Optimum Outsourcing

Let’s say your Web site has started to take on an additional 1.5 Mbps of Internet traffic. If it’s managed in house, expanding the site’s capacity means creating additional server space and connectivity, which comes with configuration and maintenance headaches. Handing the job to a service provider avoids all of that, and it probably means that your Internet bandwidth will come “burstable,” meaning your company is given as much as it needs, even when your Web traffic increases sharply.

But the greatest benefit is probably the confidence that your service provider is up on your technology’s latest wrinkles, freeing up your staff to concentrate on their strengths instead of spreading themselves thin. “The breadth and depth of experience is a big plus,” says Steve McFarland, president of Eagan-based Orbit Systems, an outsourcing firm. “A typical small business might have one or two people responsible for IT, and one of them might be the office manager. If that’s the case, you can end up with a loss of support when one of those people gets sick, goes on vacation, or even goes to lunch.”

“An outsourcer can usually bring more bodies in as needed to push a project through,” agrees Mooney. “This is difficult to do with internal staffing.”

Another advantage of outsourcing is that vendors tend to take on the many legal nettles related to security compliance. “Publicly held businesses are being scrutinized in the area of how they back up their data, and how secure their environment is,” says LaForge. “Most small business can’t afford to build the kind of robust data center that would address many of these issues.”

“Competent third parties do a better job of security than customers typically do for themselves,” says Tom Kieffer, CEO of Minnetonka-based IT infrastructure consultant Virteva. “The reason is simple: lawyers.”

Keep it in the Family

Just the same, there are reasons why IT outsourcing might be the wrong move for some businesses. For entrepreneurs, one obstacle can be getting over the “if you want it done right, you have to do it yourself” mindset.

“Understand what you are willing to cede control over,” says James Harris, managing director of infrastructure outsourcing at international management consultancy Accenture, which has an office in downtown Minneapolis. “Customers need to be comfortable having someone else do the work that they are outsourcing. Payroll is one thing, but managing a supply chain is different.”