As your organization grows, so does your IT infrastructure. You might need to hire more IT staff or look for professionals who take care of IT.
We are here to answer your question ‘What are Managed IT Services?‘. Understand the services you get, the benefits of Managed IT, and what to consider when hiring a Managed IT Services provider.
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What Are Managed IT Services?
When an external team takes care of your IT needs, it is called Managed IT Services. The team takes care of your day-to-day IT operations, device installation, software updates, security checks, and more.
You basically outsource/offload the management of your organization’s IT to a company. You generally get IT procurement, installation, network management, desk support, and cyber security.
The IT company takes on the 360-degree responsibility of the entire IT operations of your organization including 24X7 monitoring, on-demand desk support as well as quick problem resolution.
What Is A Managed IT Service Provider?
In simple terms, an IT service provider that manages and takes responsibility for providing a defined set of services to its clients proactively is known as Managed Service Provider(MSP).
The main responsibility of the MSP is to manage all the IT and technological needs of a business to make sure that the company runs smoothly and that if there are any network or IT issues, they are resolved immediately.
Managed Services Providers offer various cost models. But generally, you have to pay a fixed monthly fee for complete IT support.
The responsibility for maintaining and anticipating the need for, a range of processes and functions to improve operations, cut expenses and realize other benefits are outsourced by the organization.
Now we are going to talk about nine benefits of managed IT services for businesses and organizations.
9 Benefits Of Hiring Managed IT Services
When it comes to Managed IT, there can be a lot of confusion and doubt.
Do you really need a dedicated IT partner?
Will your business actually require Managed IT services every month?
Is it cheaper to hire employees for an in-house IT team or is outsourcing IT services cheaper?
Here are 9 advantages of managed IT services for your business –
Saves A Lot Of Time
An organization can face a lot of obstacles almost daily along with several IT issues. This can consume a lot of time. As a result, maintaining the IT environment and making sure that it’s up to date seems almost impossible. So when you use Managed IT Service, it helps your team to focus only on other tasks and projects so that you can get more done in the day.
Peace Of Mind
In the IT industry, you need the right talent to get any job done. But unfortunately in today’s hiring landscape, it can be quite difficult to do so. As a result, it is one of the biggest staffing pain points nowadays. But the good news is that Managed IT Services can help in recruiting highly qualified experts to manage your IT environment. As result you can get peace of mind, knowing that it’s done right.
Reduced Cost
A lot of unnecessary costs can be incurred for recruiting and training. But by leveraging managed IT service, you can reduce these expenses, while getting access to top performers to manage your environment. Here’s how Managed IT Services is cost-effective for you –
How Managed IT Services Are Cheaper Than Hiring Full-Time Employees
- Affordable Monthly Fee: Clients can receive services from managed services providers at a lesser cost than from in-house IT staff because of their business strategy.
MSPs can provide lower prices since their team of IT experts serves several clients rather than just one company. In the end, you save money while retaining access to round-the-clock monitoring, support, and a fully qualified staff of experts to handle your IT. - Proactive Security Approach: Because they take a preventative approach to security, managed services providers have the advantage of significantly reducing downtime and the expenses that go along with it.
Many IT firms use a break/fix strategy and only address problems as they happen. But Managed IT Service Provider like WPG continuously monitor your systems, seven days a week, to look for flaws that might result in downtime.
They fix software flaws to stop security risks. MSPs increase productivity and can save your company thousands of dollars by lowering downtime. - Cybersecurity Services Prevents Costly Data Breaches: MSPs strengthen your cybersecurity defenses. Your systems can be detected and patched for vulnerabilities through 24/7 monitoring.
You also get other services like data backups, disaster recovery planning, and software management for complete system security. - Improve Efficiency And Eliminate Unnecessary Costs: When you work with an MSP, you’ll have a team of professionals at your disposal that can develop a plan of action based on the requirements of your company.
They will be able to give tailored services that complement your company’s aims and strategy rather than generic solutions. Your IT systems will then be able to enable and improve business growth.
In order to prevent you from spending money on pointless goods, Managed IT Services also get you strategic advice on cost-effective upgrades and investments.
Expert Support Available 24/7
Sometimes when you desperately need help, IT services are often not available. This is one of the major disadvantages of maintaining an effective IT system. The original break/fix support won’t always provide the same level of service or accountability to your in-house IT team.
But experts from Managed IT Services would give you 24/7 support to handle your IT issues when you need it most.
Simplify Vendor Management
You can get extra stressed during your work day if managing all different contracts, contacts, and SLAs ends up being your full-time job. But with managed IT services you get a user-friendly vendor management system. You will additionally get training too.
A centralized system can make vendor management extremely simple and quick. Another benefit you would get is that your whole IT environment would be consistently managed.
Access to the Latest Technology
It is very challenging to keep up with the latest tech developments. This is because new tools constantly emerge. But you don’t have to worry about any of that, if you hire a managed IT service provider to manage your IT.
They will ensure to keep your systems up-to-date and inform you of any new tools worth using. This would also save you the cost of buying, learning, training, and maintaining new tools.
Flexibility to Adjust your IT
Flexibility means Scaling your business up and owning whenever required. Scaling up involves purchasing equipment and software to meet your growing needs. While scaling down often needs a considerable amount of time and reorganization of your IT assets. With managed IT services you get systematic and technological support to expand and try new opportunities.
Staying Compliant
If by chance your organization misses any latest update or legislation, then it would face heavy penalties. Managed IT service providers would ensure that your IT is compliant and met with industry standards as they are themselves compliant with various Industry certifications.
Mitigate risks
You can protect your organization from downtime, data breaches, and more with the help of Managed IT Services as they provide the latest resiliency and continuity best practices and tools working on your behalf.
3 Things to Consider When Looking For a Managed IT Services Provider
Holding Providers Accountable
Delegating your IT tasks to a provider who is not accountable at all would result in frustration and losses. That is why you should make sure that you choose a provider who has clearly defined and actionable SLAs. The quality and the amount of service rendered and the system performance should be included in the accountability. Avoid all those providers who are unwilling to provide metrics or share system data with you.
Getting Strategic IT Planning
You won’t be able to derive full value from Managed IT Services if the providers don’t help you with strategically planning infrastructure upgrades, and configuring changes, and additions. As a result, the providers need to understand your current infrastructure and make efforts to upgrade it according to your business goals and objectives. Also, it is mandatory that the planning extends beyond the next year or two to become successful.
Finding a provider with a good track record
All providers and not equally efficient and effective. As a result, you must verify their track records with other enterprises in your industry. Managed Service Providers who are trustworthy, should let you know which enterprises they are currently working with. They should also let you talk with a reliable person from that company for references. Avoid any providers who refuse to share their proof of value.
Conclusion
Why do so many companies nowadays choose managed IT service providers?
Every business requires easy access to IT experts without having to budget for hundreds of different specialists with various levels and areas of experience.
A flat fee from an MSP is less expensive than keeping a staff of in-house specialists and provides you with the range of expertise you need to manage your IT infrastructure.
The need for competent technical talent that understands and uses business technology to enhance corporate success has expanded as a result of the necessity to keep up with the fast-changing nature of technology.
