IT Management, In the Bag: The Benefits of an IT Managed Service

 

Managed IT services have been around for years. Surprisingly, many organizations and businesses still rely exclusively on their in-house IT teams to manage their technology. However, the trend is changing with more organizations and businesses now starting to recognize the value that outsourced IT firms add to their businesses.

What is an IT managed service and how can the expertise of an IT consultancy firm really benefit your business? Learn the perks of managed IT, here.

What Is an IT Managed Service?

A managed IT service is an IT task that is sub-contracted to a third-party service provider and delivered to a customer. The service provider becomes responsible for the functionality of the IT equipment and service, and the customer pays a monthly fee for the service.

Going for a managed IT service means you transfer the burden of maintaining your technology to your service provider.

The service provider will assist you with a variety of technical services such as:

• Maintaining HIPAA compliance

• Backup and recovery

• Monitoring networks

• Data storage and CRM applications

• Email hosting

If you are an administrator or a business owner, you may want to harness the power of an IT managed system. Here are the benefits of using such a service.

Benefits of Using a Managed Service

If you are an administrator or a business owner, you may want to harness the power of an IT managed system. Here are the benefits of using such a service.

Secure Your Business

From customer records to financial data to personal files, all these are sensitive data in your company and they need protection. This is because hackers are always on the lookout for any opportunity to crack into your system and steal them.

There are also issues of hardware failure, natural disasters, and human error that can lead to data loss. As a business owner, you may not have the technical know-how to protect your data against such threats. That’s where you’d benefit from engaging managed IT services professionals.

These experts will work round the clock to prevent risks to your business and, in the case of data loss, they can recover the lost data and bring back your IT system back to normal.

Decrease Employee Downtime

As a business owner, you wouldn’t want to see your employees idling around because of an IT issue or Internet failure is preventing them from working.

Employee downtime kills productivity. When you work with a managed IT service company, they will constantly monitor your network to detect and fix any problems that may arise.

Even better, such companies don’t just wait for your IT infrastructure and workstations to break to fix them. They usually perform regular checks and proactive maintenance to avoid breakdowns.

Expand Your Expertise and Capacity

When you work with a managed IT service provider, you’ll have access to the expertise offered by their company. Your small team of IT experts may not have the same experience and breadth of knowledge provided by a larger team.

A good managed IT services company has highly qualified and trained staff who are up to the minute with modern technology. This means they can provide greater responsiveness and flexibility needed by your business but cannot be provided by your in-house team.

Additionally, with a bigger team monitoring your system 24/7, there will always be someone available to help at any time.

Streamline Your IT Budget

Hiring trained and qualified internal staff is very expensive. Also, there are costs associated with system failures and computer breakdowns. All these can ruin your budget. Engaging a managed IT service company will eliminate these unnecessary costs.

This is because the company will charge you a fixed monthly fee for their IT support services. Once you pay that fee, everything will be in their hands. It will be upon them to carry out regular repairs and maintenance as agreed in the contract.

This means you’ll not have any unexpected IT costs coming up within the month. This is good for your budgeting since you’ll know what to spend on your IT needs every month.

A managed IT service company will also advise you accordingly when your IT system needs to be upgraded. This will save a lot in terms of the much you would waste running an outdated IT system.

Simplify Your Business Management

A business enterprise has several activities going on. Some can be classed as core activities while others are auxiliary. The IT functions in an organization are auxiliary because they support the core activities of an organization. By using managed IT services, you will have more time to spend on what matters most in your business.

You’ll no longer have to worry about email issues, server crashes, network maintenance, data storage, web hosting, and other technical works. Furthermore, working with a managed service company will set your in-house IT staff free so they can concentrate on devising new initiatives and projects that can improve your business operations and profitability.

Maintain Compliance

The IT environment is constantly evolving and as an administrator, you may not be conversant with the various regulations and the compliance requirements that may be in place at any given time. This is true particularly in the medical industry where things like Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Health Insurance Portability keeps on changing.

Nearly all industries have regulations that cover their IT systems. This explains why you need a managed IT services company. These experts are conversant with compliance issues and will ensure your system does not breach any regulation.

A Managed Service Is Right for You?

Before you decide whether a managed service is right for you, there’s a need to make a thorough review of the current status of your business. Is your current IT team able to manage your IT system effectively? Is it able to combat any threats to your system? Is it able to take care of all the functions discussed above?

It is most likely that your internal team cannot deal with all the IT needs of your company, and if that’s the case, then you should think about engaging a managed IT services provider. This will give you peace of mind and you’ll have more time to concentrate on the core issues of your business. If you want more business tips, keep browsing our blog.