Keep It In-House or Outsource? The Pros and Cons For Your Business
As your business grows and thrives, it will inevitably start to need greater support and expertise, and it may come to a point where you have to decide between taking on more employees or deciding to outsource certain skills. There are advantages and disadvantages of both options, so read further to help you decide what the right choice for you is.
Outsourcing can be more cost-effective
When you’re looking at services that are not related to your core business activities, trying to hire an in-house team can mean that you have to invest a lot of resources into it. As well as the cost of hiring more people, you may also need to consider additional equipment, appropriate training, and whether you have sufficient space to have an extra department in your business. The costs can soon begin to add up, and if you’re unlikely to be using the team around the clock, this can be better managed by outsourcing instead.
Outsourcing for specialist services such as professional IT support as provided by Stronghold can be a more efficient way of using your resources, as you only need to hire a company’s skills to provide the services you need. As they have all the training and equipment required to carry out the job, you also do not need to spend time researching or worrying about what to get.
An in-house team gives you greater control
If you require detailed control and customization of the services provided to your company, for instance, if there are important security concerns to address, or if you need a highly specific result, then having an in-house team may be a better choice. While an outsourced company will undoubtedly have the skills and expertise required, they will probably be working with other clients and be extremely busy, offering only a long-term contract that ties you in. However, that isn’t to say all companies will be that way. Many might be able to provide you with a bespoke plan, and many can be very flexible with contracts and the package you choose. Many will even assure you that you won’t be left waiting for a problem to fix because of their number of staff they have to deal with issues; it all depends on the company you choose to look at.
If you have the finances, having a team as part of your business can mean that they will better understand your brand values and objectives and tailor solutions to meet these more effectively, but this will take much longer to implement.
An outsourced team can be more flexible
If you need to increase or decrease the scale or capacity of the services used, then trying to do this in-house at short notice can be next to impossible. Having to go through the time-consuming steps of hiring new employees, providing relevant training, and buying additional equipment can mean you lose out on valuable time.
Conversely, having an outsourced contract with a company can mean you can change your requirements much more easily, as they may be able to provide more staff, resources, and other things at short notice. This is especially ideal if you need to increase your capacity for a specific, short-term period, as you can be confident that you will have the infrastructure you need in place without worrying about having to incur huge costs. However, you may need to plan ahead of time to consider capacity.
