Top 5 Benefits of Hiring an IT Consulting Service
Most small businesses do not have the money to dedicate toward a full-time, in-house IT department. And even if they did, the overhead can be so high that employing a full IT staff might not make sense. That’s why so many small businesses turn toward managed IT consulting services. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, by “hiring the expertise of subcontractors, independent contractors or freelancers, your business can quickly scale up without the creating of additional overhead.”
For small businesses, hiring an IT consulting service can have a huge financial and logistical impact on the company. By moving from a single in-house IT tech or no IT tech at all to an outsourced IT consulting service, small businesses reap many benefits, including:
1. Financial Savings
When you use an IT consultant as opposed to an in-house employee, you save on the taxes, benefits and overhead you would have otherwise incurred. You also save money on lost downtime, something that can be prevented or mended much quicker with a team of specialists focused on the problem. According to a Forrester Research study commissioned by BCM Software, “‘IT Friction’ or routine IT problems across all employees cost Fortune 100 companies alone more than $100 billion dollars annually.”
When you use an IT consultancy service you often have the option to pay by project or on an hourly basis. Such payment flexibility can help small businesses control and manage costs.
2. 24/7 Availability
In the online, technological world, there is no downtime. Security threats and cyber attacks happen at all hours of the day and night, which means businesses must be constantly vigilant and available should an emergency arise. An IT consulting service takes on this burden by being available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
What’s more, an IT consultancy service will provide continuous monitoring that will help prevent problems before they cause harm or result in long spans of server or network downtime. A study by a Dutch university indicated that over 8% of productive work hours are lost due to IT problems and user error.
IT service providers also conduct fixes and updates during the night hours when employees are not working so as not hamper business productivity.
3. The Ability to More Effectively Manage Big Data
In order to improve customer relationships, boost sales and come up with more effective marketing campaigns, businesses large and small are turning to big data. But managing and digging through that data can be daunting, not to mention time consuming. That’s where IT services come in.
By referencing your internal information gleaned from the data against outside sources such as social networks, government databases and mobile patterns to name a few, IT consultants are able to remove inefficiencies in your sales and marketing efforts and boost revenue.
4. Increased Security and Better Trained Employees
Cyber attacks and online security threats happen daily and don’t discriminate when it comes to business size, industry or location. Businesses small, medium and large are all looking for ways to protect themselves against cyber crime. In fact, cyber attacks on small to medium-sized businesses are more common than ever. By hiring an IT consulting service that specializes in internet security you will be able to better protect your company against potentially devastating threats.
Furthermore, an IT consulting company can train your employees on the technology they are using and on how to recognize and prevent a cyber threat. If employees have additional questions related to the technology they are using or on internet security, your IT consultant is only a phone call away.
5. Experience and Expertise
When you hire an IT consultancy service you are not just hiring one person, you are hiring an entire company with a collective knowledge greater than one in-house employee or IT team. A reputable IT company will employ experienced IT experts who specialize across many IT fields. Plus, an IT consultancy service will be immersed in the world of IT and benefit from its many industry partners. This shared knowledge will ensure your business always has the latest and most effective technology on the market and is up to date on trends and threats in the IT industry. Instead of being one step behind, you will always be one step ahead. That is, as long as you choose the right IT consultancy service for you.
If you are looking for a reputable, Houston-based IT consultant with the experience and expertise to keep your business running smoothly, effectively and efficiently, contact our experts at BlueCloud Technologies.
