4 Reasons to Hire an IT Company Instead of Having Your IT In-House

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When your company was new, you probably only had one or two employees, a few computers, and little need for an office IT person. Maybe you even used the kid next door for your IT needs. (If you’re still doing this, don’t. Here’s why.)

As your company grew, you added employees, computers, a server or two, and maybe even some mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. And suddenly, you had a need for an IT professional, like yesterday.

So what did you do? Did you hire an employee to be your in-house IT, or did you choose to go with an IT company, such as techQuility, for services? Or are you still deciding which direction you should take?

If you need IT support, and you don’t know whether you should partner with a technology company or hire an employee, here are 4 reasons why using an IT company is beneficial for your business.

1. Do You Possess the Knowledge to Hire an In-House IT Employee?

If you intend to hire an employee to support your IT needs in-house, do you know enough about computers, technology, and the specifics of your system to thoroughly interview the person to ensure that they really know their stuff?

Let’s face it, most business owners are experts at many things, but typically IT isn’t one of those areas of expertise. So unless you’re an IT whiz, and just don’t have time to take care of the system on your own, it can be difficult to ensure that you are asking the right questions to prove that the interviewee knows their stuff. Which means you could end up with someone who looks good on paper, but who can’t fix things properly in reality.

2. An IT Company can be More Cost Effective than an Employee

If you hire an employee, you are responsible for their salary 365 days a year, along with benefits, insurance, taxes, and more. You pay for that employee regardless of if they are actually working on your system or not. And then there’s the expense of providing an office space, equipment, additional computers, tools, and more.

However, when you hire an IT company, the costs are greatly reduced. For example, if you were to partner with techQuility, we typically get your computers on a maintenance plan, which costs a small monthly fee, and then if there are problems and work needs to be performed, you are charged hourly*. (*Fees and costs vary depending on the size of your network and the plan selected.)

Couple this with the fact that aside from the monthly fee, you are only being charged when work is actually being performed, and not for all the downtime too when things are stable. Which means, typically the fee is almost always cheaper than the cost of an on staff IT professional.

3. Up-to-Date Training

Because the IT world is always changing, there are always new things to learn about and stay trained on. But how do you ensure your in-house IT staff keeps up to date with their training?

Unless you are actively sending them to training, or unless they are a self-directed learner, the reality is that many IT in-house IT professionals aren’t up-to-date on the latest technology. Sure, they may be great at what they know, but how can they accurately forecast changes and company needs without staying abreast of technology changes?

Conversely, an IT company stays up to date on training by default. That’s because IT companies deal with a broad range of problems, equipment, operating systems, and more, and as such are more equipped to handle unique and weird problems when they come up. What’s more, they tend to be on top of tech trends, allowing for better technology recommendations that keep your big picture in mind.

4. A Wide Range of Tech Tools

When you keep your IT in-house, who pays for the tech tools that make troubleshooting easier? You do, and you may not always have the budget to pay for the latest software or tool, when the last one seems to be working for your purposes.

However, when you partner with an IT company, it is their responsibility to ensure they have everything they need to effectively do their job. And, just like with training, IT companies tend to have a wide range of tech tools available, because of the wide range of jobs they perform for various companies. This means that your company gets the benefit of some really great tech tools, without incurring the cost of those tools.

And these are just a few reasons why you should consider hiring an IT company rather than an employee. If you’re on the fence about what your next move should be with your company and technology, give us a call. We are always willing to help.