What is Outsourcing?

Outsourcing is a process of involving a third-party organization, either globally or locally to manage certain business activities.

What is IT Outsourcing?

IT outsourcing is the use of external service providers to offer IT-enabled business operations, application services and infrastructure services for effective business.

It is an agreement between a company that requires assistance in regard to IT services and a company that provides those IT services.

IT outsourcing services also include Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), utility services, cloud-based services, formulates a road map for clients to develop the right sourcing strategies and design the best contracts, etc.

It works based on a simple ground-rule that is purchasing IT services from a third-party service provider offering a calculated budget and the perfect service quality regardless of their geographical location.

Types of IT Outsourcing

There are different types of IT Outsourcing. They are;

  • Offshore outsourcing – Opening of own Research & Development center in another country under the same brand name and to hire locally to work for the company in the office space.
  • Onshore outsourcing – Onshore outsourcing allows employees to work from their own workspace rather than being in a physical workspace.
  • Nearshore outsourcing – This is a project-based outsourcing wherein the company provides all project related information to a third-party or an external service provider to handle software development, quality assurance, and project maintenance.
  • Managed Services – Managed IT services come into play when a company doesn’t have the specific resources available. They cover a wide range of business functions such as networks, web applications, payroll, server, and backup or recovery solutions to the workstation.

Commonly Outsourced IT services

  1. Web application development
  2. Hosting
  3. Software development
  4. Tech support
  5. Database management & development
  6. Infrastructure
  7. Telecommunications
  8. Website maintenance
  9. Network & Communications
  10. Disaster recovery
  11. Email security
  12. Data Centre management
  13. Threat protection

Why companies need IT Outsourcing?

Every company needs IT outsourcing because of the following;

  • Assists in managing IT Infrastructure, running the service desk
  • Takes complete responsibility for IT support which is a fully managed service
  • Provides a helping hand for an internal IT team as IT support and maintenance
  • There are instances where a company has more than one service provider for their organisation based on their necessity
  • Cost-effective
  • 24×7 IT support and can count on it
  • Vast pool of expertise consisting of experienced and qualified SME
  • Resolving issues remotely
  • Uninterrupted workflow
  • Concentrate on core business
  • Improvised service quality
  • Crucial to business requirements
  • Enforcing transformational change
  • Maintaining intellectual assets
  • Enables to be more competitive
  • Keeps budget in-check

Though it may seem like a risky move to lend hands towards an external managed IT service provider but there are perks alongside which improves the continuity of business. It would be very impressive to minimize exposure risk and to increase efficiency by making a smart move collaborating with the right Managed IT Service providers.