Analyst firm Gartner conducted a survey of companies to determine what their IT budget priorities were going into 2016. Of the companies that participated, 95% prioritized increasing efficiency and business processes, with 43% of those companies defining that as a major priority. In addition, 91% of surveyed companies prioritized the goal of reducing IT costs.
Unlike many other corporate departments, such as sales or service, IT often provides no direct contribution to a company’s profits. Nonetheless, an efficient IT department can significantly increase the smooth operations of profit-generating departments or, conversely, can hamstring those departments if it fails to function as it should.
What it ends up coming down to is a question of whether a business should handle its own IT needs internally or rely on an independent service organization (ISO) to provide services. This question is a very simple one to answer once you understand what ISOs are and what services and benefits they can provide.
What does an ISO do?
An ISO is simply an organization that provides services and support that fall outside of a company’s normal skill set, or on a scale that a small to medium-sized company might struggle with.
This is especially the case in the corporate IT market where an ISO can bring a wide range of skills and infrastructure expertise to bear on behalf of the client organization. These skills can range from data center management to IT as a Service (ITaaS) to desktop computing support.
Why you need an ISO.
While many executives like the thought of keeping everything internal, for many small to medium-sized companies the reality is that they simply cannot compete with larger competitors handling everything in-house.
One of the many limiting factors is cost. Recent statistics show that the average IT worker earns anywhere from $61,000 to $99,000 per year, depending on the specific job description and title. Multiply that across an entire department and it quickly becomes apparent how expensive an in-house IT staff can be. Even companies that invest in an expensive, in-house IT department often find that there are still gaps in the department’s skill set that can leave the company at a competitive disadvantage.
In today’s economy, few things are as important as quality IT support. Although it may not contribute to a company’s bottom line, it nonetheless can have a profound impact on a company’s success or failure.
To learn more about the many benefits of an employing an ISO, download our infographic: http://info.maintech.com/infographic-six-ways-an-independent-service-provider-iso-can-increase-it-efficiency?hsCtaTracking=ff0c4cbd-5324-48d4-b471-ddb70a67ba63%7C74381303-eabf-4dd2-9b4a-6470e85c22d1