Which of these technology challenges have you experienced in the past 24 hours? In the past week? In the past month?
- Slow computers
- Forgotten passwords
- Broken printers
- Slow internet
- No internet
- Lost files
- Phishing emails
- Data breaches
Depending on the severity of each challenge, your business may spend hours, maybe even days trying to solve it, sometimes with no resolution at all.
We know that time equals money, and every moment your technology is down, or information is compromised, you’re losing hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
That’s why we wrote today’s article about Managed IT Services, providing you with information that can not only help reduce the number of technology headaches you may be facing, but information that can actually help your business thrive.
What are Managed IT Services?
Managed IT Services is a very broad term used to describe outsourcing your Information Technology (IT) Operations to a Managed Service Provider (MSP).
The services that are performed by an MSP are done in a consistent and proactive manner, instead of an inconsistent reactive manner.
This means instead of only calling your IT provider when problems surface, (i.e. the break/fix model), a Managed Service Provider (MSP) offers a proactive approach to monitoring your IT Environment including your storage, network, cybersecurity, compliance, computers, software, hardware, etc.
The goal of an MSP is to become your technology success partner and is a great option for organization’s who:
- Don’t have the resources for an in-house IT department
- Have an In-House IT team that needs help
- Are looking to utilize the benefits listed below
Managed IT Services VS Break/Fix
The Break-fix approach to IT Services has been the standard for many years.
When organizations experienced issues with their IT, they would call up an expert to solve the issue.
Sometimes a solution could be found quickly, but other times you could be stuck with expensive repairs, downtime, and even just a “band-aid” fix.
When technical difficulties come up, you have these two service provider options to get your systems back up and running:
- Break/Fix Model
- Managed IT Services
There are many differences between each method.
For break/fix you:
- Research/hire an outside vendor
- Are charged an hourly rate
- Only hire an IT provider when something goes wrong
- Must wait for a technician to come to your location
- Experience decreased performance from:
- Having to wait for experts to arrive
- Extensive downtime while you wait for the IT provider to diagnose and remedy the problem
- Don’t know and can’t predict your IT budget
On the other hand, with Managed IT Services you:
- Have a consistent relationship with someone who knows your business’s technology
- Have a monthly contract which makes managing your budget easier
- Have 24/7 technical help desk support
- Receive consistent patches/updates
- Can have issues solved remotely or have technicians come to your location if need be
- Have Dark Web Monitoring
What are the Benefits of Managed IT Services?
There are many benefits for you when you hire a Managed IT Services Provider, including, but not limited to:
- Faster computers
- Reduced downtime
- Increased email security
- Advanced defenses to minimize risk and breaches
- Fewer hardware issues including:
- Blank screens
- Frozen screens
- Slow computers
- Printers not printing
- Data loss prevention
- Ensures compliance with Government regulations for IT
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- NIST SP 800-1717 (CMMC)
- Payment Card Industry Security Standard (PCI DSS)
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
- The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)
- Scalability
- Consistent updates/patches, which lead to:
- Increased security
- Increased uptime
- Feature improvements
What If You Already Have an IT Team?
Having in-house IT staff can be great. In-house staff are:
- Convenient
- Always on site
- Usually available when you need them
Where your in-house IT staff may fall short is that it can be expensive to hire and support an experienced IT team.
For example, the average cost of staff in the information technology industry according to pay scale is $80,126 before benefits.
Depending on your HR budget, you may have to hire an in-house IT team that has limited or entry-level knowledge.
A Managed Service Provider (MSP) can provide specialized services to fill in any gaps in your IT team’s experience or expertise.
For example, your in-house staff may need assistance with:
- Compliance
- Rebuilding an IT environment
- Email migration
- Cybersecurity
- Application development
- Mobile device management
- VoIP phones
For a one-time project, it just doesn’t make sense to have your employees learn a new skill set.
Instead, an MSP can give you access to their team of experts who have the skills you need, without having to break your budget on training.
10 Additional Benefits of Managed IT Services
1. Industry Compliance
Your company’s IT is subject to many regulations designed to keep your organization and your customers data secure.
To stay compliant in today’s day in age your team must not only sort through hundreds of regulations to figure out which ones apply to your company but apply each component of that regulation to make sure your organization achieves compliance.
This could mean applying regulations like:
A Managed Service Provider (MSP) can help identify and provide a compliance plan and implementation that ensures that your business meets its compliance goals.
This can save your in-house team many hours in the long run.
2. Regular Data Backup/Recovery Management
What would happen to your company’s data if there was an outage or you got hacked?
A vital part of risk management is a regular data backup and recovery plan.
We’ve seen it time after time, sometimes it’s a simple fix to recover lost data, but many times it’s a bit more complicated.
A Managed Service Provider (MSP) can help your organization create a recovery plan to make sure your company’s data stays safe.
3. Custom IT Strategies and Architecture
Just as you would hire an architect when you want to build an addition to your home—the same principle applies to the growth of your business.
With Managed IT Services you can avoid a “one-size-fits-all” approach and have a customized IT Strategy instead.
The benefits are that your organization can create a cost-effective approach to identify, plan for, and implement strategies that reduce the chances of “unseen issues” that can be found in a cookie cutter Managed IT Services plan.
This approach also allows your organization to experience scalable growth and productivity.
4. Provides Cutting Edge Technology
Whether it’s hardware, software, storage, staffing, or cybersecurity solutions, most business owners don’t have the bandwidth to research or have access to the latest and greatest technologies and talent available.
There’s always a new piece of technology or equipment that can be purchased or upgraded, so it can be tough to decide which is the best for your business.
With Managed IT Services, your organization can have constant access to up-to-date technology and talent, so you’ll never need to worry about your IT Environment being outdated, and inefficient.
Whatever your IT budget is, an MSP will ensure that you are getting the best value for money.
5. Predictable Affordability
Managed IT Services can not only cut down the cost of managing your IT but ensure that your IT expenses are more predictable.
With Managed IT Services your costs can be paid on a monthly basis, which compared to an in-house team or the Break/Fix method, means less expenses that come up frequently and unexpectedly.
Small to medium sized businesses also benefit immensely from Managed IT Services because the up-front cost to start is much lower compared to starting from scratch (i.e.: hiring and training a team, purchasing servers, purchasing equipment, etc.).
6. Scalable
The cost associated with maintaining an in-house IT team is big, and that’s why you often see IT teams that are:
Training additional employees for your IT department also costs thousands of dollars, and like any position at your organization there is never a guarantee that they’ll even stay with your company.
An MSP, on the other hand:
7. Increased Productivity
Most business owners would agree that to increase profitability, you must improve productivity.
With Managed IT Services an MSP becomes your technology success partner, to ensure that you are using technology to enhance your business processes.
After assessing the efficiency of your computers, hardware, network, and applications, they can provide recommendations for maximum productivity, get rid of redundant services, ensure you have a backup and recovery plan for a breach or outages, and that your data is safe.
8. 24/7 Help Desk Support
In the world of information technology things go wrong, when they go wrong. There’s never a good time for your technology to fail.
Sometimes it is just one employee other times it’s the entire company.
Round the clock, help desk support ensures that you get the help you need when you need it.
9. Reduce Risk
As information technology advances, so does the ingenuity of cybercriminals.
Cybersecurity is one of the most important, but often overlooked facets of a company’s productivity and its reputation.
One of the biggest productivity killers is a cyberattack, which can cripple a business for hours, days or even weeks.
With Managed IT Services a Managed Service Provider (MSP) can not only assess and reduce the risk of your organization experiencing a cyber-attack, but help your organization recover if you ever experience one.
10. Consistent Updates and Patching
The process of continuously updating and patching your organizations firmware, software, and other applications is a time consuming and costly process.
Without these updates your organization risks cybersecurity threats, slow-downs, glitches, and a whole plethora of issues. These resources can be cost-prohibitive to the average business owner.
MSPs can help your organization automate most of these processes saving your organization time and money.
By outsourcing this costly and time-consuming function, you can not only have your business technology run smoothly without slow-downs, or glitches, but avoid the high costs associated with cyberattacks related to out-of-date firmware, software, and applications.
Managed IT Services at Spry Squared, Inc.
Managed IT Services are a cost-effective way for your organization to experience the quality of equipment, expertise, and support that a large corporation has, without a large corporation budget.
They also take away the pressure of your company’s IT that can sometimes feel overwhelming or at the very least annoying.
Knowing that your company’s IT is in the best hands, allows you the peace of mind to focus on growth, efficiency, and profitability.
At Spry Squared, Inc., our experts in the IT industry have over 90 years of experience and provide Managed IT Services across the globe.
We use the latest and greatest technology and experts to not only monitor your servers, routers, environment, and more, but by leveraging technology that allows your organization to thrive.
Schedule a quick call today to learn more about how Spry Squared, Inc. can help your organization’s IT shine.
