Managed services providers are often thought of only in the context of user support; when your computer is acting up, you call your IT company to troubleshoot and fix the issue. While this is certainly an important benefit that MSPs can provide, there’s so much more to it than that… including the following:
Automation
Providing automated, 24/7 system monitoring is just one example of the proactive problem-solving in which your MSP can engage to alleviate issues before they cause you pain. Let’s say one of your executives is about to fly overseas for an important meeting – and unbeknownst to her, the hard drive in her laptop is on its last legs. Thanks to monitoring software pre-installed on her computer, the MSP will detect the problem before her hard drive fails and can replace it before she leaves.
Security
In terms of security, your company is far better off hiring an MSP than trying to protect itself internally. After all, we live in an age when ever-evolving phishing scams and ransomware are practically impossible for business owners to keep up with, let alone know how to safeguard against. At MyITpros, we frequently encounter clients using inexpensive or free solutions for their endpoint security, and unfortunately, these widely available solutions generally only protect against about 75% of the threats out there today. While having them in place is better than using nothing at all, they aren’t nearly as effective as the endpoint security solutions your MSP can implement, monitor and update when necessary.
Collaboration
As with security, this is an area that can really benefit from MSP experience and resources. One company’s collaboration needs are bound to be at least a little different from another’s, and at MyITpros, we’re able to draw upon the knowledge we’ve accumulated from providing file sharing and other collaborative solutions to hundreds of clients. What does that mean for you? In short, we’re able to confidently recommend the best applications to meet your company’s specific collaboration needs in a way that’s both comprehensive and cost-effective.
Reporting
Real-time data reporting can be a phenomenal tool – with a price tag to match. As an alternative to shouldering that intimidating financial burden alone, a small business can turn to an MSP to spread the cost across multiple clients, effectively making high-level reporting much more attainable to enterprises with limited IT budgets. And you never know when good record-keeping will prove invaluable. For instance, we had a client that fired an employee for chronic tardiness, and because the company had a thorough history of the worker’s computer login times, it was able to dispute an unemployment claim that could otherwise have been very costly.
Budgeting
Predicting future IT expenditures can be a big concern for companies, but signing up for managed services can take away the guesswork thanks to a fixed monthly rate. On top of that, your account manager will help you budget for future needs on the horizon – things such as hardware replacement, for example – so you can plan accordingly and not be caught off guard. What’s more, the annual cost of utilizing an MSP is typically cheaper than the salary and overhead costs associated with hiring a single dedicated IT professional, even though an MSP can provide access to a whole team of techs and their skill sets.
Business solutions
While you can hire the most technically brilliant people available to take care of your internal IT needs, such individuals may not be inclined to approach IT from a budgetary or business perspective – particularly if that might cut into their funding. In contrast, MSPs have more of a CIO’s perspective: We think about IT solutions not just in terms of what they’re going to achieve technologically, but also how they’ll impact your bottom line and day-to-day operations.
As a leading managed services provider in central Texas, MyITpros has been helping businesses choose the best IT solution for their needs for over 26 years. We’d love to help you too, so don’t hesitate to contact us for a free IT consultation!
