Why should your business use an IT managed service provider?
15th November 2018
Looking after the IT within your business can be a challenging and stressful role. There are so many different elements to manage – your network’s performance and security, setting up and supporting all employee’s hardware and software, ongoing back-ups and disaster recovery processes… the list is endless. And this doesn’t even touch on the people aspect – your employees, suppliers and service providers.
In recent years, more and more businesses have looking outside their business for additional IT Support - a recent survey estimating that almost 69% of small to medium-sized businesses hire at least one type of IT service provider.
What an MSP can cover
Currently, the most used service from an MSP – Manages Service Provider - is the cloud. Businesses that lack the infrastructure, expertise and resources can take advantage of the professional set up and knowledge of an MSP. They may provide in-house cloud services or act as brokers with cloud services providers.
Another growing area in managed IT services is security. With the ever-growing risk of a malicious attack, some companies find it more efficient to and have more confidence in outsourcing their security to a specialist managed security service provider (MSSP) who will handle the day-to-day security workload as well as patch management, backup, and responses to any breaches.
Managed IT services can also cover a range of business functions, from network, application, system, payroll, server, and backup/recovery solutions to workstation and printer management.
So what are the benefits to outsourcing to an MSP?
Access To The Best IT & Experts
IT Technology is constantly moving forward at a fast pace, leaving it virtually impossible for most businesses, especially within the SME market, to have the resources or budget to constantly upgrade their infrastructure and hardware.
As an MSP will use the best technologies and equipment on the market to deliver their services, so partnering with a reputable provider will give you access to these and mean that your IT services will be constantly upgraded with no additional cost or financial risk to yourself.
You will also have access to a highly trained and skilled IT department. Most MSPs have teams in place to deal with network issues, cloud computing, telephony, software, hardware, consultancy, connectivity and IT security so you know your problem will always be solved.
Enhanced security
Managed Service Provider's data centres and their managed network infrastructure are much more robust than a standard SME’s IT service due to the economies of scale. An MSP’s infrastructure is usually set up over many separate physical locations and all run under 24x7x365 management with government approval security procedures.
Clear IT Budgeting and Cost effective.
MSPs charge a set monthly fee for an agreed level of service so you know what your IT spend will be each month with no unexpected upgrade costs or changes in charges as regular maintenance and repairs are built into the contract.
You can also be confident that your business will receive a continuous level of service during business hours with no interruptions such as staff illness, holidays or staff changes.
Your monthly fee will give you access to a very high level of support, experience and knowledge – one that your own IT budget probably could not stretch to.
Plus, some MSP’s offer scalable solutions so that you only pay for what you use. This is a cost-effective option for businesses that experience peaks and seasonal changes where users need to be added, and removed, quickly and efficiently, and system demands may vary.
Faster problem resolution and SLA’s
Most MSPs work to Service Level Agreements (SLAs). Having tight pre-agreed deadlines can give you confidence that when problems arise, they will be handled immediately – this will reduce the amount of downtime, which is particularly useful when critical infrastructure goes down.
If your business is heavily reliant on its IT Systems outside of business hours, most MSPs will also offer 24/7 support all year round.
Most Managed IT services take a pro-active approach – they don’t just wait for errors and problems to occur with your system before they fix it. They usually perform regular, ongoing maintenance so issues don’t arise in the first place.
Reliable Disaster recovery and business continuity
Bringing an MSP onboard within your disaster recovery and business continuity planning is crucial. They have designed their networks and data centres to be resilient and provide constant monitoring and back-ups to maintain business continuity.
With regular checks and testing you can be confident that all your data will be safe, and that your business could continue to operate even if your work premises are damaged.
Free up inhouse IT resource
For a lot of businesses, IT resources are scarce due to extensive demand and the relatively high cost. Without an MSP, inhouse IT teams have their hands full keeping up the network, applications, and end user operations. By outsourcing these elements, you can free up your valuable IT resource to focus on the longer-term projects and the overall IT Strategy of your business.
Working with a trusted IT Partner
By outsourcing your day to day IT functions to an MSP could keep your business up to date with the latest in technology, spend smarter, and solve IT issues quickly without interfering with your other processes - leaving you to focus on what really matters, giving your company the edge over your competitors.
Talk to us today about how we can work together.
