Johannesburg, 22 Jul 2016
Whether it stems from our desire to remain in control or the often inherent mistrust of outsourcing services, many businesses prefer keeping departments in-house. But when looked at from a different perspective, it becomes clear that to manage specialist technology, we need specialist resources, for a number of reasons. With managed services such as cloud-based call centre providers, it is possible to make the most of the opportunities available to produce the best results for a business, says Bruce von Maltitz, co-founder of 1Stream.
1. Meeting business objectives and retaining IP
Those who praise the retention of in-house technology departments, will offer up shared business objectives and retained internal IP as vital benefits. Both elements are essential to the success of a business, but an internal team is not necessarily a requirement for this. Retaining the ever-important IP and ensuring all parties, whether employed or contracted, are working towards the same goal is not an empty hope - it is a reality. Through proper management and building successful business partnerships with external teams and specialists, business objectives are reached faster and the internal IP is built up.
2. Less time spent attracting and retaining talented staff
Those who find their career in the tech world, often do so because of a fascination with new developments and a desire to be at the forefront of new technology. Unfortunately, the reality in many large enterprises and SMEs is that the day-to-day Information Technology (IT) needs are more mundane than many would like, making it more difficult for businesses to attract and retain talented employees with the work available.
By building relationships with specialist companies who have the skilled resources necessary to do the job effectively, the ongoing recruitment battle becomes less of a constant focus.
3. Fewer resources put into ongoing, high-level IT training
Technology is constantly evolving and becoming more sophisticated. As a result, the level of ongoing training necessary to ensure internal resources are well equipped to manage the systems in use, becomes increasingly pricey and time consuming. Add that to the difficulty of attracting and keeping talent, and maintaining an internal team at the required level of functionality becomes difficult.
In specialist companies, the main priority is to ensure the human resources are upskilled and trained constantly in order to provide the best service possible. With the right managed services, companies can see a significant cut in the time and cost it takes to consistently update their employees' skills.
4. A more streamlined process
A lot goes on within a company, and often internal teams are pulled in several different directions. The sole function of specialist companies is to service the needs of the client, so the areas that need more attention internally can be attended to with more focus while the service provider works on the assigned projects. It's also possible to select a service provider who complements your business needs and culture, which sees the company team grow in a way that solves more problems than it creates.
5. Increased cost effectiveness
Human resources are a high-level line item on the expense budget for any company, and their time and efficacy is a priority focus in any company. Making use of outsourced services means that the specialists and their expertise are available when needed without the entire team being employed in-house. Specialist teams can be on site or are available remotely via cloud-based computing, delivering expert assistance more efficiently.
For larger enterprises, outsourced managed services lessen the HR burden and ensures that focus is being put in the right areas by both internal teams and the managed services. For the smaller businesses without significant cash flow, outsourcing the management of technology systems means access to the best possible services that would otherwise have been out of reach.
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