These days, businesses are looking to cut costs wherever possible. Running a more lean organization often translates to less overhead – but at what cost?
In a competitive marketplace, businesses should be looking for ways to streamline where possible, without leaving their company vulnerable to threats, loss, or becoming technologically obsolete. Although contracting outside help may seem counter-intuitive to saving resources, it is often the smartest thing you can do.
Here are some reasons why hiring a managed services firm to help with your IT can give you a competitive advantage in your industry.
Advantages of Utilizing Managed Services Firms
- Keep Your Overhead Low: The cost of an employee is more than a salary – there are overhead costs such as training, health insurance, and vacation time which need to be factored in. An IT department often needs multiple employees with varying skill sets in order to operate most efficiently, and today’s business model also requires 24 x 7 monitoring against threats and attacks. Contracting with a managed services firm allows your company to have the most skilled employees working for you, without the additional overhead of a comprehensive IT team. This allows you to run a lean operation – while still providing your clients with the 24 x 7 support and service they deserve.
- Stay On Top of Threats: With the proliferation of cybercrime, approximately 55% of small to medium-sized business has now had an actual run-in with hackers or some type of malware attack. Given that 60% of these small companies do not ever recover from a significant attack, it is necessary to assign personnel and budget towards a vigilant cyber security strategy. However, most smaller organizations simply cannot spare the resource needed to monitor, identify and protect against every cyber threat which arises. Hiring a managed services firm allows your business to be as prepared as possible to ward off any attack, thus keeping you operational. Being able to tell your clients that their data is protected, as well as reacting quickly to any imminent threat, will build their confidence in doing business with you.
- Keep Pace With Hardware & Software Upgrades: One of the challenges small to medium-sized businesses face is the rapid pace of technological advances. As new hardware and software upgrades are needed to keep pace with the applications they are running, the expense and time required can seem overwhelming. A managed services firm will share cost and resources with other organizations, optimize the equipment being utilized, and ensure that your clients are getting the best customer experience. By providing an easy, safe and intuitive way to interact with you – which keeps pace with the technology – your clients are more likely to remain loyal through the years. This allows you to remain their vendor of choice, without significant hardware and software expenditures every few years.
- Get Expert Advice as to the Efficiency of Your Operation: Because of the rate of change in the IT world, many businesses are operating in a “patchwork” environment. We often see different departments on different versions of software, or even different operating systems. Some activities and operations are duplicated, while outdated hardware may be hindering the customer experience. Without fully understanding the total scope of how the business is currently operating, you may be wasting time, manpower and resource – and frustrating your employees and clients. A managed services firm can conduct an onsite technology assessment which will give you a snapshot of the current state of your operation – with concrete strategies to eliminate inefficiencies and improve your employee morale and customer experience.You may have considered hiring a managed services firm to streamline your business or get help with IT issues. But the expert team at Alliance IT can go so much further. We can help you to prove to your customers that you are doing everything possible to earn their continued business, to be fiscally responsible, and to keep their data and information safe.Contact us today to find out how we can help to give you a competitive advantage in your industry
