Technology has come a long way since the days of break/fix IT, and the reality is that most internal IT services aren’t equipped to keep up with the pace of innovation. As a result, many organizations find their IT to be reactive rather than proactive, and that their systems struggle to keep up with the demands of a growing business in a digital world.

Companies of all sizes place a priority on operational efficiency, but not all businesses are equally equipped to maintain this efficiency. Small businesses may have limited IT resources, meaning they can quickly fall behind in updates and network management, placing the company’s system at risk of an outage or breach. For many, the solution is a managed IT service.

Managed services have been on the rise in the business world, with reportedly 64 percent of organizations in 2016 using managed services of some type or another. The same report predicted a managed services market growth rate of 12.5 percent between 2017 and 2020, making this valuable asset all the more relevant across the board.

Unsure if managed support services are right for your business? Let’s take a look at the essence of managed IT services, how they differ from other solutions, and what their overall benefits are. You may find yourself surprised by all these services can provide.

What are Managed Services?

The term managed services refer to the practice of outsourcing business administration and management responsibilities to a third party. You’ll notice that this definition isn’t specific to IT — that’s because managed services can describe anything from supply chain management to marketing strategy to call center operations. 

The demand for managed services has grown exponentially in recent years. The global managed services market was valued at $185.98 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach $356.24 by 2025.

How does Managed IT Services help Small and Mid-sized businesses?

These days, it’s not only large companies that need technology to compete in their respective markets. Reliance on IT is growing, but are the efforts to increase IT support within small businesses moving at the same rate? To keep companies from being overwhelmed due to limits on IT resources, managed service providers, or MSPs, have entered to identify threats and fix potential problems as warning signs arise.

Essentially, managed IT services involve delegating IT tasks and operations to a third-party provider who is responsible for around-the-clock monitoring, management, and repair. There is a good chance this approach to technical support differs greatly from what you’re used to if all you have ever considered in the past is a traditional break/fix solution. Here’s a closer look at those differences.

Why Managed IT Services have become so important?

This increase in demand can be largely attributed to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), who require access to the latest technology to maintain a competitive edge in their respective markets and to sustain their continued growth but lack the IT budget to meet those goals. The good news is that managed services enables SMBs to play at the same level as middle-market and enterprise-level organizations, without overextending themselves — and that’s only one of the benefits of the managed IT services model.

What are the other benefits of Managed Services?

Managed services are the way of the future because they allow companies to discover and address technical issues before they can take a negative toll on your business. Thanks to proactive service and regular maintenance, you can rest assured your computer network will run smoothly and efficiently.

Apart from preventing disasters before they can strike, there are a few other benefits to think about when deciding whether to take the next steps toward managed IT services.

• Increase in concentration towards the core objectives of business

As your business grows, so will your IT needs. Your IT team may be able to handle some of this increased workload but will most likely find themselves overwhelmed and unable to scale according to your business’ needs, forcing you to assign additional responsibilities to employees who aren’t on the IT team, which can distract from core business objectives.

One of the benefits of managed services is that it not only frees up your employees to focus on the jobs they were hired to do — it also enables you to fill in gaps as needed. A truly qualified managed services partner will offer a flexible service model that allows you to determine what level of service you require, whether that means just keeping the lights on or outsourcing your company’s entire IT department.

• Scaled-down IT costs

As your business grows, so will your IT needs. Your IT team may be able to handle some of this increased workload but will most likely find themselves overwhelmed and unable to scale according to your business’ needs, forcing you to assign additional responsibilities to employees who aren’t on the IT team, which can distract from core business objectives.

One of the benefits of managed services is that it not only frees up your employees to focus on the jobs they were hired to do — it also enables you to fill in gaps as needed. A truly qualified managed services partner will offer a flexible service model that allows you to determine what level of service you require, whether that means just keeping the lights on or outsourcing your company’s entire IT department.

• Unlimited Expertise

New technology means new problems — problems your existing IT team might not have the knowledge or experience to solve. Then there’s the issue of management: Regardless of whether your systems are in the cloud or on-premise, you’ll need a significant number of resources to support your business solutions, which poses an issue if your IT department is a one-person shop.

Both of these problems can be solved by recruiting new team members, but the cost of hiring and training new employees can be astronomical — over $1,886 per employee for training alone. Plus, there’s an ongoing IT talent shortage to contend with.

One of the key advantages of the managed services model is that it enables you to hire an entire team of IT professionals at a flat monthly rate. Certain Managed Services Providers (MSPs) even take a shared approach to managed services, meaning you can add or remove specialists from your managed services team as needed depending on the demands of each project. These specialists include technical, functional, architectural, and training consultants who can help you keep your systems up and running, as well as unlock their full potential.

• Decreased Downtime and Increased Productivity

Because of advances in network security and the MSP proactive approach to addressing potential risks, you can almost guarantee you won’t have to deal with the system failures and shutdowns that can hinder company progress. When you minimize technology-related frustrations, your teams can focus on their work and achieve a higher level of productivity than ever before.

• Receive 24/7 support

With an MSP, you never need to worry about availability because most MSPs offer 24/7 flexibility, on-call options, and weekend support (though it’s important to note that these are often offered as costed options). When searching for the perfect MSP, look for a global company that can support multiple time zones and offers round-the-clock support, so you can rest assured that help is available whenever you need it.

• Upgrade your IT services without any hassel

As your technology needs to evolve, you’ll need to scale your system either up or down to accommodate them. Fortunately, MSPs can respond to changes in demand in real-time, so you never have to worry about system downtime.

Be sure to look for an MSP that not only has hundreds of consultants available (and can bring on more as needed), but also offers advanced services such as proactive monitoring, upgraded services release management, reporting, and more to get the greatest value and scalability out of your partnership.

Conclusion

Remember, finding the right MSP has everything to do with the approach the provider uses to help you operate most efficiently. If they are more interested in fixing problems than preventing them, you may want to continue your search elsewhere.
At Exxceliq, the combined experience of more than 25 years from ex siemens, dell, and reliance professional and our subscription-based model not only helps in fixing problems but also preventing them with the best return on investment possible.