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Should You Outsource Your Intranet?
We weren’t all cut out to be networking geniuses, and most of us have come to understand this. If a company doesn’t have any staff with the proper training to create and maintain an intranet, you might be in over your head. In these trying times, we can turn to the wonderful world of outsourcing - and give all your problems to someone else.
What Your Money Pays For
When you outsource your intranet’s problems, you are of course paying for it out of your pocket. When you pay for a job, you expect to get the most out of it - right? When outsourcing your intranet, there are a few advantages the buyer gets to claim.
First and foremost is the technological experience of the company you outsourced to. Since they deal in intranets in everyday work, they are likewise up to date on the latest technology and can solve most intranet problems. This depends on the company, of course, but on average you can expect a bang-up job for the right price.
The outsourcing aspect of the operation means there is no downtime for your own employees. Instead of trying to figure out how to correctly implement the intranet, they are at work-letting the outsourcing agency handle it. Some policies differ from company to company, but do expect most to make house-calls. After all, what good is outsourcing your intranet if the company won’t help you personally make sure everything is stable and ready to go?
Lastly, most intranet companies will even be generous enough to train a few employees to maintain the intranet. This can include common maintenance tasks, information on common problems, and a host of other tidbits that can keep your intranet running smooth. Since most companies outsource because of a lack of proper training, this part of the deal is vital to ensure you won’t be paying any fees for outsourced troubleshooting and tech support.
What to Look for in an Outsourcing Agency
We can almost guarantee you that every single outsourcing agency you talk to will tell you they are experts at what they do. They cater to the best businesses in the area, have an outstanding track record, and are the best choice possible for your situation. If every business promises this, who’s lying?
The key thing to look for when choosing an outsourcing agency is their clients of past and present. If possible, you may wish to contact clients and ask them what they thought of the service they paid for. Some clients may go without mentioning. If an outsourcing agency claims to have a large business as a customer in your area, it’s a good sign that the agency is well respected.
Once you have decided on a possible well reputed agency, you need to review what they are offering you, and at what price. The key part here is to make sure that training and post-production support are offered. Without both, expect your intranet to fail. With only one of the two, expect a lot of headaches in the future. If your company does indeed have the properly trained staff to handle an intranet, but just didn’t have time to implement it without outsourcing, you may still want to push for post-production support. The common “What is this here for?” or “What’s this do?” may end up troubling your staff - and ultimately hurting your work efficiency.
Should you outsource your Intranet?
Like most things in business, the answer to this question will likely revolve around one thing: money. This is usually the sole decider, seeing as how most outsourced solutions will be quite costly. Not only are you paying for the designers and workers to implement the intranet, you are also usually paying for training and tech support too.
Another way outsourced solutions can hurt your wallet is through inexperience. Since the outsourcing agency probably doesn’t know how your network runs, expect a lot of work to be done just learning how your current network is assembled. If the agency is going by an hourly wage, you may even be paying them before they actually do anything.
If your business needs to expand in the near future, obtaining an intranet now would be a poor decision. It is very likely you would have to upgrade hardware on your intranet for the expansion - and thus, pay more fees for another design and implementation job.
Closing Comments
If you are asking the question as to whether or not you should outsource your intranet, you’re over halfway to your solution. You have already recognized that an intranet would increase productivity, cut costs, and push your business to the next level.
Now the question is: can you afford it? Sure, you can expect a return on investment. And you may even be able to write some of the work off as a business expense on your tax return. But for the sake of saving money, you may want to simply send a couple of your employees to college for some extra training.
In the end it’s just a balancing game - who has the lowest price and how can you maximize your return. Either way, make sure you are prepared to make a hefty withdrawal from your bank account.
