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In-house vs Outsourced IT department

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE Jan 16 2019 otivr

Starting a new business has many important decisions that come with it. The majority of companies need some sort of IT support. There are two major options for IT: in-house developers or offshore developers. Outsourcing your IT to offshore developers has been a more recent trend for companies, given the major benefit of significant low prices. Apart from costs, outsourcing has many additional benefits that appeal very well to new businesses.

Outsourcing

Outsourcing has a bigger pool of talent to choose from and work with. The Nordic regions are facing a large shortage of IT talent which can be fulfilled by looking abroad. There is a wider range of talented developers that you can’t always find in your home country. Working with offshore developers not only reduces your cost, but it can save you a lot of time and energy that would be spent on an in-house developer. With an in-house developer, you would be spending time on the recruitment, hiring, and training processes. Avoiding this enables workers to be more efficient by focusing more time on everyday responsibilities and the growth of the business. Working with developers offshore broadens your access to the latest technologies. Outsourcing companies must stay up to date on the latest technologies in order to compete with their competitors. This gives small businesses a more level playing field by having equal access to the technologies that large, highly established businesses use.

The benefits of outsourcing are great, but there a few aspects to it that may make you a little hesitant. Working with someone from a different part of the world can seem hard with time zone changes, lack of communication abilities, and the overall fact that you can’t physically be there working with them and monitoring the work they’re creating for your business. You have less control over what is happening which can be a scary thing, but most companies will make sure to keep you in the loop and ensure your satisfied with the work being done.

In-House

Face-to-face conversations offer more engagement, which may lead to better progress and bigger ideas. Having someone to work with in-house can resolve issues faster, directing their attention to the issue right away. Some outsourcers may be working on other projects and can’t get to problems right away. Not only can it be faster but it can be more controllable by the business and the manager. Keeping all your projects and employees in-house can provide better security for your business, making intellectual property more likely to be confidential.

Building a team for your business who all works together in-house is the ideal situation for most business owners, but this can be hard to achieve while keeping a reasonable budget and continuing to grow your business. There are numerous out of pocket expenses that come along with in-house employees such as larger office spaces, more equipment, employee benefits, etc. Maintenance also needs to be performed consistently, otherwise cost and productivity can suffer if there are old versions of technology running in the office. Without updates, slow working conditions will start to occur. There are a lot of additional features such as security, capacity management, and device management that are hard to arrange with lack of technical expertise and budgets from certain in-house workers.

The decision between outsourcing and in-house employees can ultimately depend on your specific business needs. There are multiple pros and cons to each option that can vary in importance from business to business. The three vital factors that play the largest role in how you choose between in-house hiring or outsourcing include cost, expertise, and flexibility. Consider the importance of these when making the best decision for your business.

 

 

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