Outsourcing IT: Don't Call the Plumber

Outsourcing IT shouldn't be like calling the plumber. An IT partnership is more than just dialing a number for help when the s--- hits the fan. While you can think of IT as analogous to the plumbing in your business, your business is not like a simple house with plumbing infrastructure that rarely changes. Your business is rather more like an ever-evolving complex of buildings, where serious forethought and planning around the building complex's infrastructure is required to insure future growth.

There will always be the everyday problems (drain clogs) and maintenance associated with IT, but a good provider will have the knowledge and the proper tools to reduce the frequency of everyday emergencies, and consequently minimize overhead cost.

If you can reduce the frequency of everyday emergencies, you'll have more time, and more money to devote to strategic uses of IT --using it to your advantage rather than simply reacting to problems that need fixing. You'll want more than a repairman's skillset now. With a strategic eye, examine your business with your IT partner, and plumb the possibilites of what can be done to make your business grow.