Is an in-house IT technician the right decision for your business? If you’re like most businesses, saving money while improving results is ideal. This may mean expanding your staff to include a team of tech specialists, but this can often be an unnecessary expense that leaves you with highly paid employees twiddling their thumbs all day. For small and medium sized enterprises who are looking for the best of both worlds, we recommend Managed IT services.
Put simply, Managed IT is our solution which gives you a team of specialist technicians and network experts, at a fraction of the cost. Naturally, you would rather see your IT budget working to support your growth and kept as affordable as possible. That’s Entricio’s focus too. It is why we don’t simply maintain and repair your systems; we proactively monitor to avoid downtime and work with you to ensure your IT increases productivity and efficiency.
Whether you already have in-house IT and are auditing the value, or are curious about what having IT support might be like for your business, we have put together a few factors to consider before making your choice:
Availability: Most employees work 9-5, but what happens if something goes wrong with your systems outside these hours? Your in-house technician will not appreciate being woken at 1am and called in for emergency repairs. It is more likely that they simply will not answer the call (or hear it), or if they do, expect some hefty contract renegotiation come 9am. Managed IT is different as we expect after hours calls and have support technicians ready to respond. We know that every minute of downtime is affecting your revenue, and your reputation, so we prioritize getting your systems up and running ASAP. As a bonus, we can help to prevent these disasters as we are constantly monitoring and correcting problems before they occur.
Total cost: One of the things that may have attracted you to having an in-house technician is the cost. But while you may be able to pay them a lower hourly rate, there are extra costs like hiring, training, ongoing training, healthcare, and retirement. Once you start adding up the cost of an in-house technician, you might find it is eating up your IT budget and leaving you scrambling to fill gaps you didn’t expect. Upgrades get delayed, opportunities missed, and IT expenses become a sore point. In comparison, Managed IT is one fixed monthly rate delivering enormous value, including access to specialists across all software applications and technology.
Ongoing Training: Putting aside the fact your technician will often spend entire weeks away continuing education and leaving you scrambling for support while they’re gone, those training costs quickly add up. With a salaried technician, you’ll have to pay all ongoing training and certification costs, plus travel costs for industry conferences. We know how important it is to remain current, certified and skilled in new technologies, so we spend the money to invest in ourselves so we can serve you better. We’re part of industry related communities and attend multiple conferences each year, all at our own expense.
Different goals: For most employees, a higher wage is the goal and many will job-hop to achieve that. A salaried tech may be looking for the first opportunity to leave and get paid more, often leveraging all the training you’ve just provided. In these modern times, switching jobs regularly is expected, with an average of only 3 years in each position. Considering how much it cost your business to acquire, train and upskill your technician, 3 years is an unreasonable ROI. Our goals couldn’t be more different – we aim to keep you a happy customer for as long as we can!
In the end, your business needs to find the right balance between profit and expertise. When you partner with our Managed IT, you’re securing availability, ever-increasing expertise and commitment to your success. We work closely with you to provide the very best support and protect you from costly disasters, taking preemptive action to keep you safe and operational. There’s no doubt Managed IT is a better decision than hiring an in-house technician, and we’d be delighted to prove it to you.
Talk to Entricio about Managed IT for your business, we’d love to hear from you.
Call us at (561) 293-2258
