Are you a business owner wondering whether to outsource your IT services or hire an in-house IT team?
If hiring an in-house team is too expensive for you, consider managed service providers (MSPs). An MSP will handle all your business IT needs. This helps you focus your time and energy on other aspects of running your business.
An MSP can also help you supplement your in-house IT team, especially if the team is too small to cover all your IT needs. So, what are managed service providers, and what are the benefits of hiring one?
Read on below to find out.
What’s the definition of a Managed Service Provider?
A Managed Service Provider (MSP) is a business that facilitates the remote management and handling of another business’s information technology infrastructure and systems. This eliminates the need for the business owner to hire their own in-house, full-time IT team.
The managed service provider will also handle a business’s network as well as the storage and protection of their data. Some people often refer to MSPs as IT Service Providers.
While MSPs often deal with technology infrastructure and networks, different managed service providers offer different services. They also have different pricing structures. Therefore, ensure you talk to your MSP to determine the type of services they offer and their pricing structure before signing a contract.
Benefits of Managed Service Providers
Managed service providers are your IT support partners. Thus, they bring numerous benefits to your business. One of these benefits is ensuring that the right people are handling your IT infrastructure.
Other benefits of managed service providers include:
1. Increases Productivity
When running a business, improved productivity is a key aspect of ensuring its success. And thanks to today’s advancement in technology, most businesses turn to technology to streamline their business processes. Hiring an MSP will ensure that your technology and other software tools are working effectively, thus, increasing user productivity.
For instance, if you rely on the accounting software to send clients their invoices, inefficient software will delay your accounting team. This will reduce their productivity and in turn, may lose you valuable time and money.
Unplanned downtimes are expensive and may result in thousands of dollars in losses for your business. Fortunately, hiring a managed service provider will help you curb the number of unplanned downtimes, saving you money and time.
2. Saves You Money
Hiring a reputable managed service provider such as Ctechgroup.ca will help you reduce your operational costs in numerous ways. First, you will use the managed services’ data centers. Thus, reducing the amount of IT and tech infrastructure you need.
This will help you save the cost of purchasing the IT hardware, space, and energy you will need to store and run the computers. Second, you will save on training, consulting, and licensing expenses.
Instead of using too much money running an in-house team, all your IT needs are covered by a single company. The expenses are also covered by the monthly subscription.
Hiring an MSP doesn’t mean that your business’s IT services needs go away. It simply means that all your IT services are managed better and streamlined by a more experienced company.
3. It Increases Your Staff’s Productivity
If your in-house IT team is not big enough to handle your business’s ever-growing IT needs, you should consider outsourcing some of the services. Hiring a managed service provider will help you take some of the work and pressure off your IT team, thus improving their productivity.
The IT team is often tasked to handle multiple responsibilities all at once. These may include fixing and repairing faulty equipment, as well as resolving software or network issues. Such tasks often take the team’s focus and concentration off their main responsibilities.
Therefore, by hiring managed services to handle such tasks, your IT team can focus on their responsibilities and other more essential priorities.
4. It Helps You Save on Initial Cost of Purchasing It Equipment
Hiring an in-house IT department comes with expenses. You will need to buy costly tech equipment such as computers and other hardware tools and invest in software tools. These expenses may run up to thousands of dollars.
However, by outsourcing IT services to managed services, you will eliminate the need for the initial upfront investment of purchasing software and hardware. Instead, you will be paying a lower fee every month for high-quality services. Thus, you will not need to allocate a budget to maintaining and managing your IT infrastructure.
You will also eliminate the need to pay for software updates or buy the latest hardware models. That’s because it’s the responsibility of the managed service provider to stay up-to-date on the latest technology and software.
5. Cybersecurity Protection
Thanks to today’s widespread incidents of cyber-attacks on small businesses, cybersecurity is a major area of concern for many business owners. Cybercriminals are always finding new ways to hack into businesses and steal information and money.
Outsourcing your IT services to a managed service provider will also ensure your business data is well protected. This reduces the risk of information leakages, giving you the peace of mind you need to focus on other essential business tasks.
Reputable managed service providers have well-developed cybersecurity strategies to protect your business. They also ensure that your business’s security standards are compliant with your state or federal requirements.
Are You Ready to Outsource Your IT Services?
Outsourcing your IT services to managed service providers will help you cut costs, increase employee productivity and ensure cybersecurity protection. It also ensures that you get the IT support and expertise that you need to run your business.
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