Managed IT services refers to solutions that aim to replace or augment the management of certain business functions by a third party contractor. In the past 10 years, managed services have grown substantially, especially within the IT industry. In this area, managed services include managing technologies like telephony, core network, and data center. Meanwhile, legacy managed services include core IT maintenance obligations such as patch management and break/fix.
What Is MSP?
An MSP or managed service provider is a firm that owns and remotely manages a service or technology and permits the use of the said service or technology to any client through a subscription.
Why Use Managed IT Services?
Although managed services are not solutions that are suitable for all business, it is a clear cut solution to a few important business challenges that are faced by businesses of all shapes and sizes.
High hardware cost – technology architecture is costly and there’s no guarantee that they won’t be obsolete after a few years.
Specialized technology – conventionally, firms could hire a few IT staff to develop, manage, and fix problems across the whole IT enterprise. Now, to guarantee availability and high performance, IT teams are created for every IT function.
Cost of qualified staff – IT staff are in high demand and they are expensive.
Shortage of qualified personnel – even if you have an IT team, the question is if you have enough. Is your team qualified when it comes to maintenance?
Cost of constant maintenance – If you don’t have issues with maintenance, the members of your IT staff could concentrate on projects that could enhance your business like updating the CRM or creating new lead generation analytics and so on.
Are There Any Complaints About Managed IT Services?
Managed service providers provide an affordable and convenient way to help companies run smoothly. But, in an effort to maximize profits while cutting back their resource investment, several MSPs have decided to take a shortcut.
Inflexible programs – there are some providers that develop rigid program specifications at the expense of the clients. Flexibility is oftentimes the reason why the client turns to managed IT services, to begin with.
Low touch client service – with strict communication lines, there are a few MSPs that can automate away access to human professionals.
A Reliable MSP Partner
There are several MSPs these days that offer a range of services, to be used in different ways. Some are truly value-added partners while others are just service vendors. So how do you differentiate a vendor from a true partner?
A good managed IT service partner is the one that provides great advice, challenges you, and provides an honest critic. A good partner is one who is transparent in all of their dealings with their client and above all, handles sensitive problems, hiccups or shutdowns that affect your business just like their very own.
