What is IT outsourcing? Advantages & Disadvantages, Key Points for Implementation

IT outsourcing is being introduced in a variety of industries and companies. Many companies are concerned about not having digital talent in-house or being unable to allocate internal resources to IT work. Outsourcing work to external data analytics outsourcing companies not only allows companies to focus on their core business but is also said to bring in knowledge and technology that was not previously available in-house, leading to further business development. In this article, you will learn the overview, advantages and disadvantages, and key points to consider when implementing IT outsourcing services in order to make the most of them.

IT outsourcing is business consignment

IT outsourcing refers to outsourcing an organization’s IT-related operations to an external company. It is also known as “ITO (Information Technology Outsourcing)”. With the emergence of various cloud services in recent years, it is considered essential for organizations to actively use the latest technologies and services to improve their productivity.

However, in order to introduce cloud services, it is necessary to build an internal environment, prepare IT, and gain a deep understanding of the functions of cloud services, and many organizations seem to be struggling to secure IT personnel who can handle these tasks.

As a result, an increasing number of organizations are outsourcing their IT operations to specialized companies (vendor companies) not only to reduce the costs of IT operations but also to allocate human resources to their core operations, aiming for further corporate growth and business expansion.

Full outsourcing

Full outsourcing refers to outsourcing the entire IT business, rather than just a portion of it. It is possible to make all data analytics outsourcing work, from planning the system to be developed, through requirements definition, development work, testing and implementation, to operation work.

Of course, you can freely choose where to outsource, such as doing the system planning in-house and leaving all subsequent processes to an external company, so it is a good idea to thoroughly discuss the work to be outsourced in advance with the external company.

Operational Outsourcing

Operational outsourcing refers to entrusting the operation of the IT infrastructure of a system, such as servers, clouds, and operating systems. There may be cases where an IT system introduced at great expense has become a mere formality as the company is unable to fully utilize it. In cases where an IT system is technically operational but is not being used by anyone, or there are cases where there is a lack of time to perform version upgrades and maintenance work, resulting in security risks, outsourcing only the IT operations will resolve the technical issues of operational work.

• Hosting involves using servers and storage from external data analytics companies and outsourcing tasks such as IT operations and maintenance. Many organizations set up their servers, but when maintenance issues or failures occur, they have to temporarily shut down the servers. This means that the company’s services are also stopped, and the downtime is a loss for the organization. By renting external servers, an increasing number of organizations are adopting hosting to reduce the costs of managing and maintaining their servers, as well as to maintain a stable IT operating system.
• Housing refers to renting servers and communication equipment that your company has prepared at an external company’s data center. In contrast to the hosting mentioned in the previous section, this is a form of service in which your company prepares the servers and other equipment and leaves them with an external company. Although the ownership of the server is in the company, it seems that in many cases the management and maintenance of the equipment, as well as troubleshooting, are left to an external company.
• Help Desk. A help desk is a service that handles support for customer inquiries by phone or email. Outsourcing a call center is one example of a help desk. For example, responding to employee inquiries when the company’s PCs or systems are not working and dealing with malfunctions and problems are generally the responsibility of the company’s IT department, but by outsourcing these tasks to external specialists, the IT department can focus on core operations, thereby improving work efficiency and productivity. Since there are many types of services, it may be a good idea to consult with a help desk service company to find out what they can do for you and to what extent they can assist you.
• Resident service. A form of service in which members of an external company are stationed at a company to provide technical IT support is called a resident service. Companies, such as N-iX, handle everything from new system development to system problem-solving on behalf of your company’s members. Some companies even offer consulting services, such as proposing more effective operations and stable maintenance systems.

Outsourcing is effective for IT operations

Outsourcing can be used for a variety of tasks, but it is particularly popular in the IT, operations and maintenance, data analytics, and web departments.

In today’s world, where the introduction and utilization of a wide variety of technologies, such as information system management, cloud management of customer information, big data, and BI (business intelligence), is essential, the speed of business in IT, operation and maintenance, and web departments is rapidly increasing. Against this background, many companies are providing IT-related outsourcing services, and each company is constantly acquiring the latest information and technology to be able to meet various demands.

To conclude

It would be effective to outsource IT-related tasks, which have fast-changing trend cycles, and system operation and management tasks to experts. Many organizations perform IT tasks in addition to other tasks, but we recommend that they review their core and non-core tasks and consider introducing IT outsourcing.

With this service, experienced consultants will analyze the current state of your IT environment and operations, identify problems, and develop an outsourcing plan with improvement measures and priorities. This will not only resolve issues and improve efficiency but also realize outsourcing while sharing management goals with our clients, such as cost reduction and the promotion of digital transformation.