IT outsourcing: Solve your tech talent gap with managed private cloud

Your senior infrastructure engineer role’s been sitting on LinkedIn for three months. Still no candidate worth a second interview. External recruiters can’t help either. They’re just sending you the same candidates you’ve already rejected, but in a different font.  

 Finally, you find someone. But you have to pay them twice your recruitment budget. And by the time you make the offer, a team member doing two jobs at once to cover the vacant role resigned. Now you’ve got to do it all over again.  

 Meanwhile, the organisation’s infrastructure suffers and your leadership comes under scrutiny. The tough questions come: “What if it’s you, not the market? Why aren’t our competitors having this problem?” 

 It’s not you. It’s the market. According to IDC research, nearly two thirds of IT leaders said that a lack of skills has resulted in missed revenue growth objectives, quality issues and a decline in customer satisfaction. Among the top ten in-demand skills IT teams struggle to find? You guessed it, cloud. It’s not going to get any better. By 2026, more than 90% of organisations worldwide will be impacted by the IT skills shortage. The result? An estimated US$5.5 trillion (approx. AU$ 8.5 trillion) in losses caused by product delays, reduced capability and ultimately: lost business opportunities. 

Your competitors aren’t having this problem because they’ve decided to take the smart route and outsource their IT infrastructure management. In this article, we’ll tell why you should too.  

If the IT skills shortage is holding your organisation to ransom, IT outsourcing offers complete solution. It removes the complexity of IT hiring altogether and contrary to some legacy viewpoints, it doesn’t mean a dip in quality or responsiveness.  

This guide breaks down the five types of IT outsourcing, where it beats in-house hiring and shows how virtual data centres and managed private cloud infrastructure can help tackle the IT skills shortage in Australia.  

What is IT Outsourcing? 

IT outsourcing is the practice of contracting a third-party company to manage some or all IT functions. In Australia, this has evolved from basic help desk services to comprehensive infrastructure management, such as through managed private cloud and virtual data centres.  

The core benefit of IT outsourcing is that it gives organisations access to IT specialists to manage their systems, without the cost and complexity of hiring an in-house team.  

Organisations turn to IT outsourcing for a number of reasons:  

• Access to specialised skillsets: It would be unsustainable for most organisations to hire in-house specialists in every skill they need to maintain an effective IT function. Outsourcing gives them access to a wide range of specialists when they need them.  
• Predictable costs: Salaries are variable and unpredictable and that’s before you consider the cost of recruitment and onboarding. Outsourcing turns this spending to stable, predictable fees. 
• Scalability: Whether it’s to handle a busy period or to support growth, the right partner will give you extra hands on deck when you need them, so you can stay agile while maintaining the quality and continuity of your operations. 
• Efficiency: if you do hire in-house IT staff, their time is best spent on activities that add value to your organisation, not stuck on the tools. When outsourced IT staff handle maintenance and operations to a high standard, your in-house team has the bandwidth to leverage your technology capability to power growth. That’s where they’ll do their best work.   

All that said, IT outsourcing has traditionally been associated with organisations that don’t have the resources to hire in-house. It’s seldom seen as the alternative. But today, that mindset has become redundant. As technology continually evolves and keeping up with it become essential to sustained success, the IT skills shortage is making it harder for organisations to find the right people. As such, IT outsourcing is increasingly seen as a key enabler of agility, innovation and resilience, not just squad depth.  

The 5 Types of IT Outsourcing 

IT outsourcing is designed for flexibility.  

Therefore, there are several different IT outsourcing models organisations can leverage depending on their unique needs and internal capabilities. They are:  

Break-Fix IT Support

Reactive support where IT issues are addressed only when something goes wrong, billed per incident or hour.

Best for: Small businesses with minimal IT infrastructure or infrequent technical issues. 

Typical services:  

• Hardware and software troubleshooting.
• On-site repairs. 
• Network fixes.
• Ad-hoc server or workstation support.

Limitations:  

• No proactive monitoring or prevention. Issues must occur before they’re engaged to provide support, often leading to downtime and unpredictable costs.

Staff Augmentation

Hiring or contracting external IT professionals to supplement internal teams for specific projects or to fill temporary skill gaps.

Best for: Organisations that need specialised expertise or short-term capacity without increasing permanent headcount. 

Typical services:  

• IT engineers.
• Cloud architects. 
• Security specialists. 
• Project-based developers. 
• Helpdesk staff. 

Limitations:  

• Still requires extensive management and coordination from internal teams.  
• Knowledge may leave when the contractor’s engagement ends.

IT Consulting Services

Where IT specialists are brought in as strategic advisors to major projects or initiatives, such as improvements to technology, operations or security. They are hired for their expert analysis and planning and experience delivering similar projects externally.

Best for: Businesses seeking to modernise, transform, or align IT strategies with business goals.

Typical services:  

• IT strategy development. 
• Infrastructure design. 
• Cyber security assessments. 
• Cloud migration planning. 
• Compliance audits.

Limitations:  

• Consultants advise but rarely implement. Outcomes still depend on internal execution or additional managed services.

Managed IT Services (MSP)

A proactive model where an external company manages and monitors an organisation’s IT systems on an ongoing basis.

Best for: Businesses that want predictable costs, uptime guarantees and continuous IT performance without managing it internally. 

Typical services:  

• 24/7 monitoring. 
• Patching. 
• Backup and recovery. 
• Endpoint management. 
• Helpdesk. 
• Network security. 
• Reporting. 

Limitations:  

• Services are limited to the scope of the managed contract, which can limit flexibility and agility. 
• Custom or legacy systems may still require additional expertise or separate support. 

 Comprehensive IT outsourcing via virtual data centres and managed private cloud

Full-scale outsourcing of IT infrastructure and operations to a provider offering virtual data centres and managed private cloud environments. 

Best for: Growth-focused businesses requiring enterprise-grade infrastructure without enterprise-scale IT teams, or organisations that want infrastructure expertise without the complexity of hiring and managing specialised internal team.   

Typical services:  

• Virtual server hosting. 
• Storage. 
• Networking. 
• Disaster recovery. 
• Security. 
• Identity management. 
• End-to-end IT operations. 

Limitations:  

• Higher cost and vendor reliance 
• Transitioning can be complex. 
• Requires strong governance to avoid lock-in. 

Delivered through Virtual Data Centres (VDC) or Managed Private Cloud (terms often used interchangeably) this model provides dedicated, isolated cloud resources with guaranteed performance and control. Unlike shared public cloud, a VDC offers predictable capacity and security. Combined with comprehensive management services, it removes the need for internal IT hiring while ensuring reliability, compliance and scalability. 

Why outsource your IT infrastructure? The case for managed private cloud 

Unlike traditional managed services that oversee shared infrastructure, Virtual Data Centre (VDC) and Managed Private Cloud solutions combine dedicated infrastructure with end-to-end management. You gain an isolated virtual environment with guaranteed performance. What’s more, you’ll gain the expertise of a full in-house IT team, without the recruitment, retention, or knowledge-loss risks. 

IT outsourcing comparison: Which type is best for your organisation?  

How virtual data centres and managed private cloud solve the tech talent gap in Australia 

Virtual Data Centres (VDC) and Managed Private Cloud services represent the most comprehensive form of IT infrastructure outsourcing available in Australia. This model provides dedicated infrastructure—the virtual data centre—that’s fully managed by expert teams through managed private cloud services. It eliminates the need to recruit, train and retain specialised IT staff. The result is enterprise-grade performance, resilience and compliance for a predictable cost.