Modern information technology (IT) is both amazingly useful and annoyingly imperfect. Computers freeze, connections go down and viruses infect. When these problems occur, having the right IT professionals can make the difference between a minor bump in the road and a crisis that threatens your company’s ability to survive a disaster.

As you research your options and consider how to best meet your IT needs, here are six of the most common reasons Bay Area businesses choose to entrust these key responsibilities to a dedicated professional IT support firm:

1. To level the playing field by harnessing the power of seasoned experts

Everyone knows that major players like GM, eBay and Amazon have the best IT professionals money can buy. This can create disadvantages for smaller firms that must make every dollar count. One way to even out the odds is to work with an IT services provider.

When it comes to diagnosing technology issues, experience in the field can be equally if not even more important than formal training or job title.

If your company depends solely on a limited (often times single) internal resource, as soon as that person is tied up, all of your other technology needs get pushed to the side where they rapidly start piling up…Soon enough, your users learn that whenever they have an IT problem, they are better off trying to fix it themselves (which opens the door to a whole host of new problems).

Instead of struggling each time your office technology starts having problems, you can turn this fact into an advantage by outsourcing your help desk support to a team of experts.

2. To enjoy the cost savings that come from economies of scale

Over the years, many clients who choose t

o work with external IT consultancy services have found that it is actually often more cost-effective than handling technology management in-house.

When you eliminate the need to source, screen, interview and vet candidates, you eliminate the time, cost and anxiety associated with struggling to find the best technicians possible for your available budget.

Instead of struggling to onboard a new technical employee, working with a it managed service provider allows your organization to save time, money and internal resources to help free up capital that’s needed elsewhere, thus enhancing efficiency and profitability.

3. To focus on your core competencies

In today’s business world, it no longer makes sense to be a Jack or Jill of all trades. Letting others handle your IT support services can enable you to concentrate on what it is that you do best, whether that’s providing the best care possible to patients within your healthcare practice or providing financial services to clients seeking to plan for the future in the San Francisco Bay Area.

4. To enable implementations of cutting-edge technology

Not only does outdated technology limit your productivity, it can even pose a threat to your business operations and cybersecurity.

Some enthusiasts would even argue that yesterday’s technology is nearly as useless to a modern enterprise as stone knives and smoke signals, but the right managed service provider understands how to take the specific needs of your business into account and to help facilitate the transition from legacy systems to the latest technologies. 

Yet finding and hiring the right specialists with the requisite knowledge could take weeks or even months by using an in-house approach. You won’t have that worry when you outsource your IT services to a local IT support firm- a dedicated managed services provider takes pride in helping your company stay on top of the latest technologies and guides you through selecting the best solutions to meet your office and business technology needs. 

5. To enjoy the benefits of ongoing relationships and deep understanding of your needs without the HR headaches

Hiring, training, onboarding and otherwise investing in new employees is always a gamble- Perhaps they will work out, perhaps not. Even when your new hire has the technical skillset necessary to complete their job responsibilities, there are a number of variables which can pose a threat to your success. Personality and corporate cultural fits, work ethic and management requirements, or even external influences such as staffing during an unexpected departure or employee illness can leave you unexpectedly stranded/ high and dry. You can avoid these uncertainties by letting trained specialists take care of your IT needs.

6. To enable you to conserve your mental energy