What are Managed IT Services and What are the Benefits?
By George Louris, Vice President of Managed IT Services, Marcum Technology
Is your business struggling to keep routine IT tasks like help desk support, network monitoring, security, and data protection working efficiently? If you are tasked with strategic, high-impact initiatives that drive business growth, you may want to consider managed IT services.
Managed IT services allow businesses of all sizes to delegate their IT operations to an expert third-party organization that specializes in handling these responsibilities. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) can be engaged for portions of a business need or can provide a total IT solution.
MSPs utilize a broad range of IT expertise, automated tools, and streamlined processes to monitor, manage and resolve technology issues efficiently. To help provide predictable IT spend, services are typically offered at a flat monthly rate. An MSP removes the burden of 24/7/365 support from your shoulders and lets your staff focus on doing what they do best: running the business or executing on strategic projects, instead of day-to-day management and support.
Benefits of Managed IT Services
When effectively executed, partnering with a third party managed IT service provider is like gaining the capability and expertise of a full-service IT department at a fraction of the cost. If that isn’t enough of a benefit, below are the top reasons many companies consider working with a managed IT services provider:
A Proactive Approach Means Less Downtime
Wherever possible, an MSP will aim to identify issues before they become problems by tracking system error messages and warnings, as well as proactively patching systems to reduce security risks and maximize uptime. If a system failure should occur, your MSP will know within minutes, and their monitoring systems will allow them to hone in on and fix the issue as quickly as possible.
Stronger Cost Control
In the wake of COVID-19, businesses are now more than ever being cautious with their expenses. The typical cost components of an IT department, including training, equipment, and personnel, are absorbed by the MSP and presented as a fixed monthly charge. This makes it easier for the owner of the business or the chief technology officer to accurately budget for costs. Furthermore, the MSP can scale its support at the speed of your need.
Improved Risk Management
Every business carries risk. Your business risk can be minimized by lowering the individual risk of each service you identify as critical. An MSP can help your business reduce risk by contributing its own proprietary methodologies and access to modern infrastructure and software. This enables adherence to best practices and minimizes risk involved in the delivery of specific services.
Cybersecurity has become a full-time job
Every single week we hear about hackers who are breaking into systems and asking for ransoms to be paid. It’s impossible to ignore these news stories. Even large, well-funded organizations that should know how to secure their systems are often unable to either due to budget constraints or lack of in-house expertise.
As technology evolves, most companies do not upgrade immediately. Older systems have different security vulnerabilities. If these are not addressed in a timely manner, the systems are exposed even more with every passing day. System upgrades are not always to implement. However, they become increasingly necessary to adequately address the growing security threats.
A good MSP can help you reduce your overall risk through automated patching, detection and prevention software, and the proper configuration of your IT environment.
High Efficiency and Productivity
Chances are your organization tracks the efficiency and productivity of your service teams, including IT services. For optimal IT service performance and efficiency, several factors must be considered:
- Is the team aware of and properly trained on the latest technologies?
- Are they utilizing automation to streamline tasks and processes?
- Are documented processes in place for the monitoring, management and remediation of the IT infrastructure?
- Is there a proper backup and disaster recovery in place and has it been tested?
The list goes on and on. A good MSP can help ensure that your mission-critical IT services are stable, protected and supported on a 24/7/365 basis. A strong MSP will be highly efficient in delivering IT services in a way that keeps costs low and the time to deploy short, while providing high-quality services to the business.
Additionally, one of the biggest benefits of working with an IT managed services provider is the advantage of a proactive approach. A good MSP will focus on preventative maintenance such as patching and code updates, and proactively discovering and fixing problems before they can negatively impact your business. A well maintained, proactively serviced IT infrastructure will always run better than the alternative.
If you are considering outsourcing your IT services, the team at Marcum Technology is here to help. Marcum Technology’s managed services solutions is a dependable 24/7 technology solution that lets you concentrate on your business while Marcum’s professionals efficiently handle all things tech. To learn more about Managed IT Services at Marcum Technology, give us a call today at 800.331.6546 or by email at [email protected].
