By : There are different responsibilities that managed IT services provide; however, many folks are not aware of the benefits of these services. Hence, they do not leverage them to build their businesses. One of the prominent benefits you will enjoy is that the in-house responsibility and pressure are reduced to ensure enhanced efficiency.
Therefore, to enable you to leverage these advantages, we will discuss all you need to know about this kind of information technology support.
Let’s get started…
What Managed IT Services Are
Managed IT services allow organizations and companies to outsource their IT responsibilities to third-party providers as subscription or contracted services. The support provided offers a reduction in the in-house workload, supplement unskilled in-house staff and even replace unqualified in-house staff. Click here for other strategies you can use if you don’t want to replace an unqualified employee.
When managed service providers (MSPs) are hired, they can ensure that your business enjoys continuous and uninterrupted IT coverage. Also, you get to enjoy expert knowledge that your in-house staff may not possess.
Commonly used services include:
- Remote monitoring as well as management of infrastructure and hardware.
- Security services such as penetration testing, monitoring, incident response, or threat hunting.
iii. Cloud services formation, monitoring as well as management. These could be done either in collaboration with an external cloud service or without one.
- Communications support which includes IP telephony.
Benefits of Managed IT Service
An organization that hires the right MSP can enjoy the following benefits:
1. Contractual Terms
This kind of arrangement allows you to specify the terms of the contract for the information technology tasks including SLAs (service level agreements). In other words, you won’t waste your time on recruiting, hiring, and then training qualified staff.
Hence, you only pay for the support provided according to the needs that you have. As a result, you also save money that you would have spent on employees that were hired full-time.
2. Efficiency
For some organizations, IT tasks might be among secondary priorities. Hence, trying to handle them internally could affect the efficiency of primary priority tasks. Therefore, the best way to overcome this challenge is to outsource the company’s IT tasks. Visit https://sophilabs.com/blog/how-does-outsourcing-increase-efficiency to learn how outsourcing increases efficiency in the workplace.
When this is done, the provider will be able to handle those tasks and then offer recommendations or guidance that will enhance the overall system performance. This, in turn, can cause productivity increase as well as enhance ROI since the staffs are focused on tasks that bring in revenue.
3. Better Uptime Management
Since the schedule of MSPs is not the same as your employees, it enables them to carry out certain tasks such as maintenance, system updates during your company’s off-hours. This is something that won’t be possible if your staff handled those tasks.
As a result of the flexible schedules of the provider, it will lead to improved uptime as well as a reduction in workflow disruptions.
Things You Should Consider When You Work with MSPs
Although there are benefits attached to hiring an MSP to perform your organization’s IT tasks, however, you need to consider the following when you work with them:
1. Holding them Accountable
The fact that they are not your employees but contractors means that you need to formulate a strategy that will enable you to hold them accountable for their actions or in some cases non-action. Hence, the provider you choose should have their SLAs actionable and well-defined.
With this, the provider should agree to provide a report of services performed. They should also provide you with a system performance report. A managed IT support services provider that fails to agree to do these things should not be contracted.
2. Acquiring Tactical IT Arrangement
A good MSP should be able to tactically arrange and design upgrades, additions, and configuration changes for your overall infrastructure. If they can’t do this, then it means you won’t enjoy the full value and benefits of managed services.
Therefore, the provider must have a good understanding of the current infrastructure setup and then manage and enhance it to ensure that the goals, as well as objectives of your business, are satisfied.
We recommend that whatever plan or arrangements should cover the next two years. This will save you money and time and ensure that you focus on other vital areas of your business while the provider continues with the management of the established infrastructure.
3. Getting a Reliable Provider
You must realize and understand that all MSPs are not the same. Therefore, you should thoroughly interview and research the provider you want to hire. You should ensure that they don’t have issues with organizations they have worked with in the past.
To determine this, ask them for contact details of clients they have worked for; preferably recent clients. Once you get the contact details, you should call these people and find out what the work ethic of the MSP was when they worked with them.
It is important that you ask for the contact of recent clients as that will enable you to assess the current performance of the provider. If you ask for clients that they have worked for in the past, you won’t get an accurate assessment. The provider could have gotten better and more experienced or they could have failed to keep up with current managed services trends and techniques.
Steps to Selecting the Right MSP
The following steps will guide you on how to select the right MSP for your business needs:
1. Evaluate your Existing IT Systems
Before you get an MSP, the first thing you should do is evaluate your existing system, your business IT needs, as well as the costs. Understanding the infrastructure, the workflows that require management, current resources, and your budget will enable you to find providers that are a perfect fit. You can read this article to learn how to improve workflow efficiency in your office.
2. Ask the Provider to Audit your Existing Systems
After getting a list containing MSPs that meet your needs, you should ask them to audit your existing systems. This is vital as it will allow you to decide whether they possess the experience and support to handle your IT assets. Any provider unable to perform the audit should be removed from the list.
3. Think of Scalability & Flexibility
You should think of the scale of the support they provide. This is necessary if your infrastructure goal is big. Furthermore, you should choose a provider that is flexible with schedule and plans to accommodate new ideas and needs.
Conclusion
Managed IT services are a great way to unburden your in-house staff from the IT tasks that they might not have the skillset to meet. However, it is important that you choose a provider that is capable of meeting the needs and demands of your business. Hence, we have shared with you the steps that will enable you to select the perfect MSP for your organization.
