What Small Business Owners Need To Know About Hiring A Full-Time IT Manager
Small Businesses Have Different IT Support Needs Than Large Corporations
If you own your own small business, there are many factors to consider when it comes to expanding and bringing on new staff. You may be thinking about hiring a full time IT manager, but -- can you afford to? Is it time for this type of expansion for your company?
As with most complicated questions the answer is: it depends. Different companies have different objectives and goals.
Small businesses with less than 50 employees are better off sticking with break-and-fix or managed IT services. But if you’re a larger company or corporation with more than 50 computers, it’s more common to have both a managed services company like Eugene IT Services take care of the day-to-day stuff as well as have a full-time manager that deals with things like planning out the map for the future. For example; what line of business applications are they going to run? What type of website interaction are they going to have? They look at it overall, but they don't do the day-to-day stuff.
Typically, an IT manager is a person who manages a team of technicians, but they don't do the work themselves. Because there’s already a team in place, it’s mostly corporations that are hiring a full-time IT manager.
You have to remember that when you hire in house full time staff, you also have to provide them with benefits. That adds probably 30 plus percent to their compensation package. So it’s much less expensive to outsource. Additionally, you don't have HR issues, you don't have people calling in sick. You don't have confrontations between the employees because they don't work for you.
Should you hire a full-time IT manager?
Overall, IT services can be a good way to help your business run more smoothly. Whether you need IT support now or in the future, it’s worth looking into. If you’re looking for a cost-effective solution that is going to give you the best bang for your buck, a dedicated IT person on a full-time basis probably isn’t the best choice. You need someone who knows your business inside and out, accommodates your schedule and takes their work seriously. So while hiring a full-time IT manager may be too expensive to consider or too difficult to manage, hiring a freelancer can make all the difference in making sure that small business owners get the most out of their computer network and associated software products.
If you have developed an IT infrastructure but are still facing issues, it might be time to consider hiring a full time IT manager. You should make sure that your business is stable enough before you make such a large decision. If you've come to a crossroads when it comes to technology and need to hire someone to turn things around, make sure you do your due diligence first.