Many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) don’t have the budget to hire a large IT team to handle their company’s technology needs. They would either have a single person or a few people taking care of a whole range of IT infrastructure activities.
However, most organizations deal with constantly evolving and complex technology. Small IT teams will not have the wherewithal to tackle infrastructure challenges arising out of this evolution. Here are the reasons why
Disparate Systems Need to Run Smoothly
Every business needs to have disparate systems, in order to run smoothly and effectively. Some of these systems are customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, financial software, internet hosting, hardware and more. SMEs also commonly use Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions, cloud, identity and access management and security solutions.
However, if these solutions don’t integrate easily into existing solutions, IT teams will not be able to embrace and handle newer technologies easily.
Too many domains to handle
We are well aware that technology evolves rapidly. To keep up with this evolution, older systems need to be constantly upgraded to keep up with the latest trends.
Your IT staff needs to stay abreast of these upgrades at all times. If they take too long to master the skills for a particular platform, they will find that a newer technology has already arrived and their knowledge becomes redundant.
Integration with legacy systems
The integration of existing IT infrastructure with older legacy systems can be overwhelming and time consuming. Your IT staff will not have the time to reach or exceed their business goals, when they end up spending a lot of their time on this integration. This could well end up costing the organization heavily in terms of revenue. It becomes essential for your IT staff to have extensive knowledge of these integrations to be able to handle them effectively.
Cybersecurity Keeps Evolving
The world of cybersecurity also needs to go through constant cycles of innovation. With cyber criminals constantly learning new tricks to penetrate existing cybersecurity controls, the cyber threat landscape needs to constantly evolve and strengthen its defences. Not having a robust cybersecurity solution in place can have some serious ramifications. Reports have estimated that a cyberattack against a small business can end up costing almost $54,000, on average. The damage caused by cyber breaches of large organizations will be a lot more.
How managed services help
Hiring an entire IT team with the necessary knowledge and experience is impractical and expensive. SMEs are in no position to acquire a company just for its IT resources.
This is where a trusted managed services provider (MSP) comes in handy. An MSP can lighten the IT team’s technology workload by optimizing resources. All it needs is a couple of skilled, experienced professionals to keep the employees aware of the latest technology initiatives. These professionals can also take care of technology implementation, integration of current solutions, data and network security, and evaluation of new applications.
This will give your IT team more free time to focus on strategic business projects. While a partnership with a managed IT service provider (MSP) can have great benefits for your organization, here are a few things you need to watch out for
Why Managed Services?
The new normal of the virtual work landscape has brought about new challenges for enterprise leaders. When your cloud footprint increases, expectations from the business also increase. IT teams can not just support, but also drive innovation with technology.
With increasing demands on IT infrastructure , management leaders have to look at outsourcing. A managed service provider (MSP) can help you reduce your daily workload tremendously, letting you focus on important projects while giving you 24x7 monitoring and infrastructure management.
An ideal MSP partnership should go beyond routine tasks and help you mitigate all operational and process challenges. Their expertise, along with knowledge of your IT infrastructure, will help them recommend the most cost-effective IT solutions.
Here are some things to consider as you evaluate the best MSP for your needs.
5 Biggest Benefits of Managed IT Services
You might initially be skeptical about transferring your knowledge and tools to a third-party vendor. Why should you still consider outsourcing? Let’s look at the key benefits:
Improved Productivity
Your network and IT infrastructure need to be looked into 24X7/x365. If your IT department has to provide coverage round-the-clock, it will involve certain hidden costs.
Break-fix vendors can fix a particular problem for a one-time fee. However, they will not give you the continuous monitoring that a managed services contract can provide.
Choosing a reliable managed IT service provider instead will ensure that your employees have a balanced workload, at all times.
Timely resolution of IT infrastructure issues
Many in-house teams look only at reacting to and resolving a growing volume of user tickets. A qualified managed service provider, on the other hand, will proactively monitor the system for abnormalities and other issues. This will reduce the call volume and improve customer satisfaction.
They can also handle additional activities such as patching, vendor management, creating a more stable environment, and keeping the workforce free for higher-level activities.
Stable Operational Expenditure Costs
MSPs provide services based on fixed monthly or annual costs. This ensures that your organization’s expenditure costs remain predictable and stable. The right MSP partner will be completely honest about the range of services they provide, and the deliverables. Having a fixed payment structure will be highly beneficial for your organization and its finance team.
Access to Premium Tools
Many IT teams invest in top-of-the-line tools with the best intentions, but don’t use them enough. These tools need integration, training, and additional time for optimal value.
A quality managed IT service provider will take care of the cost of acquiring the most effective infrastructure tools and provide the best talent to deploy and maintain them on your behalf.
Continuity of Operations
With the number of daily tasks and tickets increasing, periodic ad-hoc upgrades may happen. These upgrades are often left undocumented. A reliable managed service provider can ensure the implementation of all standard procedures and also document the ad-hoc upgrades.
Your search for the Right MSP Partner Ends Here
Managed Services from Inspirisys will give you the flexibility to focus on your core business, taking care of day-to-day operations and technology issues. We focus our managed service offerings on managing your SLAs and KPIs across business functions, infrastructure, and IT operations.
Learn more about the one-stop shop for all your Managed services’ needs. Get in touch with us and get rid of your IT infrastructure woes.
