Help Desk Technicians

Reputable MSPs invest in training their help desk staff to the highest standards, ensuring that they stay abreast of the latest technologies and industry best practices. Moreover, veteran MSPs often have deep partnerships with leading technology vendors, providing them with access to cutting-edge tools that empower their help desk teams with advanced technological resources that in-house teams wouldn’t have.

The benefit is a team of well-trained technicians armed with cutting-edge IT helpdesk software, providing consistent and efficient support. In today’s dynamic and evolving IT landscape, instant access to a pool of highly skilled help desk technicians can become a source of strategic advantage for businesses.

4 – Stay Focused on Strategically Important Tasks

Outsourcing complex and labor-intensive functions like the IT help desk can free up enormous internal resources for strategic initiatives, driving greater innovation and growth.

For many small- and mid-sized businesses, building, training, and managing an internal IT help desk is simply a distraction from core business goals. No matter how many resources you commit, you’re likely to achieve the efficiency of a veteran help desk team, supported by the latest tools.

Outsourcing to an MSP allows these businesses to concentrate on their strengths without the burden of managing the IT helpdesk internally. This strategic alignment enables organizations to streamline operations, enhance productivity, and pursue growth opportunities.

A recent Deloitte survey shows that even 70% of enterprises are opting to outsource their IT to a trusted provider, yielding an improved focus on core competencies and efficiency.

5 – Ensure High Priority Issues Get the Right Attention

A study by IT service management consultant HDI found that businesses that outsourced IT help desks with proper prioritization saw an average 42% decrease in time spent resolving issues.

An IT help desk provider in your area ensures that your issues are triaged and addressed based on their criticality. Without a well-trained help desk, your IT support tickets can easily get muddled, leading to confusion, slow response times, and inefficiencies.

This prioritization becomes paramount when addressing critical IT emergencies, where delayed responses can result in prolonged downtime for businesses. An orderly approach to IT ticket management based on real-world priority allows teams to focus resources on resolving critical issues promptly while managing less urgent matters as resources become available.

6 – Build a Knowledge Base to Capture Expertise

An experienced outsourced IT help desk team excels not only in resolving immediate issues, but also in proactively tracking and analyzing IT problems through when they’ve been resolved. By analyzing these data, an outsourced IT help desk provider can identify deeper patterns and root causes, establishing a valuable knowledge base that speeds up future troubleshooting.

This proactive IT support approach goes beyond quick fixes; it boosts overall performance and prevents recurring issues. The iterative learning process helps you achieve long-term operational gains, ensuring sustained efficiency and reliability in IT operations.

7 – Flexible Service

As business landscapes continually evolve, so do the IT needs of organizations. An outsourced IT help desk provides the necessary flexibility to scale services up or down, catering to the ever-changing requirements of your growing business.

For example, this scalability can help you integrate new functions, expand your operations, and navigate through market shifts, eliminating the constraints of training and managing the internal IT helpdesk team. The outsourced IT help desk model also facilitates greater agility, allowing businesses to tap into diverse skill sets to accommodate new initiatives.

Eventually, as you integrate the outsourced help desk deeper into your operations, it can even become an enabler of strategic change, empowering your organizations to navigate the ever-changing business terrain with the efficiency and confidence you need to beat the competition.

Speak With Ohio’s Trusted IT Help Desk

A well-managed outsourced IT help desk can become a strategic asset, fostering efficiency, flexibility, and sustained growth. If you’re interested in working with Ohio’s seasoned IT help desk team, reach out any time at [email protected] or 614 389 4102. We’re happy to answer any questions and help you get the support you need to thrive.