It doesn’t matter if you’re running a thriving or barely surviving business – it always feels as though you don’t have enough hours in the day to get everything done. And, with more technical stuff popping up left and right, you may also find that you have more tasks, devices, and random pop-up messages to deal with than ever before.
Deep breaths. We’ll get through it together.
To help you out, we’ve put together a shortlist of 3 business services you should consider outsourcing. By outsourcing these, you can take some of the weight off your shoulders and go back to doing what you’re good at.
1. Backing up your data in the cloud (as well as locally)
Your day-to-day probably relies on the smooth flow of data to and from your devices. And when that data stops circulating… you’ll run into problems. Big ones.
With a stopped-flow of data, you’re unable to get work done as effectively as you could. Downtime costs a lot of money and it frustrates your staff and your clients alike.
And frankly, it’s just not a good look at your business.
If you currently depend on local, on-premise data storage, you might want to look at creating a backup plan that uses the cloud strategically. But here’s the thing: You might only be doing cloud-based.
The most prepared businesses do both.
You’ll want to create a local backup for rapid recovery and a cloud backup for disaster recovery. The former keeps you agile in case of accidentally deleted files and immediate backup recovery. The latter is slower, but it’s secure and off-site for when the big problems happen.
So why is outsourcing backup on an article about saving money?
Because without data, it’s game over.
No data, no work – and who can afford that?
But when you outsource your backup management to professionals that know how to do a good job, you’re cutting the risk of that happening exponentially. Sure, it may cost more up-front… but in comparison to losing your data, it’s invaluable.
2. IT security that protects you around the clock.
Did you know that it takes a company six months, on average, to detect a data breach?
It’s scary to think that your customers’ information could be in someone’s hands for six months – without you knowing. And if it’s bad for you, imagine how they’d feel about you once they found out.
Data breaches directly cost money in two ways. First, if your breach results in customers losing faith in your business, you’ll probably lose their business altogether. Second, depending on why the breach happened, you may attract a hefty fine from a not-so-friendly compliance organization. Fines usually depend on the nature of the breach too, so it’s difficult to predict what they’ll be and how you can survive them.
Using a reliable IT partner that’s well versed in security is a solid way to ensure someone has always got your back in the background.
Plus, you’re also more likely to catch breaches before they’re out of control so you can mitigate their damages prior to things really getting out of hand.
Once again, the cost savings here are from proactivity.
3. IT support that keeps you running strong
Failing to have an IT support system in place could spell big trouble for your business – regardless of whether it’s in-house or outsourced.
Around 28% of small to medium-sized businesses see technology as a big priority. But not all of those businesses can afford to hire someone permanently.
So what other options are there?
Well, there’s always outsourced IT support. When you consider the costs of hiring someone (or even a team) of IT people full-time, it doesn’t always make financial sense – especially for smaller businesses.
Outsourced IT teams can take care of it all using “managed services”, which include a bit of everything that you’ll need, like:
An outsourced IT provider works by taking care of you proactively. It’s a win-win for both businesses: They get your repeat business because they do a good job on things you need, and you get to save money by not having a team that you won’t utilize enough to justify the expense.
And, as it turns out, you’re actually reading an IT service provider’s blog. Still, we try to be fair in our assessment of what you need. Why not reach out to us to see if we can help you save money?
Even if it turns out to be nothing, we’ll still have a good conversation. That’s a given.
