Smart Business Magazine, April 2020

50 Smart Business April 2020 INSIGHTS TECHNOLOGY Outsourced IT The benefits of moving your IT needs offsite As business technology grows more important and complex many organizations have found it makes sense to outsource their information technology By using a managed service provider theyre able to outsource that function to someone whos an expert at it and allow their staff to focus on their main business objectives says Eric Thal managed services manager at Blue Technologies It also enables their internal IT directors and staff to work on strategic initiatives rather helpdesk type questions Smart Business spoke with Thal about the advantages of outsourcing your IT and what to keep in mind as you make the switch Why do companies outsource their IT The biggest reason is focus Companies can focus on the product or service theyre in business for freeing up employees to work on high value strategic initiatives The managed service provider can even take on the role of dealing with outside vendors so theres no more waiting on hold to find out whats going on with the internet connectivity Many businesses find it difficult to staff an IT role or department Often the office manager or controller has to wear a second hat and be the IT point person Plus if theres turnover or someone goes on vacation its challenging to ensure the level of service remains high Working with a managed service provider who acts as a virtual CIO enables a company to predictably budget its technology costs for a given quarter or year With managed services it becomes an operating expense So its a consistent predictable spend to manage the IT infrastructure as opposed to large capital expenses every couple of years Or working on a break fix model something breaks the provider comes and fixes it and then because they did that in June Junes bill is significantly more than the rest of the year Finally it reduces the risk An outsourced expert will better understand cybersecurity which mitigates the risk of security breaches that can cause damage to the technology the organization and its reputation The managed service provider can proactively monitor the network to identify and solve potential issues before they cause downtime It also can help vet new technology and ensure the business has an accurate inventory of all assets The outside firm helps ease day to day management while equipping the company for future growth What types of businesses are more likely to outsource their IT While all types and sizes of organizations can benefit from outside IT help a lot of it is compliance driven around credit cards and health care information or the compliance requirements for anyone that supplies technology or products to the government or deals with customers in the European Union For example a small doctors office wont want a full time IT staff on site but its important to make sure the hard drives are encrypted and no one has access to personally identifiable information or health care records Its also difficult to staff up every domain thats needed A midsize organization might have one or two on staff but those one or two people arent experts in everything related to IT An outside provider can help fill any gaps In addition if a company has a large geographic footprint or many employees who work from home it can be difficult to have in house IT that can handle the different users and their locations How should companies pick an outsource provider When looking for a potential partner make sure they use a well established framework like ITIL to manage the IT infrastructure Not every engineer or managed service provider knows these frameworks as well as they should You want an outsourced partner with a strong onboarding process because the first 90 days are critical Thats when they do an initial assessment of the network and use that as a blueprint for the roadmap and plan going forward Then the relationship will become a virtual CIO position where the outside firm meets regularly with the owners or a team to review whats working whats not working what adjustments need to be made and help them plan for the future ERIC THAL Managed services manager Blue Technologies 216 271 4800 ext 2636 ethal@ btohio com Insights Technology is brought to you by Blue Technologies Inc FOLLOW UP For questions about securing your data offsite contact Blue Technologies INTERVIEWED BY JAYNE GEST