Outsourcing is all the rage right now. The IT Outsourcing industry is expected to grow by $98 billion from 2020 to 2024. But what is IT Outsourcing? And how does it compare to Managed IT Services (MSPs)?
What are IT Outsourcing and Managed Service Providers (MSPs)?
Gartner defines IT Outsourcing as “the use of external service providers to effectively deliver IT-enabled business process, application service and infrastructure solutions for business outcomes.” They define MSPs as “deliver(ing) services, such as network, application, infrastructure and security, via ongoing and regular support and active administration.” These two definitions are very similar, although you can already see that outsourcing prioritizes business goals, whereas MSPs focus on support and protection.
Is IT Outsourcing the Right Choice for Your Business?
While many businesses think they want to outsource their IT department, they are most likely looking for an MSP. Yes, using a managed IT services provider is different than outsourcing. But when you get into the weeds you realize that MSPs have all the benefits of outsourcing, plus more! Outsourcing is exactly what you think it is; hiring a partner to manage very specific services like support calls, payroll, or data entry. You pick the services, and that is all they will do. IT Outsourcing is very reactive, and you don’t establish a quality connection with your support providers.
How MSPs Offer Advantages Over Traditional IT Outsourcing
When reading about IT outsourcing vs managed IT services providers, you may see the word “holistic” everywhere. An MSP creates a superior IT experience. The first big difference is that they encompass a much wider range of services. They are used in addition to your existing IT department and take care of tedious tasks that take your highly skilled employees away from their business goals, like finding points of improvement for your systems and ensuring your systems are up to date. When outsourcing, your provider's priority is revenue, AKA how many tickets they can close. This means that they may end up kicking tickets back to your internal IT department so that there is not a Service Level Agreement (SLA) violation. Managed IT Services, in contrast, prioritizes the relationship with each client. Managed Services might notice there are lots of tickets around password resets, so they recommend an internal password reset resource. This difference is also seen with payment structures. Most outsourcing companies charge by the ticket/call, whereas MSPs have monthly fees that cover agreed-upon support. So they are incentivized to help you, not to just get tickets out of their queue.
As you can see, managed service providers are still technically “outsourcing” your basic IT functions, but they help with a broad range of business goals. Your MSP becomes your first point-of-contact for streamlining your operations throughout the entire company. Businesses develop a relationship with their MSP and know they can trust their MSP.
Here are the Key Takeaways: MSPs vs. IT Outsourcing
While terms have been used interchangeably for a while, it is clear that outsourcing is different than utilizing an MSP, even if there are some similarities. Outsourcing is a low level of support and only covers exactly what is written in the contract, whereas MSPs have a broad range of coverage as they will complete all tasks to keep your business up, running, and profitable.
We are a trusted Managed IT Services and Microsoft Gold Partner
Choosing an MSP is a daunting task, especially with just how many are out there. Synergy Technical has a 15-point security strategy to ensure that your data is safe and secure. In addition to keeping your data secure, we are a global leader in the Microsoft space, and we are a MS Gold partner. Our employees are encouraged to earn Microsoft certifications to ensure they stay educated on Microsoft technology. We are the seal team of MSPs, with a strong, highly qualified group of engineers that can handle whatever your organization needs.
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