With adoption rates of managed IT services continuing to increase, we wanted to take a deeper look inside this popular service model and explain what it is, why it works, what the primary benefits are and who it can work for.
What is Managed IT Service?
First things first, let’s talk about what having “Managed IT Services” really means. Because while we call it by that industry term, you may just call it “our IT guys”, or “the computer service team”, “tech support”, or “HELP!”
Managed IT Services is when you outsource the management of your IT to a service provider. That provider then takes full operational responsibility for the integrity and security and your data and systems.
Typically, managed service providers offer 24/7 monitoring, management and maintenance at a fixed fee price that is based on factors like the number of end-users, servers, applications, etc. Standard protocol under a managed IT services plan is to provide network security tools (firewalls, AV, anti-spam, patch management), full-time monitoring, Helpdesk services for end-users, and on-site support as needed.
What this really means for you as a business leader is that you don’t have to worry about the performance of your technology, because a team of experts is proactively managing it on your behalf.
Not the emphasis here on the word proactive.
With a proactive approach, businesses have fewer overall issues. They have less costly downtime, fewer emergency on-site visits, and because their systems run smoothly, their people stay productive.
Without a proactive approach in place, this ‘break-fix’ mentality is what you’re left with. Well that, and a lot of expensive emergency repairs that may or may not even fix the real problem!
It’s not that complicated really – instead of waiting for something to break and then wasting time and money getting it fixed (break-fix), the managed IT services model prevents things from breaking in the first place.
And at a time when the majority of small and medium-sized businesses (SMB’s) feel that technology is a major factor in achieving this year’s business objectives, that is a pretty big win.
Why does this model work?
Smaller businesses often don’t have the luxury (or desire) of building full IT Departments.
But because the adoption of technology has already happened (and there’s no turning back), that “all-or-nothing” thought process leaves many without access to the skilled staff they really need to successfully manage the IT that is powering the business.
Even those businesses that are fortunate enough to have IT staff usually find that they become so bogged down in the daily minutiae of end-user issues that they still aren’t ever able to offer strategic guidance around cybersecurity, training, and adoption of newer, better technologies
The Managed IT Service model works because it gives your business direct, full-time access to an entire IT Department, for far less of an investment than the cost of building and maintaining it yourself.
As businesses become increasingly dependent on technology and the IT skills gap continues to widen, this outsourcing model fills that need with skilled, experienced IT support.
If you would like to know more about our Managed IT Services we can offer your organization, then please contact us at 240.499.2546 and let us take IT worries out of your hands.