IT — Outsource or Keep In-House?

Information technology (IT) staffing is not an easy task, and it can be an exhaustive and time-consuming process. Nonprofit organizations may require additional care with IT staffing due to limited budgets and resources.

Maintaining IT standards with limited resources

A helpful statistic when seeking IT personnel may be that for organizations of fewer than 500 people, the median ratio is 1:18 IT staff to employees, according to job-matching site Indeed. This may not be a reasonable investment for many nonprofit organizations.

A lot of small- to medium-sized nonprofits find it helpful to outsource IT needs to a managed service provider (MSP), as a qualified IT services company will have a much broader set of skills, experience, and capabilities than is reasonable to cover in-house.

When deciding what to keep in-house versus what to outsource to a third party, it is recommended that organizations internally manage:

• Core business functions
• Processes that require a high degree of control or confidentiality
• Functions that require mission-critical knowledge or expertise

Most other IT functions can be outsourced.

Look for specific skill sets

Whether in-house or outsourced, some skill sets to look for in your IT professionals include:

• Previous experience working with nonprofit organizations 
• User access management, database management, and network monitoring and management
• Help-desk and end-user support capabilities
• Cybersecurity protocols, including end-user trainings and periodic penetration testing

If working with an MSP, determine someone in your leadership structure to manage this contract and relationship, ideally someone with a strong enough understanding of IT concepts and risks to know what to request and monitor. We often see IT managed by COOs, CFOs, and CAOs, as well as directors of operations. Generally, whoever handles compliance and risk functions for the organization is a good place to start.

How we can help

If you would like help professionalizing your IT function, reach out to us today.