Outsourcing is not only great for startups because it gives them the opportunity to avail expert professional services at a fraction of the price of hiring full-time resources, but it also lets them focus on their core operations while the experts perform their job. This is the reason why companies are increasingly outsourcing various business functions and are also actively searching for additional outsourcing opportunities in other functional areas. Among the other functional areas, IT outsourcing has grown by leaps and bounds in the recent years. Not just the renowned huge enterprises but also, nowadays, small to mid-size companies and startups are also beginning to understand the importance of outsourcing their IT functions. In such a case, you must be wondering how as a startup, you can take the right decisions for ensuring a successful IT support partnership with your support provider. Here are some Dos & Don’ts for your startup while choosing and working with your outsourcing IT support partner, to make it easier for you:
Dos
- Plan & communicate together with your outsourcing partner for better coordination and better management of expectations.
- Prioritize the IT issues your business has been facing & share your expectations related to their resolution with your provider for ensuring satisfactory services.
- Take a close look at the industry best practices a potential partner follows and understand how these are going to help your business IT in the long term. Decide to choose qualitative IT support over the lowest priced one.
- Hire professional organization that provides your business with not just the technical expertise but a strategic tech-business solution that adds value to your business more holistically.
Don’ts
- After choosing your outsourcing partner you should not fall into the trap of thinking that you do not need to manage your IT anymore
Just like the other departments of your business, your IT outsourcing partner will require your supervision along with an ongoing communication to clearly understand the existing and potential issues that need to be resolved. There are many aspects that your active involvement and ongoing communication with your partner will take care of, such as clear communication of your expectation from their services, plans for future IT budget in accordance with your business strategy and maintaining a mutually beneficial business relationship with your outsourcing partner. - Stop believing that hiring an IT support partner will put an end to the IT challenges and issues of your business IT once and for all
Having such unreal expectations can lead you to instant disappointment, whereas, it’s not true that just because you are now outsourcing IT support from a reputed provider, all the problems will instantly vanish. With computer systems, it is common to encounter issues such as hardware failure, corruption of software, the day-to-day maintenance issues or simply, the user errors. However, with a trusted partner, your journey through resolving these, does become smooth. - It’s time for you to finally stop assuming that the lowest priced IT support partners would be the best choice of a partner for your business
It is understandable that cost is an important factor for any business specially, the startups, however, if a provider quotes a price way lower than the market rate you need to ensure, whether they hold the required expertise and their services will offer sufficient coverage to all your IT needs. Because otherwise, chances are that you end up spending more in the long run in such a case. - Do not focus only on the technical skills while choosing your outsourcing partner for IT support
Technical skills are not the only requirement for your IT support partner, because even if they are technical experts but fail to effectively communicate to you as to why you are facing a certain IT issues, it can be a difficult situation for your business IT goals in the long term/strategic point of view. So, this cannot only turn out to be cost intensive but it can be a bit unnerving for you and your resources.
By avoiding these mistakes commonly made by startups and small companies, you can expect to establish a successful outsourcing IT support partnership with your services provider and get benefited by them like an extension of your own company.
