Providing the required support and oversight for your IT needs can be expensive and time-consuming. For smaller businesses, your team may not have sufficient expertise to use and support each technology you use. Even in large enterprises, the daily IT support tasks can pull your team away from project work that has more business value.
The answer to those problems? Managed IT services.
“Managed services” is one of the latest buzzwords in business, and it’s no surprise why. BCC Research found in a recent study that by the year 2021, the global managed IT service market could be worth more than $250 billion.
This sector will continue to flourish, and the potential for emerging managed service providers (MSPs) to achieve profitable and scalable growth in IT is huge.
What is Managed IT Services?
Managed IT services, or managed IT solutions, lets a business hand over its IT operations by hiring a service provider to do all the IT-related work. This service provider, who does not work in-house, is also known as an MSP.
A reliable MSP is responsible for monitoring, managing, or resolving issues for certain IT systems and functions on your behalf. This lets you focus on your core business tasks instead of being hindered by IT problems.
Benefits of Managed IT Services
Here are a few of the many advantages you can enjoy by hiring an MSP for your company:
Proactive Solution
Outsourcing your IT helps you receive better performance, with almost zero downtime and fewer glitches. Any problem will be immediately detected by your outsourced team before they become worse and turn into expensive repairs.
Risk Reduction
All investments involve a certain level of risk. Markets, technologies, and government regulations change at a fast pace. MSPs can manage a lot of this risk for you thanks to their extensive industry knowledge in areas including security and compliance.
Leveled Playing Field
Bigger enterprises usually have an in-house IT support team. Unfortunately, not all small to medium-sized businesses can afford that luxury on their own. One of the benefits you get from managed IT services is that outsourcing allows you to gain the insight and expertise larger businesses have. This levels the playing field between you and the competition.
What Managed IT Services Can Do For You
The ultimate goal of an MSP is to prevent problems while keeping your technology as healthy as possible. They will work hard to identify, manage, and implement solutions that will fit your business the best.
With an MSP, you are getting a lot more than you could ever have with a break-fix solution. You are actually getting an expert business partner who only has your best interests in mind.
Choosing the Right Managed Service Provider
When finding the right MSP for your company, it’s important to do your research first. Once you’ve narrowed your list down, get to know who they are and how they operate. Look into how they treat their employees or find out what their current clients feel about them. Some of the other factors to consider include ticketing system and tools, company environment, internal culture, vendor partnerships and certifications, SLAs, as well as response times.
