The term “managed services” has been hovering around the Information Technology space for a good time now. If you’re working in the IT industry, you’ve probably come across it a couple of times. So, what exactly does it mean, and why has it been the talk of the industry in recent years?
What Are Managed IT Services
To put it simply, managed IT solutions allow a business to handover it’s IT operations to another party (service provider) and have them handle everything. This third-party service provider is also known as a Managed Services Provider (MSP). Among other things, they lower costs, optimize productivity and offer peace of mind.
Role of Managed IT Services
IT is increasingly becoming a vital part in the running of businesses, and the costs continue to rise. In 2017, small to medium-sized businesses spent something in the region of $300 billion on IT services. For these reasons, more businesses are turning to companies that can offer managed IT solutions. So, what should you expect from your managed IT service provider? What do they do that makes it so worth it? If you’ve been wondering the same thing, here are some of the answers.
Security & Compliance
Data is increasingly becoming one of the most valuable items in the world. As this trend continues, the need for data security continues to grow immensely. IT management services offer data security whereby the risk of hacking, data theft and ransomware are reduced. In addition, they also prevent intrusion by unauthorized personnel and detect any attempts at that. As for compliance, managed IT services take charge of ensuring your company is conforming to the regulations. This takes a burden of your workload, leaving you to focus on what matters.
Data Recovery
As mentioned earlier, data is increasingly becoming very valuable, so a loss of data can be very costly and will have an overwhelming impact on the business. In the event that the company suffers a severe loss or any other damaging disaster, you need to be able to get things back up and running as soon as possible, managed IT services can help with that.
Network & Infrastructure
As a result of most companies continuing to count on data for their day-to-day operations, a competent and reliable network is needed. You also need a well set up infrastructure to ensure everything goes the way you intend them to. With this comes maximization of resources and optimization of output which is all that most businesses want. Most managed IT solutions cover these tasks. They will ensure your network is robust and has a well-built infrastructure to perform all the tasks needed.
Remote Support
Technology can be very complicated, and users tend to encounter a lot of problems when operating. This is why support services are critical. The support team can always offer a helping hand whenever users encounter any difficulty while using technology. They help with everyday problems such as password resetting and software updates. They should be easily accessible, maybe via call or live chat and should be available at least during business hours or 24/7 if the company is on operation round the clock.
Cloud Services
This is one of the best ways to insure yourself from data loss. With cloud services, all your data is duplicated and stored in a secure off-site server (cloud). This way, any time there is an attack or incident that leads to loss of data, you have nothing to worry about because you’ve got back up. Managed IT services take care of the data in the cloud and ensure new data is backed up as frequently as possible.
Benefits of Managed IT Services
Now that we’ve seen what services are included in managed IT solutions, the question of why arises. Why are managed IT services so important? How do they help a company? What gives them the edge over other options that companies have? To answer all these questions, here are some of the benefits of outsourcing IT through managed services.
Higher Return on Investment
At almost the same cost of hiring an in-house, IT department managed IT service providers offer a lot more. Since they are specialized in IT management and serve a multitude of clients, they can invest in the most qualified team of professionals and the latest cutting-edge technology. With this, you are guaranteed top-notch quality services at a relatively lower cost.
Increased Productivity
When you have an IT team whose main job is to develop programs and train the rest of the staff, it is very easy for them to get sidetracked by requests from their colleagues regarding help with log-in or other IT related issues. With managed IT services, other employees can direct all their concerns to the designated team leaving this other IT department to focus on their job. With that comes an increase in productivity.
Cybersecurity
As mentioned earlier, one of the roles of managed IT service providers is to ensure your systems are secure and your data is protected. With cybercrime becoming rampant, their role is more critical than ever. Businesses with managed IT solutions are safer from cyber attacks and security breaches because there is a team designated to ensure that security is up to date. In addition, whenever there is an attack, they are able to respond quickly and mitigate the situation, thus minimizing losses, if any.
Gives an Edge Over the Competition
Outsourcing your IT allows you to leverage your business against the competition in two different ways. For starters, you are able to focus on other aspects of the business, thus gaining a competitive advantage. Secondly, you are able to increase your clientele. This is because security is always a concern for everyone, and customers tend to gravitate towards businesses they can trust with the security of their data.
In summary, managed IT solutions is one of the best things to happen for business because not only do they reduce costs, but they also optimize productivity. This will put your business in a prime position to achieve all the goals and targets you may have set.
