Growing businesses can often find themselves expanding so quickly that their IT infrastructure can’t keep up and because of this many small businesses turn to managed IT service providers. In this article, we will take a look at some of the reasons why you would consider using managed IT services for your business.
Many years ago companies would hire a tech firm which would look after their IT infrastructure and replace or fix it when it would break down. This worked for many years, but as technology has advanced this service which is referred to as a “break fix” solution can cause bottlenecks in the entire organisation.
As many of us know who have worked and experienced that sort of care it wastes so much time and your work can soon pile up because of it and it also can cause a substantial loss of revenue.
Tyler the owner of Firewall Technical, a managed IT services company in Ottawa had this to say:
“Waiting for a problem to arise and then reacting to that problem is an old way of doing things, in the 21st century you need to be proactive and look for any problems that may occur before they cause the business a loss in revenue.”
Managed service providers are constantly monitoring your network for potential issues and if your business relies on IT services daily, bringing in an MSP to look after your system may be one of the best choices you can make for your business.
Depending on your business and your needs managed service providers can customise their offerings to you. In general, MSPs can help you with the following:
Security
For small business owners, cybersecurity can be a difficult area to tackle alone. Keeping your companies and clients data safe and secure is of the uttermost importance and a loss of data could cause a lot of damage to your brand.
An MSP can help you with any compliance issues, can monitor your system for breaches and can prevent unauthorised access which will keep your data out of the hands of users with malicious intent.
Network Administration
Network administration can become a full-time job in itself as a company grows and if you are handling the problems that can arise from looking after your company’s network it could take the focus off running your business.
A managed service provider can help with connecting all of your devices to your network and keeping them secure as well as monitoring your network for breaches and connection issues.
Managing a network with multiple devices can become a major hassle and using an MSP to take care of your network can free up so much time for the rest of your business.
Disaster recovery
A natural or manmade disaster can wreak havoc on your small business. Having a managed service provider map out a disaster recovery plan and have the hardware and software to help your business get back on its feet and return to normal business services as soon as possible is going to be something that can benefit many businesses.
A managed service provider can replicate your data and hardware in an off-site location that wasn’t affected by the disaster. If your business can’t afford to stop working in the event of a disaster then a disaster recovery service could be something to consider.
Cloud computing
Managing an organisation’s cloud infrastructure can be time-consuming and your IT department can become overwhelmed by the constant updates, backups and general admin work that is needed to keep your cloud system safe and secure.
A managed service provider can help free up time and resources for your IT department so they can get on with more important business-related tasks.
Hiring a managed service provider can free up a lot of time for your business and its IT department, but there are other reasons which you may want to hire an MSP for your business.
Cost reduction
Earlier in this article, we discussed the old way of doing things also known as the “break-fix” method. The break-fix method encourages the support team to take as long as they need to fix a problem because they get paid an hourly rate. This hourly rate can soon add up and you may not have budgeted your organisation’s expenses to include these unforeseen charges.
Managed services, on the other hand, are usually charged at a fixed monthly rate which takes away the unexpected fees and gives you the reassurance that your bill is going to be the same every month.
Minimised downtime
Managed service providers invest heavily in their network security which cuts out a lot of potential risks and keeps your system running securely. This secure network keeps your machines running as they should and allows your entire team to focus on your business rather than faulty hardware.
High level of service and support
Over time as you work with a managed provider they are going to know your system as well as your people better and because of this, you are going to experience high levels of support. The more familiar a person becomes with your system the quicker they can deal with any problems that arise.
Managed service providers constantly monitor your system and constantly keep it updated and upgraded at no extra cost to your business. This means that your business will be running on the latest enterprise technology at an affordable price.
When hiring a managed service provider you should look for companies that have experience within your industry or at least experience within the tasks you want to have performed for your business.
When issues arise you will also want a company in your corner that has a positive can-do attitude, there is nothing worse than having to call up a company and listen to the person on the other end of the phone try to get out of helping you in any way possible.
Running a business can challenge you daily, the last thing you want on top of that is problems with your IT systems if this is something you depend on. Managed service providers can take this problem away from you and can free up your time to focus back on your business. If your entire business is reliant on your computing network and MSP could be a solution to the technical problems that can appear.
Photo: Austin Distel
