When it comes to running a small business, success is often dependent on an entrepreneur's willingness to surrender control.
By outsourcing technology-related necessities, you can focus on more important responsibilities, while freeing up money to help your company grow.
But which tech tasks should you outsource? The following guide can help you unburden your business and spur faster growth.
Infrastructure equipment: Servers and data centers require considerable investment, along with regular maintenance by a highly skilled IT staff. Using Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), small enterprises can save a bundle on servers, hardware and network systems, paying only a monthly bill.
Hosting: In-house hosting is both costly and fraught with security risks. By outsourcing to a cloud service, small businesses can free up valuable resources, while gaining the ability to access information anywhere, anytime using the Internet.
E-commerce Web Design: Unless you're a skilled developer, consider outsourcing the design of your e-commerce website. This is the best way to ensure the site runs smoothly and efficiently, so you don't alienate customers and miss out on sales.
Web updates: Most small business owners lack the time and know-how needed to ensure that their websites are consistent with the latest tech trends and changes. Every day, developers are coming up with improved systems that run more efficiently. Make sure you stay ahead of the competition by outsourcing your plugin and application updates to a knowledgeable provider.
Cybersecurity: Don't rely on IT vendors for cybersecurity recommendations. Seek assistance from cybersecurity experts to safeguard your data with an extra layer of protection.
Quality Assurance: A third-party QA firm provides valuable insight into your products and apps. It's also a great way to spare busy in-house developers from having to spend days writing test cases.
Other Considerations
As a general rule, it's always best for small businesses to outsource anything that lies beyond a staffer's expertise. If you don't have the requisite training or experience to solve a problem or anticipate complications, hire an expert. You should also consider outsourcing any tedious task that can't be automated. This includes any work that simply cannot be handled by software or a script. It makes no sense to have well-paid employees working on tedious tasks, when you can free up money and time by offloading to a third-party provider.
