With technology advancing at exponential rates, some companies are finding it more difficult for their internal IT departments to keep up with the needed knowledge. Outsourcing support for a single area, such as intricate systems engineering work, can help your internal IT experts focused on being experts in technology as it relates to distribution, says Patsy O'Grady, chief information officer for Port Chester, NY-based Strauss Paper Co., in The Question of Outsourcing IT.

Professionals that specialize in these specific functions can get the job done faster, have passed the learning curve stage already and are more familiar with implementation. And it frees up time for O'Grady and her counterparts at other companies to focus on the day-to-day system administration and the unique business needs of their companies.

By focusing the internal IT function on distribution technology, your IT team can spend more time evaluating how your company interacts with its customers, making sure the systems are returning information useful to your distribution business or addressing critical problems when they arise.

"We'll focus more on being a distribution company as opposed to an IT company," O'Grady says.