Managed IT services can range from general to specific, depending on your needs. Common services may include equipment monitoring and maintenance, IT system administration, remote server monitoring and administration, network monitoring, and other support services. Not all managed service providers are the same. Look for someone who understands your business and wants to learn more.
Your MSP must understand the needs of both your industry as a whole and your unique organization. An MSP cannot develop the right strategies for your company to grow and prosper unless you fully understand your organization and are agile and experienced enough to work with any specialized software and meet the regulations that may apply to your company. There is no one-size-fits-all solution in IT. Even companies with the same number of employees in the same industry can have completely different IT needs.
There can be a notable difference between service providers using proprietary software designed to meet customer needs and those using third-party white-label technology designed for service providers and not for customers. A managed IT service is an information technology (IT) task provided by an external contractor and delivered to a customer. Before choosing a managed IT service provider, it's important that you spend some time weighing some key considerations. The origins of managed IT service providers date back to the 1990s and to the emergence of application service providers (ASPs), which offered remote application hosting services.
Channel partners, who until now relied on an hourly billing rate, face a difficult transition when they begin to offer managed IT services for a fixed fee billed monthly. Organizations can leverage managed IT to reduce internal IT workload or fill the gaps left by existing IT roles and skills. The most effective managed service provider is the one that seeks more information about your company, its needs, its challenges and its objectives. Partnering with a managed service provider (MSP) to manage your company's IT gives you the freedom to focus on your business instead of having to struggle to keep your IT infrastructure operational, secure and compliant.
While service bundles often promise value, they can be little more than an attempt to charge you for services you won't use. Given the paradigm shift caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential that the managed service provider you partner with is thoroughly familiar with the specific challenges of remote working, especially with regard to additional cybersecurity risks, and that they have a history of offering robust remote and hybrid work solutions. Make sure your IT managed service provider is available to provide quick answers to technology questions, and use remote access to resolve issues quickly. Remote monitoring and management of servers, desktops, and mobile devices is a common type of managed IT service.
Fortunately, when you work with an experienced and capable managed service provider, you can achieve efficiency and accuracy. Growing companies often find that they save time and money if they hire the right managed services partner. When choosing any managed service offering, you must ensure that your provider is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. Managed IT services allow organizations to outsource IT tasks to a provider as contracted or subscription services.
