Did you recently start outsourcing your IT department to a trusted managed IT services company? Maybe managed IT has been on your mind, but you aren’t quite ready to make the switch.
Outsourcing your company’s IT needs is certainly a big move to make that takes careful consideration and planning. Becoming educated and more familiar with managed IT services significantly benefits your business in more ways than one.
Top 5 Things You Should Know About Managed IT Services
1. Saves Employee Time
2. Saves Business Money
3. Remote Monitoring For a Safer Network
4. Subject Matter Experts and Updated Technology
5. Customized Services
One of the great things about managed IT services is how versatile these services are for just about every company out there. Company size, industry type, or location of your office(s), managed IT services are made for your individualized business plans.
Let’s say you're the owner of a small business, only interested in the safety and security of your business’ files and data. A managed IT services provider can quote you on the safety measures they feel your business will benefit from the most. You have the power and control to mold your managed IT services to your specific business technology needs.
Alternatively, maybe your business has multiple locations across the country, employing over 500 employees, including an IT department you aren’t interested in completely eliminating.
Your company could greatly benefit from outsourcing some of the IT duties and tasks that your IT department doesn’t have time to fix or constantly monitor. Your IT department and your managed IT services team can work together, establishing appropriate job tasks to tackle each day.
Eager to learn more? Read our article, 5 Reasons to Hire IT Support Services.
Whatever your business technology goals are, managed IT services can truly change how your business prospers and grows. Let’s dive in!
Back To Basics: What is Managed IT Services?
Before we begin, let’s go over the basics. Plain and simple, what is the definition of managed IT services?
Managed IT Services is a group of services that a Managed Service Provider (MSP) or third-party provides to businesses in information technology.
These services include remote monitoring, technical support, training, security, virus protection, data backup & recovery, business continuity, technology road mapping & planning, virtual CIO, help desk, application and database development, network management, compliance, hosting, and more.
Managed IT services provides to businesses based on their needs, via three business models:
1) Flat Rate (all-you-can-eat model)
2) Per User or
3) Per Device, and bundled together as a single monthly fee.
In a nutshell, managed IT services is a way to outsource the day-to-day management of your information technology needs. The specifics can vary on the services provided by different managed IT services providers.
As you can see in the three business models above, some service providers offer an “a la carte” choice of services. Others offer a complete, interlocking suite of core services.
For example, some companies only offer network monitoring and alerts when a problem is detected —meaning your internal IT staff must fix an issue once its been identified. Other companies, however, can not only monitor and alert you of these issues but can then resolve the issues for you, as an all-in-one service.
The type of pricing model you choose is entirely up to you, and the needs of your business and your employees. Take some time and make a list of your business goals and what you wish to gain from a managed IT services team.
This list helps you better determine the best model for your company. Better yet, present your business needs to multiple managed IT services providers and learn how they can tackle these issues.
Not all companies are the same, and some of the providers you meet with might not be the best fit for achieving your business technology goals.
Rest assured if you do proper due diligence and ask the right questions, you will find the right managed IT services provider for your business.
Learn more about managed IT services by reading our article, What is Managed IT Services? How to Tell If You Need Them.
What You Should Know About Managed IT Services
Now that we’ve gone through a little explanation of what managed IT services are, it’s essential you know what your business gains from using these services. Remember, the more you know, the easier it is to identify if these services are best for your business.
1. Managed IT Services Saves Your Employees Time
Time is money, right? Do you know how many minutes (or hours) a week your employees have to troubleshoot their own IT issues? It might be quite a bit more than you think.
If you or your employees troubleshoot your own IT issues during your busy workday, this should be a sign that hiring an IT support service is a good idea.
Instead of taking away valuable time that could be spent doing your daily tasks, a managed IT support service team can manage these issues for you. After all, it’s their job to do so.
Hiring an IT support team allows someone else to deal with the day-to-day IT issues that may arise, freeing up you and your employees to concentrate on more pressing and vital tasks.
Especially, if your IT team is spending most of their time helping your staff with desktop support (i.e., office applications, technical, laptop, and phone support, etc.)
Increasing productivity at your office by an IT support team is also a great way to ensure the issues you’re having are correctly resolved. Trusting an IT professional over your employees is a great way to resolve the issue, without making it worse.
2. Managed IT Services Saves Your Business Money
Let’s be real— there’s nothing better than saving money. It’s even better when you can see the benefits of what you’re paying for. Have you ever read your cable bill and thought, “Why on earth am I paying 200 dollars a month, and what are all these extra charges for?”
Managed IT services break down each charge you’re paying for as well as provide you with detailed summaries of the services your business is utilizing.
A managed IT services company brings in a specialist (or team of specialists) entirely focused on your issues at hand. Whereas a full-time employee would likely have a more general set of IT skills, only applied to a variety of situations, or less specific instances.
Moreover, you may be paying your entire in-house IT staff more than what you would pay a single person to do, if you were outsourcing your IT. One single managed IT services technician can do all of what your entire in-house department can do.
Don’t forget about the extra expenses of having in-house IT employees such as pay and employee benefits.
When a company outsources IT, it also doesn’t need to invest in the equipment or software necessary to do that particular job. A managed IT services company can either provide their tools or include the cost of acquiring the equipment in their fee.
This method costs less than if your company bought the equipment outright for each of their in-house IT employees.
3. Remote IT Monitoring Means a Safer Network
Just like saving money, the network security of your business should be at the very top of your list when it comes to current and future business goals.
Just because you have an in-house IT department doesn’t necessarily mean your network is safe from outside hackers and other threats like viruses. This also doesn’t mean your IT department can fix your security issues if something were to happen outside of regular office hours.
Think of a managed IT services company as a partnership, where your IT systems and servers are monitored around the clock.
Your managed IT services team receives messages and alerts as changes occur or problems arise, allowing immediate work in fixing the issues the minute it happens.
Many times, issues arise and can be fixed by the managed IT team prior to their customer even knowing that there was an issue. How about that for great customer service!
When it comes to security, the sooner your managed IT services team learns about a cyber attack or security breach, the quicker your business can be back up and running.
Close monitoring helps eliminate your office’s downtime you and your employees might face when any technology issue surfaces.
4. Leave It Up To The Professionals: Stay On Top of New Technology and System Updates
The technology we use today is not only rapidly changing and evolving, but advancing at a pace that’s hard for any business to keep up.
A managed IT services team is dedicated, passionate, and always hungry for learning the newest and most tech-savvy trends in the industry. Let them keep you informed of what software and hardware you’ll benefit the most from having, based on the specific work you do.
Is your company looking to grow, or even create, your marketing department to help your sales team bring in more leads? Probably so! More leads generate more revenue for your business.
Well, what kind of technology are you providing for your marketing department to support this department growth? It would be a challenge for your marketing team to succeed if they’re using outdated technology that continually needs updating, upgrading, or “fixing.”
Once you allow an IT support service professional to show you what you’re missing out on, the sooner you’ll be on your way to creating better content while also decreasing the amount of time you spend on tedious projects because of outdated or older programs you might be using.
5. Managed IT Services Customized For Your Business
Like we mentioned earlier, every business is different, whether that be the type, size, location, and the work that they do. It can be challenging to find a service that specializes in the customization of the technology needs specific to your line of work, and your employees, unless it’s managed IT services.
Making sure your business receives the specific IT services it needs (based on your business goals) is important if you want the most out of your managed IT services team.
A managed IT support services provider can offer you several different, and individualized plans, focusing on different aspects of IT support based on your business.
Choosing different service plans allows you to only pay for what you need while also giving you the freedom to add on services later if necessary. This is where your specific needs come into play by allowing you to customize and design an outsourced IT plan to fit your needs.
Customizing your IT services is a lot like choosing your ideal cable package. Are you more interested in children’s networks opposed to HBO movie channels? How about an extensive sports package you might want to add on once the football season is back?
Your managed IT services support team walks you through every type of IT management service, educating you on the services your business benefits the most.
Do you feel like you have a better understanding of what managed IT services are and how these services can assist your business? We know this information isn’t always easy to understand but with a little research, you’ll be well on your way to achieving your business goals.
For more information on everything to do with Managed IT Services, check out our resource page, here.
At AIS, we look for ways to better inform all our readers to help them reach their unique and specific business goals. Every business is different, and we’re here to walk you through every step of the way when it comes to technology and the services that come along with it. If you’re interested in learning more about managed IT services for your business, contact one of our business technology consultants here. We’re here to give you peace of mind to help you win more business.
Topics:
