What is Managed IT Services and why should you consider it for your business?
Managed IT Service Providers (MSP is their abbreviation) help businesses take a proactive approach to managing technology. This is accomplished without the expense of hiring an in-house IT person or team.
The staff of an MSP is made up primarily of senior technology experts. They work behind the scenes to keep your data safe, generate solutions to IT problems and keep your software updated.
Even larger businesses who already have an IT person will often call on an MSP. This is the case when daily support becomes overwhelming or a specific certification is required.
Let’s look at 5 specific business benefits that Managed IT Services can give you:
1. It’s extremely cost-effective: There is only so much money put aside in a businesses’ budget for IT. And responding to events on a break/fix basis can be a costly surprise.
An MSP works by getting ahead of problems before they occur. This makes equipment last longer, defending against costly security breaches and keeping the business up and running.
Instead of calling for a repair at a high hourly rate, you get a wide array of expert services for one predictable monthly fee.
2. You have access to multiple experts: Businesses usually end up adding extra tasks to an unqualified but enthusiastic employee’s workload. This can result in costly problems. With MSPs, you have access to many people who are experts in very specific areas. And your existing staff can focus on their own tasks within their own job descriptions.
3. Speedy problem resolution: Downtime and business don’t mix, so your MSP will provide a reliable expert on call to troubleshoot and resolve any problems. Most of the time, you can also skip the delay of an on-site repair with rapid remote support available in just moments.
4. Fewer problems: A large part of your MSPs service is fixing problems before they happen. While fixing things as they break isn’t the worst approach to IT management, it generally means you’re also suffering productivity losses. This can include downtime and losing money by the minute.
Your MSPs primary goal is to ensure these problems are avoided completely, through system monitoring and robust security practices.
They’ll also make sure every important software update and security patch is applied immediately. Doing this closes breach points and keeps your business safe.
5. Shared responsibilities: As your business grows, so will your IT systems. A good MSP is on top of what your future needs will look like and knows which products and infrastructure are suitable to help you get there. Your MSP doesn’t just monitor your system and repair as required. They share responsibility for your system. This means measuring, reporting, analyzing and optimizing, working with you to introduce new technologies and processes.
Depending on your level of contracted services, your MSP can actually become a catalyst for growth.
Sounds good, doesn’t it? With Managed IT Services, your business always has the maximum security against threats, downtime and productivity drops. But for the savvy business owner, it’s also a way you can afford to leverage cutting-edge technologies. This leaves you with complete peace of mind and ongoing support.
Now that you have a better understanding of Managed IT Services, let’s take a more detailed look at how it can help your business.
IT Problems Your Managed IT Service Provider Can Solve
Unlike quick-fix IT relationships, a managed service provider isn’t there just to solve short-term problems and leave. Your managed service provider is your IT Department (a partner). They exist to guide your business through the ever-changing technology landscape of today’s business world.
Like a mountain guide, your managed service provider gives you a detailed route that will help your business climb to new heights. The secret to a great business is avoiding the pitfalls, dead-ends, and traps inherent in bad IT.
Removing Worries that come with IT Management
Technology in business presents both new solutions and new problems too. We are more efficient and more productive today than we’ve ever been before. On the other hand, we are also more vulnerable and more exposed to malware and hackers than in previous years too.
Major hacks of large firms are in the news almost daily. They affect millions of customers worldwide. Even large firms seem to struggle with the fallout incurred after a major breach. Our number one priority is ensuring that the customers, suppliers, and business partners of our businesses can rest at ease.
We remove your IT worries, secure your data, and keep your systems safe so you can focus solely on your business. Our methods let you return to the passion which makes your business great. This allows you to sleep soundly at night knowing your systems are in good hands.
Improving IT Stability
Slow computers and bad networks can be some of the most frustrating daily nuisances around. As a workplace obstacle it annoys employees, saps morale, and spoils even the best working environment.
The cause of these internal network outages can be as varied as the networks themselves. In some cases, the router is overloaded, a switch may be poorly configured, or a device is misbehaving and spoiling the network. Poor IT reduces your effectiveness and efficiency in a number of ways. There is a tangible loss that comes from under-performing systems, often more than can be measured in slow downloads and long uploads.
Simple diagnostics and a little troubleshooting can get to the heart of the problem fast. For little cost and a short amount of time, longstanding IT issues holding up your business can be eliminated for good.
Reducing IT Costs
Every business and its IT needs are unique and challenging in different ways. We look closely at what your business requires and tailor our services to eliminate inefficiencies, stamp out problems, and ramp up your potential.
Whether you are paying too much for your internet service plan, wasting data on unnecessary services, or not getting the most from expensive packages, we can give you the knowledge and control to get back on track.
Many of our businesses benefit from analysis which shows the rewards cloud services can bring in day-to-day work. For a huge number of companies, this has led to significant cost savings almost overnight. Eliminating power-hungry servers, reducing equipment maintenance, and lowering your data needs can add up to big improvements.
Maintaining a Watchful Eye on IT
By learning your systems, monitoring hardware activity, and looking after your IT on an ongoing basis, we are able to establish regular parameters for what to expect and what problems to look out for in your specific systems.
With a close eye, we can aim to prevent problems from occurring even before they happen. Rising temperatures, increases in noise, and frequently occurring errors combined with powerful diagnostic tools provide us with the data we need to determine when hardware is creeping towards the end of its service life.
Using regular maintenance, we can bring down service costs with smaller routine upgrades. These changes replace big budget blow-outs that occur when catastrophic failure happens across the system.
Maintaining your reputation for never losing data, always being available, and keeping a professional attitude is more than a happy side effect.
More reasons why Managed IT Services is your companies best value
1) Downtime can cost big money – That’s no secret, but it doesn’t quite capture the whole experience. Imagine yourself arriving to work in the morning, grabbing your coffee knowing you’ve got a hectic day ahead, and are ready to dive in.
For some reason your computer can’t access the database and neither can anyone else’s. You restart the server while fielding calls left, right and center, but are unable to answer any client queries. Your hands are completely tied…and now the server is beeping furiously…what’s going on??!
You’re not just in crisis mode, you’re on damage control as you call every tech you can think of, trying to find one who can come NOW.
Not exactly the day you had planned.
2) The Break/Fix Days Are Gone – Previously, businesses only addressed their IT needs when something broke. A few hours down meant little in the scope of things. In today’s fast world, businesses rely heavily on IT and downtime just isn’t an option. Even the legalities of simply restoring financial, legal or medical files after a breach raises issues.
The cost of break/fix is now too high, both financially and emotionally.
Simply put, your IT services are remotely monitored and proactively managed by a professional, external business. Your Managed Service Provider (MSP) runs regular diagnostics on equipment to identify impending failure and resolves problems before they happen.
A Reminder of the Benefits of Managed IT Services
Small to medium businesses in particular benefit from Managed IT Services. Because they don’t usually have an on-site technician to oversee the multiple systems in use. By subscribing to a managed service provider, businesses can have reduced labor costs, access to a knowledge base and future-pacing. This betters data security and reduces downtime. Businesses can also know exactly what their upcoming costs are and plan accordingly.
Some of the managed services we can provide are:
Remote support – This allows us to help you quickly without needing to be on-site.
Hardware monitoring – We monitor your servers and workstations to catch hardware failures before they happen.
Managed anti-virus – We make sure your anti-virus is up to date and take immediate action if an infection occurs.
Patch management – We make sure your computer’s operating system is up to date, closing access to known vulnerabilities as soon as possible.
If you are looking for Managed IT Services near me to boost your IT to new levels in more ways than you can imagine. Give us a call at 888-596-3998 today to talk about the IT problems we can solve for you.
Consider hiring us in cities like: Atlanta, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, NYC, Los Angeles, Houston and Dallas.
Managed IT Services FAQ
What does managed IT services mean?
Managed IT Services is offered by a Managed Service Provider (MSP) to monitor, maintain and support the clients information technology infrastructure and end users. In most cases the MSP becomes the IT Department for the client or in some cases acts as a supplement to the clients existing IT personnel.
What is included in managed IT services?
Generally included is remote and onsite support for computer systems and end users. Plus network and hardware health and security monitoring. Also included is endpoint protection for all IT systems, patch management and secure file backups.
What are the benefits of managed IT services?
The largest benefit to Managed IT Services for your business, is knowing your companies IT systems are being monitored, supported and maintained to a higher standard and industry compliance. This is all done by a knowledgeable team of highly experienced IT experts.
How much do managed services cost?
The cost for Managed Services for IT can vary significantly depending on the size of your organization, amount of end users and server systems. Most Managed Service Providers (MSPs) will provide you with a free upfront cost quote with no commitment required.
