Over the past few years, IT has become increasingly central to most organisations' ability to function. But for many small to medium-sized enterprises, this reliance on technology brings its own attendant problems in terms of where to find affordable and reliable IT support.

One company that has tried several options since it was established three years ago is Article 10. When managing director Lyndon Nicholson created the marketing agency with co-founder Dale Smith, they decided to undertake IT support themselves as they had some experience in the area. Nonetheless, they hired an expert to help them set up an email and file server and a couple of computer workstations.

However, as the company started to grow and less IT-literate staff joined, this home-grown approach to IT support became an increasing drain on their time.

Looking around

The company didn't want to pay too much and was unable to justify the high wage costs of hiring a full-time IT manager, so looked at contractors that could sell it a bank of time. This involved them undertaking 'this many set hours over the phone or on site for that money', which in Article 10's case was 20 hours per annum.

'Unfortunately we underestimated the time needed both to set up new users and deal with day-to-day problems, which meant the company had to keep going back to purchase more time on an ad hoc basis.' says Nicholson.

'This made budgeting difficult because it made putting a line item for IT into the business plan virtually impossible as we didn't know how much it would cost,' Nicholson explains.

When the contract came up for renewal, the company again reviewed its options. It wanted a partner that would take a more proactive approach, but the contractors' business model was a reactive one. This led it to sign a three-year outsourcing contract with local supplier, Virtual IT.

'Knowing what we do now, we should have done it earlier. Removing the support burden from the owner manager allows you to do what you set up in business to do. But like most small businesses, we initially looked at the bottom line rather than the benefits,' says Nicholson.

What works for you

Another company with a similar experience is SCiSales. When the company set up in 2002, it hired an IT manager to write software and provide IT support. 'There wasn't enough work and you have to spend time managing them. So having an extra body when you need to turnover money isn't cost-effective and is actually counter-productive.' says founder and chief executive Brendan O'Flaherty.

So he went to a one-man band for a year, or so, to provide help when required, but as the business started to grow, a broader range of expertise was needed.

As a result, SCiSales signed up outsourcing provider, Armon which provides IT backup and telephone support and sends a staff member once a week to tackle any issues on site.

While this approach has been the most successful to date, it costs about £1,000 per month. But as O'Flaherty points out, this is cheaper than taking on a full-time employee. 'IT is not cheap, which is a nightmare for a business, especially in the early days. But this just means that you have to explore the options carefully and find out what works best for you,' he says.

IT support options

• IT manager
Relatively expensive, but provides a dedicated service. More feasible at about the 30 people mark.

• Contractors
Provide services based on pre-purchased time, but such services tend to be reactive rather proactive or strategic in nature.

• One-man band
Can be very flexible, but may not have the up-to-date, or broad set of skills required as the company grows.

• Outsourcing provider
Provides 24/7 expertise that can be flexed up and down as the business grows or shrinks. Fees are generally recorded as operating rather than capital expenditure.

However, there are pitfalls, so ensure that the outsourcer assigns you experienced staff, establish from the outset what service priority you will be given should something go wrong and choose a local provider where possible.

Catherine Everett is a freelance IT journalist

For more information go to www.virtualit.biz or www.armon.co.uk