As a business grows, one of the biggest organizational choices it will face will be whether to have their own on-site IT department or outsource their IT to remote IT support services. Today we’re going to take a look at some of the reasons businesses choose remote IT support.
What Does Remote IT Support Mean?
Remote IT support refers to IT support which is being administered away from your premises. This commonly takes the form of an IT helpdesk which is operated by a managed IT services provider. This helpdesk will have a team of IT support engineers who can assist your business remotely, either by giving advice over the phone, or by remotely accessing your machines using a remote access tool like TeamViewer.
While the bulk of IT support can be delivered remotely, these same managed IT services providers will generally have a few specialist engineers on staff who can travel to your premises and fix hardware issues as and when they are required to do so, but the bulk of the support will be provided as remote support. NYC business are a big fan of remote support as having an off-site team saves them money on expensive office space.
Why Would A Business Build Its Own On-Site Team?
Customization
Building your own in-house team allows you to craft a team of experts with skills specific to your organization.
Instant In-Person Help
Because an on-site team is already “on site” they can start helping you immediately. IT on-site support service team members are also able to easily see the faulty equipment or software in person, which reduces the miscommunications that can occur over the phone.
Company Culture
When you build you own in-house team, you don’t need to adjust to a different company’s culture, you can hire employees which fit your own company culture which you may have developed over decades.
Why Would A Business Choose Remote IT Support?
Convenience
Over 90% of software issues can be solved remotely. An increasing amount of enterprise computing takes place in the cloud, so it makes sense for your IT support to also take place off-premises as well.
Cost
Hiring a remote IT support provider is almost always cheaper than hiring your own in-house IT team.
Scalability
The costs of remote IT support are scalable, generally being charged at a per-user or per-device rate. This makes them an attractive alternative on on-site support where you would have to double your expenses overnight if the IT workload became too much for a single in-house IT specialist.
Space
Office space isn’t cheap, and if you have your own on-site support team, you will need to have office space for them, their desks and their equipment. That space could be being used by customer service or sales employees or even removed altogether to reduce your office rent. There is no space required when using remote providers of managed IT support. New York businesses, and those in other densely packed cities need all the savings possible when it comes to office space.
Choosing Your Provider
Hopefully this has given you a useful overview of the differences between on-site and remote IT support services and the reasons why businesses might choose one over the other. Even when you’ve chosen the type of IT support for your business, choosing the right provider can also be difficult when it comes to managed IT support. New York businesses have over 100 managed IT providers to choose from, whereas other businesses may have less choice if they are not in a major city.
