As the owner of a small or medium sized business, managing a budget is an ongoing challenge. Each year, you have to decide which initiatives, projects, and ongoing activities are priorities, and which need to be shelved until more dollars are available.  The IT budget is one area which is consistently under scrutiny, as technology keeps changing and online security threats continue to rise.

There is no doubt that it is imperative that you have adequate cyber security, up-to-date software and hardware, and the latest in communications capability. All of this is necessary to stay competitive and keep pace with your customer expectations, as well as to protect you in a dangerous cyber  environment. With everything that your IT budget needs to absorb, managed services may seem like a luxury you cannot afford.

managed services company

What are Managed IT Services?

Managed services are a suite of services which a company can outsource in order to optimize their capabilities, maximize security, and stay on top of innovations in technology. They primarily consist of 24 x 7 real-time monitoring of your hardware, software, and network to ensure that everything is running as it should.

There is an erroneous belief that outsourced services will strain your IT budget. But enlisting the help of IT professionals may actually be a cost-saving measure for your company. Many business owners are surprised to find out that managed services will not only fit into their IT budget, but help to save some money in the process.

How Do Managed Services Help Your IT Budget?

  • Reduce Overhead: By outsourcing your IT capabilities, you may reduce overhead in several areas. You may not need to employ a full IT department, thus reducing payroll which includes benefits packages and overtime when problems arise. Keeping your IT server equipment offsite frees up space in your office, and will also often reduce energy bills over time.
  • Share the Cost of Upgrades: When you choose a managed service firm, they will often share assets and resources across clients. This is a cost savings to organizations who may have had multiple servers, none of which were being used optimally. For instance, an email server and a accounts payable server may each have been utilizing only 30% of their capacity. With managed services, server virtualization and shared technology creates economies of scale, especially when hardware and software upgrades are necessary.
  • Take Advantage of Volume Discounts: A managed services firm acquires software licenses, software packages, and necessary hardware upgrades on a regular basis. They have established relationships with providers, and often enjoy special volume pricing an individual firm may not be able to access.
  • Have the Very Best Staff: With no disrespect to your current IT staff, a managed services firm has a deep bench of IT expertise, well versed in handling any crisis which may arise. Not only are they well trained to operate in a high-pressure IT environment, but they continually gain experience from dealing with a broad client base, making them the most experienced team you could hire – and most small to medium sized firms simply cannot afford to hire an inhouse IT team with such expertise. Not to mention, they are keeping an eye on your network around the clock.
  • Minimize Downtime: If you are like most companies, any downtime can be catastrophic both to real-time business orders and to customer experience and satisfaction. Even worse would be any type of cyber breach which causes clients to distrust you with their information. Perhaps the best way to safeguard your IT budget is to do everything possible to ensure that your business is safe from cyber criminals, and does not suffer downtime due to outdated software or failing hardware. All of these issues are well in hand with a professional managed IT service firm, who monitors for threats, performs necessary software updates, and advises you on necessary technology changes – all without you having to spend the time worrying about it.

If you are considering managed services, it is important to take into account all of the possible cost savings; and not just look at outsourcing as a line item in your IT budget. At Alliance IT, we welcome the opportunity to speak to Tampa and Sarasota business owners as to how our expertise can help you to grow your business while saving you money. Call us today!