Outsourcing for IT talent: Getting the best of the best

When it comes to hiring an experienced IT professional, as you probably already know, you’ve got a challenge on your hands. Demand for IT talent is steadily increasing, with tech meccas like the Silicon Valley able to entice prospective employees with higher six-figure salaries and better perks.

According to Scot Melland, CEO of Dice, the market is tight. “The fact is you either pay to recruit or pay to retain, and these days, at least for technology teams, companies are doing both,” he said in an article published by InfoWorld. It appears that IT professionals are taking advantage of that climate. According to a survey, 19 percent of respondents reported that they changed their jobs within the previous year to obtain a pay increase.

If you’re looking for an IT professional that meets the proper certification requirements needed for your data center operations, you could be facing even more challenges. And, if you decide to train a less qualified IT professional, you run the risk of him or her moving on to greener pastures – a higher salary – in a year or two.

The prospect of hiring and maintaining IT professionals has an increasing number of companies seeking ways to outsource for these resources. They’re accomplish this in one of two common ways:

Outsourcing for specialized IT talent: If you already have a core team, you could devote time and resources to train one of them in the specialized areas that your company requires. However, this solution could be lengthy. As an alternative, you could outsource as a way to address that need. This can be especially beneficial if the need is anticipated to be over a limited amount of time. When the issue is resolved, because of the temporary nature of the assignment, you’re not faced with the prospect of downsizing your full-time staff.

Outsourcing your data center needs: As your company’s needs grow, you may find yourself in a position of needing to expand by investing in additional staff, along with storage and equipment upgrades. Some companies choose outsourcing for part or all of their data center needs to ensure they have access to up-to-date equipment, meet certification and compliance requirements, and are able to have access to industry experts. This can prove to be a less costly alternative to investing in those resources independently.

Lifeline Data Centers has helped many companies navigate those decisions to reach a solution that best serves their needs. Contact us today for a consultation. We will help you explore the pros and cons of various options.

Other resources:

• Infographic: The 22 Data Center Compliance Acronyms You Need to Know
• White Paper: Why Data Center Compartmentalization is Important
• Lifeline One Sheet: What You Need to Know About Lifeline Data Centers

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.