Managed IT: Why Outsource Your IT Support?

The “as a service” trend is changing the way products and service are consumed. Almost anything can be set up “as a service” giving organisations the ability to consume service without having to pay outright. The most appealing aspect of “as a service” is that companies can move significant capital expenditure into operational expenditure and thus makes doing business easier. For IT, you may have noticed a lot of managed service providers (MSPs or CSPs,) have popped up recently to service this trend. IT providers like managed services because it gives them a guaranteed income, whereas customers like managed IT services because they provide a predictable spend. In this article, we will discuss realistic expectations customers should look out for when using the “as a service” business model for IT Services.  

What is Managed Services? 

Managed Services, also known as Managed IT support, are provided by an external service provider that is used to outsource IT processes and functions. Managed services intend to improve operations and save staffing costs.  This involves regular monthly payments to a third-party technology provider for the management of the complete IT infrastructure. MSPs generally have the responsibility of maintaining the end-to-end IT solutions whenever support is required.  At first, outsourced IT might seem to have a high cost for a few perceived benefits. However, the peace of mind that MSPs offer is only one of the benefits for small businesses on a limited budget.

Better technology, smarter IT support

We’re confident that switching to an MSP to take charge of your IT stack will save time and money.  For example: Does your organisation regularly patch and update your software? This simple and repetitive task can take up hours of your IT technicians time each week. What other essential activities could your technicians be doing instead of this predictable and repetitive task? Outsourcing IT services and support effectively increases productivity by eliminating many of the mundane tasks that could eat into their time. The opportunity to completely outsource IT maintenance responsibilities, in favour of implementing new forward-thinking solutions for your business, could save a significant amount of money in the long run. MSPs should be considered a branch of your IT maintenance department, effectively supplementing your business’ IT requirements. MSPs have access to industry-leading professional services automation (PSA) tools and best practices thanks to Connectwise and Autotask. PSA software enables MSPs to provide proactive support and maintenance. MSPs will often know of an issue before the customer does. In most cases, they will have a fix in place even before the customer has noticed it.

Automate, Automate, Automate!

Is your business too small for a fully-fledged IT department? It doesn’t matter if you are large or small, every organisation needs help with their technology, It’s a fact that IT personnel are expensive. Many organisations use their internal IT team for basic repetitive tasks which should be automated. If your full-time technicians are performing tasks that should be automated, you should consider using an MSP who can do this for you. By automating repetitive tasks, you’ll increase efficiency and decrease downtime resulting from low technical standards in critical aspects of your IT maintenance regime. To learn how our managed support services can help reduce cost and increase the effectiveness in your business, feel free to reach out to us.