You may know that Alliance IT is one of the most trusted managed services and IT outsourcing companies in the Sarasota area. However, you still may not really understand what managed services entails – and if their programs are right for you. Spring seems like a great time to dust off some of the old information and review the facts about managed services. One of the best ways to do this is to point out the IT problems and challenges every small business faces – and explain how managed services can solve these problems.
- Problem: Maintaining an in-house IT team is expensive.
Keeping up with the lightening fast speed of technology and needed skill sets is challenging at best, but is also very expensive. Managed IT services typically work out to be less expensive than managing an in-house department – and it is certainly a lot easier than continually recruiting, hiring and retaining the right talent. Calculate the overall expense related to hiring a single IT expert – including payroll, taxes, employee benefits, office space, equipment, insurance, overtime pay, training – and you can see why outsourcing these activities could be cost effective. Managed IT service providers (MSPs) provide access to a team of qualified and vetted specialists who are highly experienced. The MSP provides this deep bench of expertise, keeping you ahead of the skills gap without constant recruiting. This improves your productivity in house immediately, and allows your onsite team to concentrate on what they do best. Not only that, an MSP can offer 24 x 7 support and constant network monitoring – something small business cannot often afford to do on their own. - Problem: Technology moves fast, innovation does not.
It is a catch-22 dilemma that many companies cannot resolve. New technologies and innovations are necessary to keep them up to speed and on par with their competition. However, it is a rare company that has a team of experts dedicated to tracking, learning about, and implementing the innovation necessary to maintain clients, manage IT problems and stave off competitors. While adapting to the rapid changes can seem impossible to a small business, the managed services company was created to adapt in this way. MSPs make cutting edge technologies available to their clients right from the start, and offers access to a vast array of resources they may not be able to afford on their own. The experience gained from working on hundreds of networks – the challenges and solutions – is experience which cannot be duplicated with an in-house staff. - Problem: Companies cannot scale quickly enough.
Scalability is essential to maintain momentum and protect the company’s growth. The rapid fire pace of change in a business environment makes it necessary for companies to be able to scale resources up or down with ease. However, it is nearly impossible to scale quickly when your IT networks and communication are in-house. Managed service providers handle this issue with ease – with the capability of providing needed staff, additional equipment, and required resources with very short notice. Hiring an IT partner to help your regular staff with IT problems may be an ideal solution. After all, most companies cannot buy new technology and hire experts at the pace which is required.
Managed services creates economies of scale not possible in a small business. The business model allows corporations to share the cost of resources and expert knowledge, and to access those skills which they need to survive and thrive.
Alliance IT is a Sarasota-based IT services firm providing solutions to small and medium sized organizations.
