IT support takes up a significant portion of any company’s budget. However, it can be especially difficult for smaller businesses with fewer resources. Fortunately, according to IT support experts in Austin, there are different options for handling IT needs. Knowing the different options for handling IT can make it simpler to balance IT needs with your bottom line.
Hiring In-House Staff
It only seems natural to bring an IT staff person in-house. That person’s focus is on your company’s IT needs. Unfortunately, a single person may not be enough as your company continues to grow. That’s when costs can start to be a problem.
Hiring a full IT staff costs a lot of money. You have direct costs like salary and training. You have additional tax burdens with payroll taxes. You have to pay for benefits and onboarding costs. And properly trained and experienced IT people aren’t cheap.
As your company grows, you will need to add more support personnel which only drives up costs.
Using Freelancers
One way around hiring a full IT staff is to use the services of freelancers. They offer the same services that you would get with a full-time employee, without the need to hire them. You can use their services as needed.
You should be aware that a freelancer’s rates will be just as high or higher than that of an employee. Plus, you don’t gain the advantage of having someone familiar with your systems. Freelancers are not always available when you need them.
Bringing a freelancer inside your network is a gamble. You don’t know if that person is ethical or what that person is doing when logging into your network and systems.
Engaging an MSP
Besides hiring employees or trusting a freelancer, you have another option. A managed service provider (MSP) offers you the knowledge of a full time IT staff at a cost-efficient monthly subscription price.
An MSP offers a wide range of IT services, including 24/7 monitoring/support, data backups, and even virtual CIOs. You select which services you want to engage for your company. You can go entirely with the MSP or have a partnership that includes your in-house staff.
With an MSP for your IT support in Austin, you can move from a reactive support model to a proactive one. Reactive support only responds when there’s a problem. Proactive support includes taking actions to prevent problems, which reduces the number of problems which occur.
If you are ready to make the smart move for your company, you need to move from reactive to proactive. Contact us at Contigo Technology. We are the IT support provider Austin businesses trust with all their technology needs.