If you own or operate a small-to-medium sized business (SMB), you may be used to being a jack-of-all-trades. As the company has grown, you increasingly have to think about more efficient ways of operating while staying within budget.
If your organization is like most SMB’s, you may have no official IT department – or a relatively small one. But as the challenges of security, compatibility, and technology increase, many companies are choosing to migrate over to a managed services firm. You may think that hiring an outside firm to assist you is too costly, but you may be surprised.
Here are the top reasons that more and more SMB’s are choosing to hire a managed services firm in 2019.
Benefits Of Managed Services
- Increased Security: In the last several years, ransomware attacks have more than doubled, as have their monetary demands. Cyber criminals seem to favor small and medium sized businesses, with over 60% of SMBs reporting some form of malicious attack in recent years. As criminals become more sophisticated, the methods of fighting them has as well. Unfortunately, most businesses do not have the resources – either time or expertise – to stay on top of the latest malware, ransomware, or virus threats.
A managed services company can ensure that your data is being protected by the most advanced methods. They can also help you to establish and enforce security protocols within your own organization, encompassing everything from password security to firewalls and secure building access.
- Deep Bench of Expertise: No matter what the subject – hardware procurement, software updates and patches, or cyber crime – a managed services firm has a team of experts to handle it all. While hiring an internal IT employee may seem like a cost savings, you are limited to that person’s field of expertise and knowledge. With the deep bench of talent at a managed services firm, you can be assured of expert knowledge whatever the situation.
Also, because this is our business, we are on the front lines of the latest improvements and advancements every day. As dedicated as you or your employees may be, you have a job to do every day, and keeping informed about all the latest technology and threats may understandably go by the wayside.
- Technology Assessments and Consultation: Many companies have grown in a bit of a patchwork, adding a computer here, or a phone line there. A technology assessment will give you a comprehensive overview of the technology you own, identifies areas where you can be more efficient, and provides a go-forward plan to proactively address hardware and software upgrades in a way which allows you to plan and budget for growth.
- Economies of Scale: Because a managed services firm works with many clients, you get the benefits of their experiences as well. From obtaining the best price on hardware to knowing the best software license to purchase, you can nearly always obtain better deals by working with larger groups. A managed services company has contacts and relationships with many local providers, and can often work better deals for your purchases and upgrades.
- Benefit from Other’s Experiences: If you run into an issue that you cannot solve, it could cause major delays and a loss of revenue you cannot afford. But the chances are excellent that your problem has not only been seen by the managed services professional team, but they have likely solved this problem before. Returning to full capacity and efficiency more quickly could be the difference between success and failure.
Overall, by hiring a Sarasota managed services IT firm, a team of experts in all aspects of the IT world join your team. At Alliance IT, we are deeply committed to each and every company we work with. We become invested in your growth and success. If you need expert IT guidance in 2019, we would love to meet with you to discuss how we can help.
