READ TIME: 5.5 MINS.
Most businesses get started by building their own tech stack. Patching together a few valuable pieces of business software and setting up a few workstations is something that most modern professionals can handle.
However, once you get past the chaotic startup phase, a business benefits far more from having an organized and expertly implemented IT infrastructure.
You need optimized servers, securely networked endpoints, and software stacks configured to integrate smoothly. Creating an optimized workflow for your office takes more than throwing a few technical assets together.
Fortunately, you don't have to hire an entire IT department to lift your team out of chaos. Managed IT Services can ensure that you benefit from professionally managed IT without the cost or hassle of internal hiring.
How can managed IT services optimize your office operations? Let's dive into the operational benefits.
Related Article: Top 5 Benefits of Managed IT Services.
Working on a Fast, Well-Organized Business Network
The quality of your network configuration is at the heart of business efficiency. Your network defines how data flows through your business, and network configuration has become ever more complex as both on-site and cloud-based business operations must coincide.
Your managed IT team can optimize your routing, security, and quality-of-service configurations so that your team experiences the best possible performance when using the business network.
Routing configurations ensure that when data flows from one endpoint (laptops, devices, servers, etc.) to another, the traffic flows most efficiently without slowing other data.
Security settings close unused ports and block known bad actors so that your company can safely operate with internal and external business data traffic.
Quality-of-service prioritizes certain functions and systems—like video conferencing or necessary data transfers—so that high-priority traffic is allocated bandwidth first. In contrast, a smaller bandwidth channel is reserved for low-demand but vital traffic flow.
Integrated and Maintained Business Software Stack
There is a big difference between business software that has been cobbled together and an adequately integrated software stack. A Managed IT Service can use a combination of APIs and shared server resources to ensure your business software operates like a single business technology system.
Your IT team will work to eliminate data silos and redundancy so that every team and department is on the same page, no matter what digital toolkit they use in your software stack.
Attentive software maintenance and updates also ensure that each element of the stack works optimally with your chosen technology's latest version.
Regular updates can provide new features, better security, and improved performance. Having a skilled IT team to manage your software updates also ensures that your entire business software stack remains adequately integrated and fully secure when updates do not perfectly align from one stack element to the next.
Quick Solutions to Office Technical Problems
Managed IT services also include on-call technical support, often with specialists available for specific problems. From office cloud phones to on-site server errors, you have experts ready to immediately resolve any technical issues.
Should you experience a hardware issue, a computer or server specialist can walk your team members through the solution process. Or in some cases, the company will send someone over to enact repairs.
Suppose the problem is with your business software. In that case, the solution can often be implemented through remote server and desktop management or by providing quick guidance on navigating more challenging use cases for your chosen programs.
Copiers and printers are a notorious source of technical problems in the office. So, having a printer expert on-call can ensure your necessary office paperwork management is always on-point, with solutions ready to implement any time a device goes on the fritz.
Your managed service provider (MSP) should be able to quickly assess the situation and apply solutions as soon as a problem occurs. In most cases, your company's employees can quickly receive the help they need to get office operations back on track before noticeable delays occur.
Related Article: 5 Signs Your Managed Services Provider (MSP) Isn’t Cutting It.
Proactively Cybersecurity
Data security is essential to optimized business operations because cybersecurity attacks can become significant setbacks.
You rely on your IT team to ensure that your firewalls, network routing, and integrated software are all securely configured to prevent malware intrusion. But preconfigured defenses aren't the only way a Managed IT Service can keep your business safe.
As you probably know, cybersecurity also relies on the knowledge and capabilities of your entire team. Awareness of what a phishing email looks like and how to avoid infected links is essential, even in the best-fortified business networks. IT service providers are often your best source of employee cybersecurity training as experts in the field.
Your Managed IT Services team may also be an excellent source of cybersecurity drills, providing fake cybersecurity threats for your employees to catch and report.
This will keep your team on their toes and ready to resist phishing, social engineering, and infected link threats that may be real in the future. By rewarding successful drill responses, you can even make it a fun and enthusiastic "game" for the whole staff as they become an effective cyber-defense force.
Access to the Latest Business Technology
In addition to maintenance, problem-solving, and security, your Managed IT Service may also watch for the best software that provides the tools and services your business needs. Should a superior platform or tool kit be released, they suggest upgrading your CIO/CTO and then taking on the implementation process.
An attentive and involved Managed IT Service can always ensure your business has access to the latest business technology or help you decide exactly the right time to jump to the next set of tools when the newest software is stable enough for your operations.
Managed System-Wide Updates and Data Migration Projects
Every now and then, a business must undergo a significant technological upgrade process. Digital transformations, cloud migrations, and sometimes major software platform changes are all vast undertakings that an on-staff IT team typically does not have the time or manpower to implement.
However, as an outsourced team, your Managed IT Service can expertly plan, stage, and implement these major upgrades with minimal interruption to your business.
This is often achieved by duplicating your systems, creating a new working environment, migrating your data, and then smoothly transitioning your operations to the new infrastructure, all while your usual operations are maintained until the transition is ready.
Comprehensive Data Loss Prevention with Routine Backups
Last but never least, a Managed IT Service will ensure that your business takes comprehensive and routine backups with a backup-restoration plan in place.
This means that whether you are attacked by ransomware, a software update corrupts your data, or an employee accidentally deletes an entire database—your backups will be there for quick and easy restoration of anything that might be lost.
Infrastructure backups are taken periodically as full images of endpoints and system configurations. These make it easier to reload an entire computer, server, or network after it has been wiped to factory settings (getting rid of malware) or a new system is set up.
Archival backups are records of static data your company keeps in large storage servers and databases—essential but not often changed. Routine backups are then paired with daily logs, making it easy to restore recently added or changed data to a specific date with the minimum possible data loss in the restoration process.
The Takeaway: The Ability to Focus on Your Operations, Not Your Tools
We have deeply explored the benefits of Managed IT services for your business, but how does this all contribute to optimizing your office operations?
When your software and technology stack is fully handled, your team can focus on your operations, not the tools they use. Your business will have access to efficiently configured business software, integrated company data, and robust cybersecurity, so your primary focus can be on your production, customers, or whatever your company does best.
To learn more about managed IT services and office technology solutions, reach out to us today. We’re here to give you peace of mind to help you win more business.
