What is the Difference Between Managed Services and Outsourcing? Which One is Right for Your Business?

managed IT services in Orange County

When workforces are overworked, outsourcing managed IT services in Orange County is an appealing solution for many businesses. But don’t be misled—these expressions are not synonymous. Both entail hiring a third party to provide business services but choosing which of the two is the better fit might be the difference between a successful firm and one that barely survives. 

Read on to find out the key difference between managed services and outsourcing to further find the right needs for companies that aim for long-term business solutions.

What is Outsourcing?

Outsourcing companies offer services for specifically targeted business procedures. For instance, a business might contract with a partner to handle certain duties like processing payroll or answering Tier 1 Support (L1) calls. 

Outsourcing business owners choose particular services and requirements that an external partner can meet. Outsourcing partners come in various forms, including onshore, offshore, and nearshore partners.

They offer discrete services that are in charge of precisely defined business operations. For instance, you might want to outsource your L1 helpdesk or require assistance with non-IT work like data input or document scanning. When you outsource, you choose certain services and request assistance from an outside organization to meet particular business needs.

What are Managed Services?

Managed services provide a more comprehensive approach to supporting a company’s business needs than outsourcing. An extensive range of services in one or more fields, such as IT or enterprise resource planning (ERP), is offered through a managed services outsourcing model.

Your technology and network’s managed service provider will intervene and evaluate to determine why your workforce isn’t utilizing the ERP package in which you invested a lot of money. 

It’s their job to provide suggestions for immediate and gradual improvements to properly align your ERP deployment with how you conduct business. They’ll also check to see if any parts of your hardware infrastructure are interfering with performance.

How Do They Mainly Differ?

Both entail hiring a third party to provide services for your company but choosing which of the two is best for you can simplify the decision-making process. Here are a few key differences to keep looking for when scaling up your small business.

Managed IT Services are Highly Specialized.

When you outsource your IT services, all potential IT-related requirements are given to a specific business that gives your company an on-site employee who acts as the middleman for both parties. Essentially, this person is a liaison between your firm and the outsourcing provider. 

A managed services company can handle some IT tasks you cannot do on your own. They collaborate closely with your current IT staff to keep everything running properly and offer services that are tailored to your needs.

The Managed Services Offering is More Long-Term. 

In contrast to firms that rely on managed services, outsourcing is typically done temporarily when you require assistance with a particular problem. 

The difference between outsourcing and managed IT services in Orange County is that the former may integrate with your current infrastructure. It can become a team member, whereas the latter requires you to hire someone temporarily to solve a specific issue.

Managed Services Replaced Outsourcing. 

Although IT management services in places like Orange County, Anaheim, or Irvine have recently started to gain popularity, outsourcing first gained prominence in the late 1980s. Many people think the former evolved into the latter. 

Most firms believe starting small and growing as you go is preferable. Following demand, scaling up or down is simple when using a cloud-managed service.

Is Outsourcing Preferred Over Managed Services? 

No, not always—both have a place in the contemporary business environment, but our team gives you more options, are offer more affordable services, and enables you to work with skilled technicians. We can protect you and lower your risk, but depending on your particular situation, one may be more effective.

Get the Right Managed IT Services in Orange County You Can Rely On

Our aim at Affant is to offer services that enable you to maximize the efficiency of your IT infrastructure while minimizing expenditure. Your internal staff receives tech support from our remote organization. You use our team of professionals if your company doesn’t have a full-time IT department.

You may rely on us to handle all of your demands with the care you deserve rather than outsourcing your numerous needs to various managed service providers.

We’ll review your present IT infrastructure during onboarding to identify what’s functioning effectively and what may be improved. We have a large staff of specialists in numerous disciplines of technology. 

Let’s get you started, contact us at 714-338-7100 at Affant IT Management today!

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