If these issues sound familiar, consider delegating high-volume tasks to an MSP
Outsourcing is one of the best ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Managed service providers (MSPs) allow organisations to delegate expensive, time-consuming tasks to dedicated teams with specialist skills. This enables in-house employees to dedicate their time to strategic, value-generating initiatives.
The right combination of in-house employees, third-party vendors, and managed service providers helps organisations manage their responsibilities and grow without having to compromise on the quality of service they offer.
This is especially true for small and medium-sized businesses that can’t otherwise afford to build and equip entirely new departments on a whim. MSPs enable these companies to leverage enterprise-level technologies and resources without having to spend enterprise-level cash to do so.
3 Signs Your Business Should Invest in an MSP
There are three main areas where most small to mid-sized businesses struggle and where managed service providers are uniquely positioned to help:
1) IT Downtime Is Growing, and Your Team Is Struggling to Fix It
IT downtime, depending on the size of your business, can cost anywhere between $10,000 – $5M per hour. Any organisation that suffers frequent downtime needs to dedicate significant resources to fixing its IT problems. This can be challenging for teams that are already stretched thin, and it may require expertise that the team doesn’t have.
Organisations that bring managed IT service providers on board can leverage a wide range of IT skills on an as-needed basis. You don’t need to hire a full-time expert full stack developer or data architect for a small-scale, one-time job. Instead, when you hire an MSP they will bring the expertise you need on board when you need it.
2) You Don’t Have Clear Visibility Into Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is a highly technical field with a persistent and growing skills gap in the workforce.
There are millions of unfilled cybersecurity positions out there, which makes it hard for small and mid-sized businesses to attract top talent. Managed security service providers (MSSPs) are able to attract and retain top talent and make it available to smaller organizations at price points they can afford.
This enables small and mid-sized businesses to deploy enterprise-level cybersecurity without having to invest in complex on-premises equipment. It establishes accountability into security processes so that company stakeholders know who is responsible for meeting compliance needs.
3) Your IT Needs Change Unpredictably Due to Growth
Growing businesses often need to expand their IT infrastructure to meet new customer demands. The traditional way of doing this involves purchasing large volumes of expensive on-premises equipment and staffing their IT departments with new hires. However, this kind of expansion carries great risk and almost always leads to underutilized assets.
Managed IT service providers offer scalable options for growing small and mid-sized businesses. With an MSP contract in place, you can be sure you only pay for the service you actually use and enjoy the peace of mind knowing you can always scale back if company growth turns out to be slower than expected.
Hire an MSP and Help Your Business Thrive
While there are valuable benefits to hiring new in-house talent, there will always be complex, high-volume tasks or one-off projects better-suited to managed service providers. Small and mid-sized businesses that plan on strategic growth will need to balance the cost of new hires with the benefits that a scalable MSP contract can obtain for them. Find out how SMB Solutions can help you deploy best-in-class technology for your business today.