Outsourcing: an overview

Outsourcing: an overview

Outsourcing today simply involves using external entities to handle specific, specialized business functions so that organizations can focus on their core competencies. The idea of seeking outside support for areas that are not core to a business is many decades old. However, seeking support from external providers can make a lot of sense, especially in fields that involve considerable complexity. One example, as human resources becomes increasingly complex practice, especially in areas that involve often complex and arcane laws such as benefits and employment law, many smaller companies are increasingly outsourcing some or all of their HR tasks.

IT is another example. Like human resources, IT covers a wide range of specialties, for which no one or two individuals can possibly hope to be fully versed in.

As the CEO of a small- to medium-sized firm, or perhaps a line manager, why should you consider outsourcing all or part of the IT function?

One immediate reason is that IT is a complex field and it is likely top management has only broad knowledge of the issues at hand. As a result, it can be hard to manage an IT department. Setting priorities and guiding IT strategy can be difficult for a leader whose background and focus is on the specific mission of the company or organization. It speaks to the issues of core competencies--is IT yours and does trying to manage it distract? Limited management resources can be drained off, letting management lose some of its focus.

Another way to get the most out of any outsourcing of IT is to think carefully how you view their role in the broadest strategy of the organization. When you look for a Managed Services Provider to outsource your IT, you aren’t looking for someone to handle a task. MSP generally focus on specific industries, so they have knowledge of the needs and specific challenges faced by companies in that sector. Additionally, because of that industry sector knowledge, the best MSPs can work as strategic partners, helping you understand what technology can best support your present needs as well as what upcoming technologies might have a positive impact on your future growth and competitiveness. MSPs can help plan and guide at the C-suite level to drive growth.

Comments

Leave virus protection to your MSP Doctor

Leave virus protection to your MSP Doctor Cyberattacks on individuals and businesses for nasty purposes is nothing new. Stealing data, disrupting business, national activities, and just causing general mayhem has been going on for as long as there has been a digital world to attack. Ransomware, however, seems to stand out as a particularly unique and especially troublesome form of crime. For one thing, once an attack has happened, there is likely nothing to do to retrieve your data until you have given in to the demands of the criminals. As a small- to medium- sized business owner, you should never just rely on off-the shelf virus protection programs as the sole tool to protect your organization against cyber crime. In all cases you should rely on an IT professional to look at every aspect of your IT infrastructure to ensure that everything possible is being done to protect your data. Beyond that, ransomware attacks are a particularly troublesome form of crime that requires special...

WFH means more vulnerability to cybercrime

WFH means more vulnerability to cybercrime. Here are some methods to stay safe WFH opens up whole new horizons in terms of flexibility, productivity, and cost savings. But, it also opens your business up a little more to cybercriminals, as you can’t have a hands-on approach to cybersecurity, especially if your employees are using their own devices for work. This blog discusses some mechanisms that you can use to mitigate the risks of becoming a victim of cybercrime in the WFH setup. Multi-factor authentication Instead of using a single password for data access, multi-factor authentication adds more layers to security. If WFH has your employees accessing their work computers remotely, then you simply cannot skip multifactor authentication. Multi-factor authentication works by confirming the identity of the user across 3 areas What they know: Examples include asking for User IDs, passwords, answers to ‘secret questions’, verification of their date of birth, etc. What they have: This incl...

Keylogger 101

Keylogger 101 We have all heard of hacking, virus, ransomwares, etc. as they keep coming up in the news every now and then. But, have you heard of keyloggers? In this blog post, we discuss keyloggers and how they can be used to gain unauthorized access to your system, online accounts, network and data. As the name suggests, a keylogger logs keys--it captures the keystrokes you make. In fact, use of keyloggers is not illegal. Keyloggers are perfectly legal and are often used by companies to keep tabs on their employees' IT activities during work and closer home, parents use keyloggers to monitor their children’s computer activities for safety and security purposes. But, as with all tools, even keyloggers can be misused and cause a lot of damage if leveraged by a cybercriminal. By logging keystrokes, the keylogger captures passwords and other confidential information. Imagine someone having access to all your usernames and passwords. Your bank accounts, your shopping accounts, your o...

Search This Blog