‘Managed services’ refers to the practice of outsourcing your IT network support. These services exist as a means of improving your company’s business operations. By having managed services handle your IT needs, you are able to have the functionality of a full IT department in your hands.
Below, we’ll take you through the managed services benefits that drive all industries towards this solution. Companies that provide such managed services are called Managed Service Providers, also referred to as MSPs. In today’s world, organizations from all across the globe are realizing the advantages of outsourcing IT services.
One example is the way retailers use beacons in their marketing. Beacons are an IT tool used to personalize messages to each customer while they’re in a store. This is one of the tools that outsourced IT services can provide to boost customer engagement and sales.
Another example is happening in hospitals. Health service-providers today use outsourced IT to track patient information. This helps them understand patient experiences so that they can improve service and reduce readmission rates. Airlines use outsourced IT support to streamline your check-in and ticket information.
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Technology: A Double-Edged Sword
Technology gives us new opportunities to do even better business. However, with new technologies come new challenges.
The pace at which IT grows is exponential and difficult to predict. This makes it difficult for IT departments to standardize the applications, operating systems, and computer models that an organization uses. After all, staying stagnant would mean becoming obsolete.
Often, the cloud-based technology and mobile devices that add value to your company operations are the product of many apps, devices, and platforms that IT departments add to their collection over time. This makes it a challenge to maintain a standard budget or equipment inventory. To stay relevant, you have to keep up with technology.
Keeping Up is a Budgeting Nightmare
The challenges of keeping up with the IT market can add up to some serious expenses. These expenses include having to hire workers that are trained and qualified. Another expense is buying the equipment that will provide the infrastructure that your IT team will use to support their work and the new technology that is being incorporated regularly.
In addition to just getting the system off the ground, companies have to take into account any privacy and security risks that may come along with the IT infrastructure. To combat these costs and logistics, companies have turned to MSPs.
Trusting third parties to handle data centers, mobile initiatives, security, cloud services, and collaboration tools frees the organization up not only with their manpower but also financially. This way, they can focus time and resources on the core objectives of their business.
MSPs: A Trend
One of the main benefits of MSPs that is the most obvious is the holistic approach that they take towards providing IT services. Because their main focus is on IT, they are able to provide services that are at a higher standard than most businesses can achieve in-house. At the topmost level, MSPs provide maintenance, on-going management, end-user support, and service guarantees.
The benefits of this level of service provision are high, and MSPs have the numbers to back it up. In 2014, only 30 percent of organizations were using MSPs. But by 2015, this number had doubled.
The main benefit these organizations touted was cost-cutting. Outsourced IT cut costs for them by as much as 40 percent while doubling the efficiency of their IT service provision. The market has proven that MSPs have undeniable benefits for your business.
Managed Services Benefits
Here is a breakdown of the top 11 advantages of using managed services to outsource IT for your company:
1. Predictable and Controlled Spending
One of the major benefits that we have already touched on is that it lowers your budget. But how?
Well, by using an MSP, you have a fixed cost for IT services. Unlike with an in-house IT department, there is no need for extra investment in new infrastructures and technologies suited specifically to your business.
Instead, MSPs have a wealth of technology available that they are always adding to. This lets them customize the services they provide to your business. This way, you get targeted IT services that always stay up-to-date, without having to reinvest whenever new technologies come out.
A fixed payment plan by subscribing to such a service lets you have the best of both worlds: a limited, predictable budget and high-spec technology.
2. Reduced Risk
Each investment you make with your business carries risk. These risks are the product of ever-changing market conditions, markets, and government regulations.
Using an outsourcing provider reduces risk by lowering the burden of risk that you have to manage. MSPs manage a lot of the risk involved in IT investments for you. Further, they do it more effectively because they have the technical and industry knowledge to back up their decisions.
Risk is also reduced for disasters. Outsourced IT services also provide disaster recovery and business continuity services. Contact the Be Structured MSP 501 2019 Winner for all you MSP needs.
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
IT services are the focus of MSPs. This means that they design data centers and networks that are resilient. The high number of redundancies they create for your business network means that even if there are data breaches and losses, your information can be recovered. Despite disasters, MSPs mean that your business can continue seamlessly.
3. Proactive Solutions
Outsourcing your IT allows you to have proactive solutions to most of the issues you will encounter on the online portion of your business. This included reduced downtime. It also means fewer glitches for your online services.
MSPs work proactively to detect such issues and prevent them from worsening. This maximizes your productivity at no extra cost.
Future Proofing
Speaking of proactivity, MSPs ensure that your IT investments are future-proof. This happens because they are always independently updating their equipment and technology and applying their benefits to your business. Becoming obsolete is not a worry when using MSPs.
4. Increased Efficiency and Competitiveness
Using an MSP increases the competitiveness of your online brand. By using the services of an IT-specialized third party for your IT services, you allow your company to compete with the best companies that have top-of-the-range in-house IT teams.
Doing it all yourself can create higher workloads and implementation times. This means that MSPs will, along with increasing competitiveness increase efficiency by doing it for you.
5. Leveling the Playing Field
In the same vein as increasing competitiveness, hiring an MSP can also level the playing field. Often, companies with bigger and better staffing have the luxury of large digital marketing and IT teams. These will provide more impactful marketing campaigns and customer experiences than small to medium-sized companies.
A major benefit of using MSPs is that you can provide the same level of service-provision as a big company if you use them. This levels the playing field
6. Compliance and Security
Outsourcing to an MSP that is familiar with compliance standards increases the security and compliance of your company. This means that your client data, credit card numbers, and other information will be kept secure. It also ensures that your firewall and other security concerns are up-to-date.
7. Access to IT Specialists and Professionals
MSPs give you access to a whole cadre of IT specialists without the associated costs. This means that you get the benefits of having experts on your team without the added cost of hiring, training, and unexpected terminations.
Furthermore, these professionals will not only be qualified but also experienced. You’ll get the best of both worlds with certifications and qualifications along with industry experience.
8. Vendor Management
MSPs handle contacting vendors for hardware and software. This allows you to get the best services without needing to engage in technical conversations. This lessens the complications associated with getting new equipment and software.
9. Converged Services
By using an MSP, your business will be able to consolidate multiple IT services. This allows you to use a single connection to access multiple services. Not only does this save on costs, but it also increases efficiency and productivity.
10. Quick Implementation
A good quality MSP allows you to implement new technology quickly. This allows you to keep up to date faster with new industry trends. It also eliminates the need to find and hire experts in-house whenever it’s time to implement a new IT infrastructure.
This also allows for faster response times to issues that occur during site management.
11. Stay Focused on Business
Businesses with limited resources can’t afford to give extra time and effort to additional departments. By outsourcing your IT services, your business gains extra resources to dedicate to the core business. Staying focused helps your business run at maximum efficiency and limits your distractions.
It also allows you to increase the quality of your service levels.
Managed Services Benefits
MSPs can’t only increase your efficiency, but they can also lower the costs of managing and implementing your IT solutions. Managed services benefits are still out there for businesses that haven’t enacted them.
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