
Outsourcing your IT to an external service provider involves a high degree of trust in them to deliver on specific or all your business’s IT functions. Some of these functions include managing the IT infrastructure, running the help desk, and even advising on IT strategy. Therefore, it is essential that the service provider you outsource your IT to is competent, experienced, and up to date with all the latest technology.
While a company may use multiple IT service providers to deliver on these different tasks, it is more manageable to use one company knowledgeable enough to provide many other outsourced elements of technology. These elements include onshore, nearshore, offshore outsourcing, cloud computing and fully managed IT services.
Types of IT Outsourcing
Onshore outsourcing involves contracting IT-related work with a local service provider in the same country as you. This service can be offered on-site or remotely. Nearshore outsourcing entails contracting with a company in a country that shares a border with your own country. In contrast, offshore outsourcing involves contracting with an overseas country, such as Mauritius to South Africa.
Cloud computing is another way that IT companies provide their services over the internet in the form of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure-as-a-Service. Managed Services are where your chosen IT support company provides everything from telephony, messaging, VPNs, firewalls to network monitoring and support.
Why IT Outsourcing Makes Sense
IT services are typically outsourced to reduce costs, improve productivity, political stability, or tax savings. Other reasons include;
- Application development, support, and management
- Software development
- Website development
- Website hosting
- Technical support (Help Desk)
- IT hardware and software
- Network installations
- Data storage and centre management
- Backup and data recovery
- Online threat protection
South Africa as a Preferred IT Outsourcing Country
South Africa has been rising in popularity for an offshore IT company due to its world-class infrastructure and customer care. Furthermore, McKinsey’s South Africa Big Five report believes that the country’s global business services sector could grow to more than 775 000 jobs by 2030, with two-thirds of these in the service of overseas markets.
This post-pandemic growth is attributed to the increase in the number of outsourced businesses during the lock-down and the niche markets they address, such as insurance claim screening, medical records, surveys, etc. However, finding sufficiently multi-skilled individuals is difficult, which is why you need to consider a strategic partnership with an established IT services partner.
Westech is a tech company in South Africa that has been providing fully managed IT support services since 1994. Furthermore, it is a trusted computer hardware supplier and authorised Dell distributor in South Africa. Westech is regarded as one of the top IT solutions companies in South Africa and as one of the country’s leading managed service providers. We have a proven track record of outstanding service levels and use only the latest technologies. We aim to solve problems and provide solutions to our clients wherever they are located.
If you would like to find out how we can help your company improve its business processes and productivity by streamlining its IT, contact our team of professionals.