Managing your businesses IT infrastructure, cyber security and cloud services can be a real burden, however, the good news is, you can do something about it.
Today, technology is critical to businesses, underpinning everything from the day to day operations to enabling strategic objectives. Getting caught up in the day to day management is a distraction and often goes unrewarded. It doesn’t help that this technology is continually evolving.
Managed IT Services is the outsourcing of the ICT management and operations to enable the business to focus on what’s important. It also helps your organisation anticipate emerging needs, streamline processes and when aligned to the businesses strategy, drive growth through innovation.
In this post, you will learn everything you need to know about managed IT services and how outsourcing your IT management can lower your business operation cost and risk.
Do you want to improve your organisation’s ICT management?
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What Is Managed IT Services?
A managed service provider is also known as an IT support company. It is a third party service provider that consists of IT specialists. The company has the following:
- Help desk agents
- System administrators
- Administration architects
- Cloud computing experts
- Networking technicians
- Hardware specialists
- Cyber Security specialists
- Consulting resources
Managed services providers offer a variety of services to businesses of all sizes. The services they provide include support, networking, administration, software. monitoring, cloud services management and hardware.
You contract a Managed Services provider to deploy and manage your equipment, subscriptions, cloud environment, day to day support, cyber resilience, backup and Disaster Recovery systems etc
Managed Service Providers will include all the necessary systems to run an IT department such as a helpdesk ticketing system, documentation platform and asset management systems. Other responsibilities include the following:
- Providing user support to the organisation
- Managing and deploying cloud services
- Dealing with third-party software providers so you don’t get stuck in the middle
- Monitoring critical IT infrastructure
- Patching IT systems to ensure compliance with cyber security standards
- Reporting to executive management
- Managing server and network infrastructure
- Maintaining and deploying backup and business continuity systems.
- Remote Monitoring and alerting
The IT service provider enables your staff to focus on the core business, while they take care of your IT needs.
What Does an IT Support Company Do?
An IT support company works hand in hand with the management of your company. Their main job is to address all your IT needs, from the smallest to the most complex tasks.
IT support companies help businesses to reduce downtime, improve security, identify cost savings and even scale their operations.
An IT support company can deploy and maintain cyber security standards and systems to assist in mitigating the risk posed by cyber crime.
A managed services provider will assist in guiding the alignment of technology with the business operations and strategy to accelerate growth.
Reasons Why Managed IT Services Are Crucial to Businesses
Technology is the Business and the Business is Technology! We live in a digital world and as such, IT has become a critical piece within every business, driving greater customer satisfaction and becoming more efficient. It is therefore essential that the technology is maintained to ensure staff are productive and the business has access to real-time actionable information.
Some businesses, unfortunately, see the requirement for an in house team as the next step. However, what typically occurs is the IT department becomes isolated and a blocker to innovation that doesn’t help drive the business goals.
Working with specialist managed services providers can be far more efficient as they have a broader skillset, systems and processes for day to day support services, retention of information and knowledge, have the experience to assist the business in crucial technology decisions and are more cost-efficient.
In this section, we will show you why IT-managed services are crucial to your business’s success.
Cyber Security Vulnerabilities
Cyber security threats have become more prevalent over the years. Over the last two years, cyber crime has risen more than 600%.
Cyber criminals are always looking for loopholes to exploit in a companies’ IT systems. It is essential that every business has the necessary protection across its, People, Processes and Technology or your organisation may fall victim to cyber security fraud.
Technology such as Patching, Anti-Virus, Proactive Threat Detection, coupled with Processes and education for the People in the business are the very basics that can assist in protecting the business. A reputable IT support partner will recommend, deploy and maintain these standards to ensure you have a strong cyber defence.
Obsolete IT Infrastructure Can Cripple Your Company Operations
Without a good strategy, the state of your organisation’s IT infrastructure can go unnoticed. And if some of your assets are obsolete, your company operations may suffer and your maintenance costs increase.
Outdated assets can be a liability to your company, poor performance due to outdated technology can impact productivity and increase the workload on employees, thus giving your competitors an edge over your organisation.
Working with an IT support company can help safeguard you from this problem. Asset and lifecycle management is essential in helping businesses budget and manage infrastructure costs. As such, your staff productivity will not suffer and your company will maintain its competitive edge.
Management of Disaster Recovery and Back Ups
No one ever thinks a disaster will happen but unfortunately, it does from time to time, Some businesses simply never get around to being prepared by having the necessary plans and technology in place. Some businesses believe Backups are all that’s required, however later come to realise that without a proper Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan, the road to restoring business operations can be very slow
What happens when your business goes on Fire?
Benefits of Hiring an IT Support Company
Partnering with a Managed IT Services company comes with a host of benefits. First off, it can save your organisation considerable time and money.
If you have an in-house IT department, your organisation has the cost of hiring and training.
When you hire an IT support company, you bring experts on board. These professionals will take care of technical skills and the day to day HR management.
As your business grows, there is no need to scale the IT Team if you’re working with an IT support company as your business expands, so too will your IT capacity.
When you partner with a professional IT Services company, you get access to the best software programs in the market. These are applications that are expensive to purchase and maintain which is an unnecessary overhead for your business.
Remote support is another great benefit of hiring an IT Provider. Rather than having to wait for someone to get to your desk to assist, a technician can log into your computer and assist straight away. you don’t have to move aside and it is especially convenient for when you’re remote working.
How to outsource your IT Support?
Best Practices in IT Management
An in-house IT team may lack some important skills to keep your organisation’s IT infrastructure in check. The department’s expertise could be limited due to a lack of industry and knowledge exposure. Additionally, the team may fail to keep up with the industry’s emerging trends.
Managed IT services are continually being educated and many are part of extensive peer groups that meet regularly to discuss emerging trends. These communities are dedicated to Managed Service Providers and serve as an opportunity to bring industry experts together to share information,
Staying proactive is another important aspect of effectively managing your IT infrastructure. You want to ensure that you know the state of all your IT assets. If something needs replacement, do not wait for it to break down. Early warning signs of failure is essential to maintain business uptime and healthy operations.
Being proactive is key in cyber security and will assist in keeping the business safe, ensuring that threats such as ransomware and unauthorised access are continually being monitored is essential in the fight against cyber crime
Upgrade to Fully Managed IT Support
ICT can be quite demanding in any company. It can get in the way of focusing on your organisation’s core business. This is where managed IT services come in.
Outsourcing IT managed services to the experts creates room for repurposing your staff. And it redirects your resources to the core business. It can help you keep your operations costs down without compromising on the quality of your computer technology.
Every company should be focusing on improving business processes with technology not managing IT, if your business is robing time from people to maintain IT, this is impacting your potential growth.
We are a managed services provider with a wealth of experience and we deliver unmatched IT services.
Contact us today, and we will be happy to discuss the detail of an impending long-lasting partnership.
FAQ
How much should your business spend on IT?
Take a look at our article on pricing
What should you ask an IT Support company?
If you have an existing IT support provider you should ask them the questions here in our article, If you are considering working with a managed IT services provider then these questions might be useful.
- Has your company ever worked with a business like ours and in our industry?
- Have you got any testimonials or references we can contact?
- What skills, certification and training do your employees have?
- Is Cyber Security included in the Support services? (note: it should be!)