Managed IT Services is a subscription-based model where businesses or customers pay a monthly fee for the services of a third-party provider. The terms of this subscription (also known as a service plan or subscription plan) can be as simple as maintenance and repair. However, outsourcing such simple practices can be a godsend for most companies—especially organizations wanting to offload the burden of installation, maintenance, and upgrades required by their in-house IT department.
When you sign up for managed IT services, several business processes and day-to-day operations will be covered. For instance; handling a system and server, managing your network and applications, processing payroll, overseeing printing, and setting up backup and recovery solutions for your active workstations. These are all examples of repetitive business processes that, while relatively easy to do, take up a lot of time and resources—resources that could otherwise be geared towards developing your business.
That being said, here are six ways managed IT services can make your workplace even more productive.
1. Cloud Services
One of the best benefits of managed IT services right now is cloud management. SMBs that lack resources and expertise can tap into a managed service provider (MSP) capable of offering in-house cloud services. Some may even act as your broker or agent for other third-party cloud service providers.
2. Security
Another great thing about managed IT services is security. No matter how safe you play it, the mere fact that your online business runs using data networks and IT processes means that you’re constantly at risk for malicious attacks. In response to this, many companies choose to outsource their online security to specialist managed security service providers (MSSP).
These providers are in charge of handling the usual security workload and patch management. Aside from dealing with backup, they are also the first to respond to any potential and actual security breaches.
3. More Time for Your Core Business
Businesses operate with limited resources, so every manager needs to make the most out of what they’ve got. By outsourcing IT services, you can stay focused on your core business and not get thrown off by complicated IT decisions.
4. Risk Reduction
All business investments carry a certain amount of risk. Technologies, competition, government regulations, financial conditions, and markets change quickly. Outsourcing takes away and manages a large part of this risk for you. You won’t have to worry too much about the red tape and paperwork involved—especially since most managed IT services are more experienced with (and therefore much better at) avoiding risks in their specific areas of expertise.
5. Fast Implementation
By hiring an IT service organization, you can be sure you’ll have the resources you need to start new projects and finish them on time. If you handle the same project in-house, it might take weeks or months just to hire the right people and train them. Getting services from an experienced company saves you both time and money.
6. Better Performance Thanks to Proactive Solutions
You receive better performance when you decide to outsource your IT processes. There are fewer glitches and almost zero downtime, which just serves to increase your productivity even more.
Whether you think managed IT services can help your business or not, it is certainly a market that’s not going away anytime soon. In fact, a recent survey found that the market is projected to be worth roughly $256 billion by the year 2020 – an increase from $152 billion last year. That being said, we can definitely expect to see more companies of varying sizes make use of managed IT services in the future.
