To outsource or not to outsource? That is the question many businesses have to ask themselves for various parts of their operations. One of those parts is facilities management. We live in a world where businesses have to find ways to cut costs as much as possible and outsourcing seems counterproductive to that. However, when considering that facilities management is something that is always necessary, it could be said that outsourcing is actually a way to save money. Here, Facility Source reviews the five main reasons why outsourcing could be a good idea.
Facility Source Reviews 5 Benefits of Outsourcing
- It helps to free up resources. When facilities management is outsourced, it means that your staff can focus on their main business drivers and not on the low priority, smaller tasks that come up all the time. Your staff can become more efficient and effective at meeting business goal, thereby also increasing profitability.
- It minimizes downtime. One of the things that facilities management companies focus on is making sure that communication infrastructures are fully operational. They ensure the equipment is running properly at all times. When these things break down, businesses experience significant downtime and any downtime is money wasted. By outsourcing facilities management, they ensure that solutions are always in place immediately, with most services being 24/7. It also means that businesses don’t have to worry about the person who always fixes the printer, for instance, being off sick or on holiday. If someone at the outsourced company is off, it is their responsibility to put a replacement in place.
- It ensures system longevity is increased. Facilities management companies also focus strongly on maintenance. When handling these issues in house, most businesses only focus on repair, leaving the maintenance alone completely. However, by outsourcing, the goal is to be more proactive and to avoid repairs from ever being necessary. This also means that the overall equipment will last longer.
- It saves money. This is the one most businesses become interested in. When you outsource, it means you don’t have to hire your own staff with all the costs of recruiting and retention involved. Instead, you are guaranteed to always have someone available to resolve your issues.
- You receive specialized expertise. These people are trained in the latest tools and techniques in relation to facilities management. They are also fully up to date with the changing regulatory environment, OSHA regulations, local and national codes, and more. Obtaining their expertise would take years of in house training, by which time the knowledge will be out of date again. When you outsource, you are guaranteed to have specialists on board who are always fully up to date and this doesn’t cost you anything extra.
Clearly, outsourcing facilities management is a good idea. No business can operate properly without some form of facilities management in place and it is usually the case that outsourcing this turns into a fantastic cost saving exercise. This may take a little bit of time, but the value for money is certainly there.
