Whether you run a 15-person company that’s considering its first IT hire, or a 100-person company looking at expanding your IT team, there’s a lot of value that technology expertise can bring. It can improve employee productivity, make it easier to contact prospects and serve clients, or even provide access to new markets entirely. For some companies, then, internal hires make plenty of sense. For others, however, the costs outweigh the benefits.
What costs?
Here are three of them:
The wrong technician, or the wrong salary
If you’re looking to hire a technology expert in the Triangle, you should know that it could be very difficult. According to technology hiring site Dice, tech experts in both Raleigh and Charlotte earned a 4% average salary increase this year. And while Raleigh has the fourth highest concentration of technology workers, that concentration is due to the huge number of technology companies that are hiring, offering an opportunity for technology experts to be surrounded by teams or divisions of other experts.
A lack of breadth
Most small and mid-size businesses don’t need a high-level systems architecture expert around their office every day. In most cases, it makes sense to hire an employee with a good mix of broad-based technical and personal skills – someone who is happy to work with your employees to quickly fix their day-to-day technology problems.
However, most offices do need systems architecture work from time to time. They are also better protected from risk if a team of experts is able to help them through a technology disaster when it does occur. This is why it makes sense for many companies to hire a Managed Services Provider, who can provide help desk support and project assistance based on the need of the client.
Distraction from core focus
If technology is a core element of the product or service you sell, it makes a lot of sense to employ network engineers. Without them, your ability to develop and sell your project is beholden to someone else.
If your company isn’t likely to be seen in the ‘technology’ section of the Triangle Business Journal, however, it might make sense to hire a company who does specialize in technology to help you make the best use of it. That’s because when your executive team has to manage functions that lie outside of the core focus of your company, it can dilute their focus on your own product.
Managed IT Service Provider
In these cases, your best bet is probably to focus on your own product and rely on a trustworthy Co-manged IT technology partner who is constantly working to help you deliver that product better and better. That’s the strategy that’s most likely to land you in your section of the Triangle Business Journal – in recognition of your business’s growth and success.
To learn how WingSwept can help your business make better use of technology, call us at 919-779-0954 or email us at Team_WingSwept@WingSwept.com.