How Do You ID ITs?

Todd Bailey

Todd Bailey is Vice President of Digital Strategy at WebiMax, a leading SEO company with 500+ clients and 150+ employees as well as Lead Contributor at SEOservices.com

Todd Bailey has written 21 articles for WebKnowHow.

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The Internet business is booming.  More traditional brands are coming aboard as well as a wealth of IT startups.  Regardless of size, one thing all parties have in common are IT needs.  How do you go about servicing the need?  Do you keep things in-house, incurring costs of hardware, maintenance, and IT workers? Do you throw some caution to the wind and outsource the needs, leaving your company dependent on an external source?

The feeling of dependency is not likely to sit well with most owners.  Who wants their company dependent on external resources?  But, it really depends on where you draw the lines anyway.  All businesses are dependent at some point, on electricity grids, workers coming to work, the ongoing needs of consumers, etc.

I'm going to admit something, which business readers looking for exact answers don't enjoy reading: it depends on your particular situation.  In many cases, addressing IT needs in-house makes a lot of sense and in other situations…well, you get it. 

A recent BBC article addresses the business conundrum.  One small marketing brand opts for outsourcing.  Andrew Banks of Squeeze Digital admits his setup works well and is 'easy.' 

"Our staff has better IT provision than most large companies where I've worked and almost everything is bought in as a service with a monthly cost.  This keeps it cheap, robust and more importantly scalable as we grow the business," he admits.

If you're addressing needs in-house, then you begin searching for a new team member.  Conversely, if you opt for outsourcing, you still need to find indirect team members.  Regardless, what do businesses need to consider as part of the process?

In general, IT support involves cost, convenience, reliability, and flexibility (scalability).  Those are four words in a sentence, seemingly not much to attend to; don't be fooled.  IT support is hugely important and often misunderstood by those who don't have rich experience running resources on their own.

Scalability is important and included above.  However, you may read that in a selfish manner, meaning it leads one to think of scalability of the business; however, the world of IT is growing as well.  It is constantly growing, at lightning speeds.  Your in-house people will need to constantly stay on 'top of their game.'  In some instances, it may be impossible for one person, necessitating an IT team.  Now, businesses must consider growing, in-house IT costs, which may be difficult to presage.

Most know about in-house options and outsource options.  What about interim IT solutions, a sort of a 'hire 'em if you need em' type of deal? 

"Interims should be seen as the short, sharp, shock – they are the Stormtroopers of the IT world," relays one industry member. One interesting idea, because the cost of interim ITs could get expensive, is sharing an IT team within a business park or community.

What do you think of the notion, business owners?  Would you rather have someone in-house or outsourced?  Would you consider the notion of interim ITs?  Would you share a team with other businesses within or out of your vertical?