Managed IT Services is a wonderful way to outsource the day-to-day management of your business’ information technology needs. Not only do managed IT services free up your schedule so you can focus your time on your important work tasks, but it also helps encourages business growth and development.
A managed service provider (MSP) can supplement your in-house IT department or even become your IT department, depending on your specific business goals.
Top 5 Benefits of Managed IT Services
1. Saves You Time: It takes a lot of time to service your IT needs and a managed IT service is dedicated to doing this for you.
2. You’re in Control of What You Spend: Depending on the type of work your business does and your specific IT needs, you are in control of the managed IT services you’ll be paying for each month.
3. Up-to-Date Technology: With managed IT services, you won’t have to worry about making sure all of your technology needs are being met in a timely and professional matter.
4. 24/7 system monitoring: Partnering with a managed IT service company means your IT systems and servers will be monitored around the clock.
5. Virtual CIO: Your managed IT service provider can serve as your Virtual CIO (vCIO) or supplement an internal CIO/Head of IT.
Essentially, an MSP is your managed IT services department. A managed IT service proactively manages information technology assets on behalf of your business. This differs from traditional IT which is more of a “when-needed” service, mostly built off of situational issues or needs such as a “break and fix model (a.k.a. Break/Fix model).”
Managed IT services helps prevent your IT infrastructure from breaking or malfunctioning – providing you and your employees with continual access to the tools need to do your specific jobs.
Partnering with a managed IT service provider also allows small and medium-sized businesses to have more peace of mind when it comes to the safety and security of their network.
Questions To Ask Yourself:
- What goals does your business have?
- Are you trying to double your overall revenue within the next two years?
- Is your business looking to expand by adding more locations around the country?
- Are you considering how IT can help you get to where you want to go?
Many (if not most) of your business goals can be achieved much easier (and sooner) with the help of a managed IT service professional or team.
It’s also essential to know what makes a great managed IT service; this is where the benefits we’re about to explain to you come into place!
A great managed IT service helps your business succeed by identifying the absolute best way to use IT to benefit your individualized business goals.
When working hand-in-hand with a managed IT service provider, IT becomes a strategic asset, not a cost center.
Managed IT Services: “How Will My Business Benefit?”
1. Managed IT Services Saves You Time
No matter the size or scale of a company, it takes a lot of time (and energy) for any IT service to run successfully. The more time you invest in your office technology, the better your systems run. But, do you have that extra time?
We’ve briefly summarized a few IT components that tend to take up the most time:
- Strategic Planning to ensure your business continues to grow, by keeping up newer trends and advanced technology that’s to come. Building a “technology roadmap” takes time, but the payback far exceeds the effort.
- Actively Managing your company’s IT infrastructure (setting up computers and servers, ensuring the success of weekly backups, updating and applying patches to software, securing the network, etc.) The list could go on and on. And don’t forget individual desktop support. A help desk is always needed to minimize worker downtime and keep your business running efficiently.
- Troubleshooting common (or complex) IT glitches and malfunctions that continuously tend to come up, such as patchy wireless network connections, ineffective virus software, or storage issues within your cloud.
- Vendor Management is something we don’t always think of when it comes to these specific time-consuming IT components. The average customer has anywhere from 4-6 different technology vendors in addition to IT, like providers to CRM, cloud storage, internet, software, and applications that drives the business. You would be amazed at how much time is spent “handling vendors” for ongoing services.
With the help of a managed IT service provider, you’ll no longer have to dedicate hours out of your busy workday to fix these common issues.
Not to mention, some of these IT issues might not be a “quick fix.” You could potentially cause more damage to your systems and machines by trying to resolve the issues yourself, instead of allowing a trained IT service technician to do the work for you.
2. You’re in Control of What You Spend on Managed IT Services
You probably don’t consider a regular monthly cost to be an advantage of managed IT services. However, hear us out. The benefits to your business may surprise you.
There’s so many different IT services and features you can choose for your business and let’s be honest, what’s better than having options? You get to decide where you’re investing your business dollars.
Maybe you’re mostly interested in network monitoring and storage capacity and feel you could do without certain software updates. That’s up for you to decide!
Depending on the type of work your business does and your specific IT needs, you are in control of the IT services you’ll be paying for each month. Don’t forget outsourcing your managed IT services not only let’s you tap into experts in their field, but also reduces your labor and benefit costs that you would associate with building your own internal IT department.
If you’d like to learn a little more about the costs of managed IT services, read our article, How Much Do Managed IT Services Cost?
3. Up-to-date Technology
Like we’ve mentioned earlier in this article, newer technology continues to emerge, and frankly, it’s hard for even experienced technical professionals to keep up!
Professionals who base their careers focused on security, backup and recovery, or managed IT services (to name a few), have to continue to practice the new changes that come with this new technology hitting our market.
When your IT in-house staff is limited, with individuals responsible for multiple aspects of IT (not just the aspect of new technology upgrades), it becomes beyond challenging to expect them to be able to keep your new and current technology up-to-date.
You should want to stay up-to-date with the latest technology upgrades and certainly don’t want to waste time waiting for your IT department to do so. With managed IT services, you won’t have to worry about making sure all of your technology needs are being met in a timely and professional matter.
4. 24/7 System Monitoring
We hate to break it to you, but just because you have an in-house IT department doesn’t mean your network is safe and secure. This also doesn’t mean your IT department will be able to fix your IT issues if something were to happen outside of regular office hours.
Your IT staff is dedicated to your business, but realistically, they can’t monitor your IT systems and equipment at all hours of the day.
Partnering with a managed IT service company means your IT systems and servers will be monitored around the clock. Your managed IT service professional receives messages and alerts as changes occur and can then immediately begin work on fixing an issue the second it happens.
The sooner your managed IT service team learns about an IT issue, the quicker your business can be back up and running. This helps to eliminate downtime you and your employees might face throughout your busy workdays.
5. Virtual CIO (vCIO)
A supplemental CIO can also be referred to as a Virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO or VCIO). Your managed IT service provider can serve as your CIO or supplement an internal CIO/Head of IT.
This outsourced service ensures your business doesn’t lag in technology implementations and has an ongoing plan for the future. Without a technology roadmap for the future in place, your business won’t be able to keep up with the new and upcoming technology trends and needs of the industry.
Want to learn more on how a tech leader like a vCIO can help your business, then you may be interested in reading our article: What's a Virtual CIO (vCIO).
There are various levels of service that a managed IT service team can provide, from network monitoring and alerts that a company will then fix internally, to full-fledged monitoring and problem resolution.
Whether your business is large or small, IT managed services come as an all-in-one bundle. It makes it easy for you and easy for your employees. What more could you ask for?
The Final Say: Benefits of Managed IT Services for Your Business
If you still have some questions about managed IT services and how these services can benefit your business, read an article Forbes published, What Is A 'Managed Service' Anyway?
Deciding to outsource your IT services can certainly take some planning time and research as you want to make sure you choose the best service provider for your business. No matter the type of IT services you need, there’s a managed IT services team out there for you. So don’t get discouraged if you have to meet with a few different companies until you find the one that feels right.
At AIS, we specialize in not just managed IT services, but also provide copiers, printers, document and process management, copier and printer repair and maintenance, VoIP telephone services. We are here to help you and your business grow the be the most successful it can be. If you’d like to reach out to one of our business technology consultants, contact us here. You deserve office technology that gives you peace of mind, to help you win more business.
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