Why you should use IT Managed Services

Why Do We Need Managed Services

Large and small companies alike need technology to operate effectively, and as reliance on IT grows every year, the means to support it must evolve as well. Unfortunately, as these systems grow and evolve, many businesses (especially small ones with limited funds) may not have the resources to effectively manage their ever-growing networks. Small IT teams can quickly become overwhelmed with the amount of work necessary to keep everything up-to-date and running smoothly.

It is so easy to fall behind with important things such as backups, patches, updates, and security, and this greatly increases the odds that you'll face an IT outage or other huge issue that will negatively affect your business.

Imagine if your entire email server, customer relationship management system, financial setup, or network went down; you would likely face substantial productivity and revenue losses as a result. Employees are unable to do their jobs, and everyone involved scrambles to fix these major issues as quickly as possible to return to normal business procedures. This is a huge detriment to any company, and these situations are easily prevented using managed services.

Managed services also create a change in the overall philosophy of the way a business deals with its technology. Break-fix repair relies on waiting until servers, desktops, or other critical devices fail, then rushing to fix them as the company bleeds profit. A business operating under managed services, however, focuses on prevention rather than reaction, monitoring and resolving issues before they disrupt employees, management, and clients.

In today's highly competitive and fast-paced business environment, no company can really afford the risk and uncertainty that comes with relying on break-fix maintenance. Businesses are extremely dependent on having a reliable IT system.

Furthermore, having multiple vendors responsible for different parts of your system puts you in the difficult position of having to decide who should be contacted when service is required; business owners simply do not have time for this!

With traditional break-fix repair, the only way for an IT support company to make money is if something goes wrong, which is a double-edged sword. If they do the job too well, they will go out of business, which happens to about 80% of all small IT firms - they just don't make it. 

So many IT companies are promoting managed services because it puts them on the same page as your business, essentially partnering with you to become your complete IT department. The service provider becomes invested in your continued success, becoming a win-win situation for both parties.

Advantages of managed IT services include:

 

• • Expertise: For smaller businesses, in particular, being able to outsource knowledge and expertise can be an enormous help, as well as having experienced technical support available

 

• • Predictable costs: Rather than incurring large expenses for an IT issue, businesses can instead account for potential problems within a predictable monthly fee

 

• • Maintenance and upgrades: Organisations no longer have to worry whether the software is up-to-date, as all this is taken care of by the provider. They can also get access to newer technologies which they may not have been able to afford by themselves

 

• • Time savings: Outsourcing management of services like security and cloud reduces the amount of time that in-house departments have to spend on it.

 

 

Disadvantages of managed IT services include:

 

• • Control: If there's an outage or an incident, there's little a business reliant on managed services can do. Theoretically, a good MSP will be able to address issues much more quickly than an internal IT team, but it can be frustrating to not have visibility of serious problems and progress in dealing with them in-house.

 

• • Flexibility: In general, managed IT service providers will have a standard offering which is available to all their clients. They may be able to modify this, but it will usually be less flexible than having a solution that is customised to business needs.

 

• • Reliability: Should anything happen to the service provider, customers could be left trying to find alternative solutions in a short space of time.

 

 

MANAGED SERVICES PRICING

Surprisingly, managed IT services actually cost less than break-fix repair, especially when factoring in the cost of downtime that inevitably comes with this old method. Remote monitoring, remote maintenance, and the prevention of major issues allow a managed service provider to operate far more efficiently than a break-fix company that is constantly driving back and forth to customer sites.

Likewise, rush fees and after-hours or weekend support to handle emergencies can add up quickly. The managed service company can prevent these issues before they happen and handle most maintenance and service remotely. The MSP can, therefore, offer a "better" service without charging more.

Additionally, the monthly cost of managed services can be factored in as a business/operating expense, allowing most companies to deduct the service from their taxes to save even more money - something not available with the old break-fix model.

Managed services are generally priced on a flat-rate monthly basis. Depending on the services included, pricing is usually based on the number of devices with different packages priced at different levels. This makes it easy for a business to get the exact service they need, without paying for more than is necessary.

Features like on-site support and device leasing can even be added if needed to offer a comprehensive support package. We perform a free business consultation to determine needs and create a unique, personalized package to fit our clients.

THE MAJOR BENEFITS OF MANAGED IT SERVICE

 

• • Freed-up resources and a renewed emphasis on core business - Both business owners and internal IT staff would much rather focus on revenue enhancing tasks like product development or the creation of cutting-edge applications/services. This is one reason routine monitoring and maintenance tasks are often neglected by an internal IT person or team, which always proves to be detrimental much later. Often misportrayed as a "threat" to an internal IT person or staff, MSPs can instead relieve internal staff of mundane network operations maintenance, repetitious monitoring of server and storage infrastructure, and day-to-day operations and help desk duties.

 

• • A true partner sharing risks and responsibilities - The goal of an MSP is to deliver on contracted services, measure, report, analyze and optimize IT service operations, and truly become an irreplaceable catalyst for business growth. Managed Service Providers not only assume leadership roles, they enable risk reduction, enhance efficiency and change the culture by introducing internal IT operations to new technologies and processes.

 

• • Access to expertise, best practices, and world-class tools and technologies - MSPs have experience with a variety of businesses and organizations. Managed Service Providers can keep your business relevant and on track with continually evolving technology, support, and productivity demands. Let's face it, no small or medium-sized business can afford to fall behind with technology trends in today's business world.

 

• • The benefit of a full-time fully staffed IT department at a fraction of the cost - Most small business owners live and die by proactive management. They just haven't had the budget, resources or access to on-demand expertise to be proactive with information technology management. A Managed Service Provider gives business owners and overwhelmed internal IT staff affordable server and computer support, remote monitoring of critical network components like servers and firewalls, data backup and disaster recovery, network security, custom software solutions, and technology evaluation and planning.

 

• • Managed service providers can decrease the overall IT support costs by as much as 30% to 50% - Rather than being stressed about technology, business owners can instead get back to focusing on growing their business. All while enjoying the benefits of highly-trained IT experts boosting their network's reliability and performance.