Technology represents an interesting paradox – the more technology we incorporate into our lives (thus making it easier) the more this technology needs to be maintained and fixed (often making our lives harder.) For business owners, this has been a particularly challenging area. The technology advancements they need to stay competitive and relevant are often the very advancements that seem out of their reach, whether financially or practically. Until the 1990’s, the break-fix model was the organizational go-to solution. That is, when a machine broke, the IT teams fixed it. But as we approached the end of the decade, technology advancements picked up speed, and multiple unique devices needed servicing and repair on a regular basis. In addition to the fax machines, printers and other specialized hardware, the new generation of computers required more time and money to repair – an accepted tradeoff for their increasing user-friendliness.
But the proliferation of personal devices made the break-fix model untenable.
Providers of break/fix models began to provide flat rate fees with SLAs (service-level agreements), offering a guarantee of uptime without exhorbitant cost. The entire industry morphed from reactiveness to proactiveness, which turned out to be a positive change for everyone. Businesses recognized increased productivity and efficiency, while emerging MSPs provided attentive, quality service. Since then, the technology has evolved radically, but the concept remains. A growing number of companies are partnering with managed services partners for their IT service delivery, recognizing that it is more advantageous to concentrate on overall strategy, remaining competitive and innovating than on micromanaging an IT organization.
You’ve likely heard that managed services can fill skills gaps, run projects, and ensure uptime. There are many benefits to these typs of agreements, including giving the client company the ability to:
- Allocate resources to more strategic activities.
- Enhance service and user experiences.
- Optimize agility and compel innovation/automation.
- Minimize organizational risk.
But what are the actual suite of services that managed services companies can provide? Here are some concrete examples of potential services.
Establish, improve and deliver cloud operations:
- Speed up the cloud adoption process
- Streamline multicloud environments
- Enhance cloud performance and usage
- Optimize cloud expenses
- Enjoy budgetary predictability and agility
Strengthen your network and security operations:
- Offload operational challenges and issues
- Minimize the risk of cyber attack
- Respond and recover rapidly when a breach does occur
- Increase visibility and maximize scalability
- Develop plans for business continuity / disaster recovery
Proactively protect infrastructure at every point in the process:
- Strengthen data protection and shore up backup procedures
- Optimize network performance
- Provide an environment for strategic virtualization
- Experience flexible, safe data storage capabilities
- Refocus and reallocate resources on long-term strategy initiatives
Improve the workplace experience for the entire team with solutions that elevate collaboration and communication, virtualization, technology adoption and support and Microsoft applications:
- Enhance workplace technology return on investment (ROI)
- Optimize remote and hybrid work models
- Maximize the lifecycle of each device
- Deliver exceptional, qualified tech support in all areas
- Get the most out of your Microsoft and tech investments
Perhaps the best way to look at managed services in today’s environment is an extension of your own internal IT department. A managed services company fills in any skills gap, and allows companies to flexibly and quickly respond to any situation that may arise – even if the company does not have the expertise in-house.
Managed services offer the best of all worlds. They ensure professional expertise in any and all technology areas, protect and maintain the integrity of the networks, help to strategize and plan for the future, and provide access to technologies and software that smaller companies may not otherwise have the resources to obtain.
If you are a Sarasota SMB looking for assitance in growing your IT department, we invite you to call Alliance IT to learn about the significant benefits of the managed services solution.
