Managed service providers give small and mid-sized businesses enterprise-level connectivity and features.
Technical infrastructure is complicated and expensive. Maintaining even a small business requires resources, talent, and time that impact the bottom line.
Until recently, purchasing and maintaining in-house equipment was the only option most organisations had. But these systems came with an alarming number of drawbacks:
- They often require specialised talent to upgrade and maintain.
- If the team fails to pay special attention to cybersecurity, they expose the business to cybercrime.
- In-house systems are difficult to scale to accommodate peak periods.
- Unused equipment represents financial dead-weight during the off-season.
Now, many small and mid-sized businesses are turning to managed services and managed service providers (MSPs) to address these problems.
Ten Ways MSPs Help Organisations Thrive
It’s easy to understand the fundamental value a managed service offers. Instead of buying your own equipment and hiring an entire IT staff, you can outsource your technical infrastructure to a firm that provides those services according to a predictable monthly subscription. This benefits organisations in 10 different ways:
1) Comprehensive Security Included
Managed service providers offer best-in-class security to their clients. In fact, this is one of the primary reasons why organisations hire MSPs in the first place – especially considering how hard it can be to hire qualified cybersecurity talent.
2) Proactive IT Support
Traditional in-house systems demand a reactive approach to IT support. Essentially, this means that your IT team will not fix a problem until someone reports that a feature is broken. The problem is that this perpetuates a cycle of things breaking and people scrambling to fix them.
Managed service providers, on the other hand, have to work proactively to keep their systems running. The proactive approach becomes a competitive advantage that leads to improved productivity and happier customers.
3) Better Uptime
Managed service providers have to offer uptime guarantees in order to remain competitive in an increasingly crowded market. While in-house teams can write-off unforeseen problems as part of the cost of doing business, managed service providers do not have this option.
4) Automatic Upgrades and Security Patches.
The devastating NotPetya ransomware attack made headlines in 2017, crippling infrastructure around the world. Cybersecurity quickly noticed that it made use of a security vulnerability that Microsoft had already patched after the previous WannaCry crisis. Every NotPetya victim was an organisation that neglected to install those security patches.
5) Significant Cost-Savings
On an individual user basis, managed services are far less expensive than in-house solutions. The combination of economies of scale and the ability to share resources among multiple organisations makes the MSP business model a value-enhancing option for small and mid-sized businesses.
6) Cloud-Enabled Convenience
Cloud computing makes it possible for organisations to enjoy access to comprehensive data recovery tools. Cloud-powered systems offer best-in-class accessibility through device-agnostic frameworks that work no matter what you use to access them.
7) Internal IT Staff Can Focus On the Big Picture
Many organisations fear that switching to an MSP will leave their IT teams with nothing to do. Nothing could be further from the truth. Instead, in-house IT talent takes on a far more strategic role, developing solutions that enhance the bottom line and delight customers instead of fixing printers and network switches.
8) Remote Work Capabilities
Cloud-powered MSP platforms are accessible through browser-based portals that employees can access from anywhere in the world. Managed IT services allow businesses to bring remote workers into the fold and optimise their productivity.
9) On-Demand Compliance
Businesses that need to remain compliant with industry-specific standards have a lot of work to do. Outsourcing IT requirements to a managed service provider makes it easy to adhere to strict regulations concerning data usage and connectivity.
10) Easy Scalability
In-house technology solutions are difficult to scale. Managed service contracts scale automatically according to your resource needs. Built-in scalability makes managed services an ideal solution for businesses experiencing rapid growth.
Entrust Your Operations to Technical Experts
The benefits of managed services and bringing MSPs into your business infrastructure lets you leverage the power of multiple technical experts for less than the price of a single salaried employee. The practical benefits and security advantages this offers make managed services a powerful asset for any organisation to have. Reach out to an SMB Solutions team member today for more information about the MSP services currently available!