The advantages of using a managed services provider

Using a managed services provider can transform your small- or medium-sized business, giving you the technology you need to operate efficiently and effectively. Managed services can increase your company's productivity and reduce costs by streamlining IT-related functions, improving security and minimizing the risk of downtime due to an outage.

For small businesses without the advantage of an in-house IT department, these services can provide a higher level of support than freelance technicians. For SMBs with limited IT resources, backups, patches, security and other IT-related items can become overwhelming, leading to security breaches, vulnerabilities, and even a complete, company-wide shutdown. Since Deloitte reports that only two out of five companies now maintain a full contingent of permanent employees (as many businesses rely more heavily on third-party vendors, contractors and freelancers to fill job needs), skilled help for IT is in demand.

Re-evaluating IT
If your company is being put at risk by neglected IT services and you're concerned that this will negatively impact operations, delegate IT activities to a managed services provider or an MSP. The MSP will monitor, manage and problem-solve your systems on an ongoing basis. This can be much less expensive than hiring, training and retaining an internal support team. It can also prevent any single staff member in your company from becoming the go-to IT person by default, distracting them from their actual job responsibilities. Instead, the entirety of your IT responsibilities will be managed by your service provider so staff members can concentrate on growing your business and increasing your revenues.  

A proactive approach
Many SMBs that handle their own IT or outsource only on an as-needed basis are reactive when it comes to managing technology. Unless something goes wrong, not much attention is paid to the technological needs of the company. This can result in an overall reduction in performance and costly downtime for the entire company, as problems are only addressed after they occur.

Using an MSP allows your company to stay viable by proactively addressing any potential concerns, staying on top of security updates and predicting any issues so that your company won't experience sudden catastrophic failure at a technological level. When you don't have to worry about IT issues interrupting the work day, your employees will be more productive and efficient.

IT services are vital to protecting your company from downtime.

When your computer network is appropriately maintained and proactively serviced, monitored and optimized, your operations will become more streamlined. Bringing your IT and OT into sync provides you with a stable platform from which you can scale your business to higher productivity levels. Your reliance on an MSP should be carefully considered — research several and obtain quotes before you commit to handing off IT responsibilities for your SMB.   

Even if you already have an existing IT staff, you may still be able to benefit from an MSP. They can complement your internal staff by taking over many day-to-day operations and network management responsibilities. This allows you to direct your own staff to focus on internal needs that may be more complex or more sensitive, such as data privacy. Your MSP can provide infrastructure support tools, reducing the need for investment and enabling you to scale at will.

Overall costs 
Focus Technology points out that while a traditional break-fix contract may seem like the cheaper option, the true cost of downtime can make it far more expensive than a managed services contract. An MSP which delivers remote monitoring and maintenance can prevent major issues from occurring, making it more efficient and less expensive by providing a superior service at a lower cost overall.

A typical MSP agreement will involve a monthly subscription fee keeping costs low and making it easy to budget without a large CAPEX commitment for hardware or software. Human resources and staffing costs are also reduced due to the consultative nature of an MSP. Instead of unexpected and costly sessions in response to IT issues, you'll pay a fixed cost for your monthly contract that is typically based on the size of your company including the number of servers, devices and users involved.

The flat-fee billing model provides even small SMBs with cost-effective access to support fit for enterprises. This is an ideal setup for companies that are scaling quickly, or those who have multiple vendors. This is especially help for organizations who have had previous issues with outages, slow internet, security breaches, problems with equipment such as phone lines or printers and network monitoring inconsistencies.    

Benefits of an MSP
With an MSP, you can expect increased operational efficiency, lower operating costs, improved monitoring and transparency into your company's technological processes and protections. The odds of catastrophic failure are reduced, and in the case of an unavoidable incident, your system will have been backed up and will be repaired with minimal data loss and downtime.

Whether you are using an MSP or relying on in-house IT staff, you'll need support for your network. Perle provides industrial-grade support as you scale your company, so contact us today.