Very often, when the topic of managed services is brought up for discussion in an organization it concentrates solely on two issues benefits: cost savings and lightening the workload. Both of these benefits can be very powerful catalysts to looking into outsourcing your IT, but they are not the only benefits of strategic managed services.
First we will briefly speak about the money and workload, but then look at the less obvious value that this model provides.
Budget: While the cost of managed services may at first seem too much for your budget, they can actually save you money in a myriad of ways. From reducing overhead to streamlining hardware and software purchases, managed services can lower operating costs and therefore justify their own fee. You will have a team of expert IT professionals you may not be able to afford any other way, and you can take advantage of the economies of scale they offer.
Workload: The amount of time which is required to troubleshoot user issues, stay on top of the latest cyber security issues, and monitor updates and patches can be overwhelming for a small IT team. In fact, many small businesses may not even have a dedicated IT professional. By handing over the IT function to an outsourced firm, your team is freed up to do their jobs more easily – and not fall behind in other projects or tasks.
Competitiveness: One aspect of strategic managed services which is not often considered is the ability to stay agile and responsive. In a world where competition is intense and everyone is looking for ways to get ahead of their competitors, a managed services team is a strong ally. Because the MSP typically offers the latest in hardware and software, keeps you on track with releases and updates, possesses a deep bench of knowledge and has the latest in communication capability – they can make sure you are not being outpaced by your competition.
State of the Art: It may take years for a small to medium size business to catch up to the latest technologies, and then they are likely behinds the curve again! By spreading the cost of cutting edge hardware and software across multiple clients, all benefit from the very best technology available.
Transforming Applications: While an SMB may be aware that transitioning to digital capable or cloud applications can greatly enhance their business, they may not have the time, talent or bandwidth to make those changes. A strategic managed services plan can include moving appropriate applications over to the cloud in order to better protect the data, as well as to make it more resilient and agile.
Security: For decades we have known that system redundancy is the best way to protect against data loss and even cyber attacks (such as ransomware.) While creating redundancy for yourself may be costly, utilizing a managed services firm to set up this environment is easy, cost effective, and if done correctly, intuitive. The end game is to be able to recall data from a remote location should it be lost at the main location. MSPs are also adept at watching your data for viruses, malware or other areas of cyber vulnerabilities. They have the capability to stop a breach in minutes – in stark contrast to a small business which may not notice the breach for weeks or months.
Smart managed services save you money and time; strategic managed services can supercharge your ability to thrive and compete.
If you would like to talk to the team at Alliance IT about your options, call us today!
