Choose the Correct Managed IT Support Services for Your Business

Managed IT services are crucial in helping your clients expand and develop their businesses.

To be more specific, they are information technology tasks completed by an outside company. These services allow small to medium businesses to subscribe and foot the bill for a quality that can make them compete with industry giants. The great news is it costs only a fraction of what the big boys are spending.

Numerous tech systems, like computers, phones, networks and passwords, are necessary for small-medium businesses (SMBs) to run smoothly and keep their data secure. However, only some SMBs can manage these systems internally due to a lack of time or resources.  

Managed IT services can help in that situation. 

advantages of managed IT services

IT departments are a priority for the world's largest corporations. Because they have the revenue to do so, they can build out excellent internal IT teams. Consequently, SMBs must find a solution to that problem so they can compete with bigger businesses. Managed IT services allow intelligent business owners to improve their companies.

Let's look at what working with IT professionals can do for you.

Save on your IT cost.

By partnering with MSPs, SMBs can take advantage of professional IT support at a reduced rate compared to building an equivalent internal staff. Small to medium business owners can use a subscription-based model to pay for services only when needed, scaling as necessary.

When you contract managed IT services out to an MSP, keeping track of your internal budget and expenses becomes simpler. MSP subscription packages tend to behave with fixed and consistent costs, meaning that organizations can forecast their monthly, quarterly, and yearly expenditures on IT more accurately. Small businesses can focus on more essential tasks like business growth or marketing. 

Defining managed IT services

Agent—A program MSPs use to gather information remotely about the status of machines and devices. MSPs can manage systems, update schedules, and resolve issues faster with our installation. An agent monitoring your IT infrastructure is vital to providing a unified management framework for your client's devices.

Backup and disaster recovery (BDR)—Data backup and disaster recovery solutions work together to ensure that an organization's critical business functions will continue despite disasters and will be recovered quickly. 

Break/fix —An older way of repairing and delivering IT services to organizations that charges a fee for each service. Client reaches out to a break/fix technician when they need upgrades, maintenance, or issue resolution. Under the break/fix model, customers are invoiced for each service completed by technicians. 

Fully managed IT services —Our services, coupled with our Network Operations Center, allow us to monitor systems proactively and resolve issues quickly and efficiently. Our level of expertise is unmatched by any other solution. 

Help desk—A service that provides helpful information and answers customer questions. MSPs who white-label their help desk services do so to create a more consistent experience for their clients. 

Information technology (IT)—A networking and telecommunication solution that stores, create, use and transmits data on computing devices. 

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)—The MSP offers an SMB-specific service that allows Entrepreneurs to create their platforms by virtualizing hardware and using cloud computing infrastructure, including server space, network connections, IP addresses, and load balancers. 

Internet of Things (IoT)—The network of physical objects and products that contain software, sensors, and connectivity to the internet or private networks. These objects can exchange data based on standards set by the International Telecommunication Union's Global Standards Initiative. 

In-house IT managed services—By hiring and maintaining its own IT service providers, an organization avoids many potential issues, such as paying for salary, benefits, training, or infrastructure. When businesses try to get IT-managed services in-house, they often can't service their system entirely, which costs them. Opting to build out a comprehensive internal IT team can impede an organization's business management and growth potential. 

IT channel—Our marketplace is exclusive to industry professionals and provides platforms, products, and services from hardware and software vendors to end-users.  

Labor arbitrage—Loosely defined, globalization refers to the decreasing end costs by utilizing the abundant labor forces, education, and training of untapped global workforces. 

Managed IT services—Tasks and processes traditionally completed by an in-house IT team that is now outsourced to a third-party organization. 

Managed service provider (MSP)—An IT professional or organization that provides comprehensive IT solutions for small businesses. The main area of focus for the company is to support customer IT needs. It's crucial to understand the difference between an MSP and an MSSP (mentioned below). Additionally, MSSPs often concentrate on cybersecurity. MSP+ providers typically offer essential cybersecurity services, but they don't compare to MSSPs in terms of protection. 

Managed service and security provider (MSSP)—An IT professional or organization that offers comprehensive IT support for small to medium businesses. Like MSPs, MSSPs fulfill IT needs, but they also provide cybersecurity services such as firewalls, email filtering, and endpoint protection. MSSPs are a round-the-clock security service that helps to prevent cyber threats. 

Mobile device management (MDM)—A security system that keeps an organization's mobile devices (laptops, tablets, smartphones, etc.) safe by monitoring and managing them across multiple service providers and operating systems. By using MDM, MSPs can prevent social engineering attacks on their clients and reduce the impact of human error on network safety and cybersecurity.

Remote monitoring and management (RMM)—A system that employs a group of utilities and services to administer, control and launch programs to machines and endpoint gadgets using agent software put in on endpoint systems. 

Service-level agreement (SLA)—A legal document that describes what services a vendor will provide, when they will be delivered, and how success will be measured. 

Small- and medium-sized business (SMB)—A company with less than 100 employees is generally considered small, while one with 100-999 on staff is medium-sized. IT channel partners typically search for SMB organizations when seeking new clients. 

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)—SaaS platforms sell or distribute software to customers on a subscription basis, where they only pay for what they use. SaaS software applications are hosted by their provider and accessed via a cloud-based interface. 

Value-added reseller (VAR)—A company was selling a product or solution with additional features or services. 

An MSP is a company that provides various services to its clients. There are several roles that a business owner must fill, including those of a network operations center (NOC), security operations center (SOC), and help desk.

When you have so many different IT roles to fill within your business, it can take time to decide on the right MSP. Many small-to-medium business owners choose an MSP that provides integrated IT services, offering a convenient, all-in-one solution.