Managed IT Services for Small Businesses vs. In-House IT
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Why Managed IT Services for Small Businesses May Be Better Than Hiring One IT Person
Why Do So Many Business Owners Want Their Own IT Department?
“Wouldn’t I be better off with my own IT person?”
It is a question many business owners ask. And honestly, it makes sense. Having an employee dedicated to your business can sound like the ideal solution. They get to know your employees, understand your systems, and focus on helping your company succeed.
However, there is an important question business owners should ask before hiring an internal IT employee:
Does one person have the skills, experience, tools, and availability your business actually needs?
For many small and medium-sized businesses, the answer may be no. That is why managed IT services for small businesses can often provide a more complete solution than relying on a single IT employee.
IT Is More Than One Job
One of the biggest challenges with hiring one IT person is that modern technology requires many different areas of expertise.
IT support can include:
- Help desk and technical support
- Network engineering
- Cybersecurity
- Cloud services
- Server management
- Data backup and disaster recovery
- Infrastructure planning
- Software and hardware management
- Compliance and risk management
- Monitoring and maintenance
One person may be very good at some of these areas. However, it is difficult for one individual to be an expert in all of them.
That is one of the primary advantages of managed IT services for small businesses. Instead of depending on one person to handle every technology challenge, a business can gain access to a team with different specialties.
A Managed IT Provider Gives You Access to a Team
When a business hires one internal IT employee, it is essentially hiring one person.
When a business partners with a managed IT provider, it may gain access to an entire team of professionals.
That team may include people specializing in:
- Technical support
- Network administration
- Cybersecurity
- Infrastructure design
- Cloud technology
- Backup systems
- Compliance
- Strategic technology planning
This does not mean every business needs a large internal IT department. In fact, many smaller businesses may not have the budget to build one.
Instead, managed IT services for small businesses can provide access to many of the same types of skills and resources without requiring the company to hire, train, and manage an entire team internally.
The Technology Behind IT Support Matters Too
IT is not just about the people providing support.
A professional IT operation also requires technology and systems to properly support and protect a business.
This can include:
- Ticketing and help desk systems
- Remote monitoring tools
- Cybersecurity platforms
- Endpoint protection
- Backup systems
- Documentation platforms
- Network monitoring
- Reporting tools
- Automation and AI-powered tools
Building and maintaining all of these systems internally can be expensive.
For a business with fewer than 100 employees, purchasing and managing all of the necessary tools and hiring the people capable of using them effectively may not be practical.
The result can be a situation where a company has an IT employee but still lacks the resources needed to properly monitor, secure, document, and support its technology environment.
Why Scale Matters
One of the biggest advantages of working with an experienced IT provider is scale.
An internal IT employee may encounter a major cybersecurity issue only once every few years. A managed IT provider that supports many businesses may encounter similar problems much more frequently.
That experience can be valuable.
When an IT provider sees a problem repeatedly, it has the opportunity to:
- Identify patterns.
- Develop better processes.
- Improve its tools.
- Learn from previous incidents.
- Apply that experience to other businesses.
This is one of the reasons managed IT services for small businesses can be so valuable. A business is not simply paying for someone to fix a computer when it breaks. It may also be gaining access to the experience and knowledge developed by supporting many different organizations.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) recognizes that small businesses may use different approaches when building their cybersecurity teams, including internal staff, external vendors, or a combination of both. NIST also notes that outsourcing specialized cybersecurity needs can make strategic sense for small businesses that do not have the expertise, resources, or budget to hire all of those skills internally.
An IT Provider Should Not Replace the Idea of an IT Department
The goal of working with a managed IT provider is not necessarily to eliminate the idea of an IT department.
The goal is to give your business access to the resources of an IT department without requiring you to build the entire department yourself.
For some companies, the right answer may be a fully internal IT team.
For others, the right answer may be a managed IT provider.
Some businesses may even benefit from a combination of internal employees and an external IT partner.
The right solution depends on the size of your business, your technology environment, your cybersecurity risks, your budget, and the level of support your company requires.
The Right Question Is Not “Do I Need an IT Person?”
The question many business owners ask is:
“Do I need an IT person?”
That may not be the best question.
Instead, ask:
“Do I have access to the skills, experience, tools, and support my business actually needs?”
That question provides a much better way to evaluate your technology strategy.
You may have one excellent IT employee. However, that person may not be available 24 hours a day. They may not be a cybersecurity specialist. Perhaps they are inexperienced at designing a disaster recovery plan. They may not have access to enterprise-level monitoring and security tools.
That does not make them a bad employee.
It simply means that modern IT requires more than one person can reasonably provide.
Could Managed IT Services Be the Right Fit for Your Business?
For many small and medium-sized businesses, managed IT services for small businesses can provide access to a broader range of expertise, technology, and support than hiring a single IT employee.
The goal is not to replace people.
The goal is to make sure your business has access to the right resources when it needs them.
If you are unsure whether your current IT strategy is providing the support, security, and expertise your business needs, contact Nomad Technology Group to learn more and schedule a free consultation.
A strong technology strategy should help you spend less time dealing with IT problems and more time running your business.
Do you need one IT person—or access to an entire IT team?
The answer may surprise you.
