What are the Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Hosting Support?
Every hosting company has to provide the highest quality support possible. Since this is one of the most competitive online industries, support is one of the ways great companies separate themselves from lesser companies. Before you choose the best way to provide support to your clients, it may be necessary to weigh the outsourcing pros and cons.
What is Outsourcing?
Outsourcing is the process of trusting your hosting support to third-party company. It’s one of the ways a small to medium-sized hosting company can compete with the larger and more dominate companies. By outsourcing your hosting support needs, you gain many advantages, but there are a few disadvantages, as well.
The Three Major Pros of Outsourcing Hosting Support
Many pros come with outsourcing any business task, but especially hosting support. The three top pros of outsourcing your hosting support are:
- Reduced Costs – The biggest draw to outsourcing is the ability to save money. Many companies specializing in hosting support provide the best options for a much lower cost than handling the support in house.
- 24/7, 365 Support – With outsourced hosting, you can easily afford to provide 24/7, 365 support. No longer do you have to put a limit on the hosting support hours due to your budget and staffing restrictions.
- Access to Experts – Hiring experts in the hosting industry is very expensive. When you outsource your support to a company with a team of hosting experts, you will not only save money, but also gain access to top industry professionals.
These three pros are huge in the hosting industry. Saving money and time provide your business with more of the two hottest commodities. You can relax and concentrate on growing your business because your monthly overhead will be greatly reduced, while you maintain the best possible support in the industry.
The Three Cons of Outsourcing Your Hosting Support
Of course, with outsourcing, there are a few negatives. The three most common cons of outsourcing hosting support include:
- Lack of Control – You don’t have the same level of control over outsourced hosting support compared to an in-house staff. The hiring and firing isn’t controlled by you, at all.
- Linguistic Barriers – If you choose the wrong support team for your needs, there could be a massive linguistic barrier. Many support companies use teams in India and other foreign countries. Most of their support staff only speaks English as a second language.
- Competitive Conflict – Another con of outsourcing your hosting support comes with only some of the companies you could choose for this task. Some support companies also provide hosting, which is a conflict of interest.
As long as you don’t have control issues, you can overcome the other two most common cons of outsourcing hosting support. Hiring a company with a fully North American support team will eliminate the linguistic barrier. Of course, eliminating the competitive conflict is also very easy by choosing a support company that doesn’t sell hosting services.
Do the Pros Outweigh the Cons?
Outsourcing your hosting support does provide far more benefits than the three major pros of outsourcing. However, the three major pros outweigh all of the cons of outsourcing your support needs.
Gaining access to experts to provide phone, chat and helpdesk support is vital to your hosting company. Server monitoring is another very important part of your support and a company capable of handling all of these tasks will save you both time and money.
You got into the hosting business to make money, just like any other company that opens its’ doors. When you take on tasks, such as hosting support, you give up a large pile of cash and many hours every day, if you keep this in-house.
However, if you outsource your hosting support needs to an expert in the industry, you will free up capital and time. This provides you with the ability to grow your business and compete with the many other hosting options found online.
After looking closely at the major pros and cons of outsourcing hosting support, you should be able to make an informed decision. If you have any questions or you need more information contact Server Sitters today and find out how we can help you with all your support needs.