A managed service provider (MSP) provides services, such as networks, applications, infrastructure and security, through continuous and regular support and active administration at the customer's premises, in their MSP's data center (hosting) or in a third-party data center. Managed service providers hire IT professionals with a wide variety of experience and skill levels, although individual companies may focus on specific sectors or technologies. According to a Kaseva survey, 54 percent of managed service providers reported an increase in their revenues from cloud management last year, and 65% increased their revenue from cybersecurity services, even during the global economic depression. In the new economy, IT manufacturers are moving from reselling boxes to a more personalized managed service offering.
A managed service provider usually offers its service offering under an SLA, that is, a contractual agreement between the MSP and its customer. Managing daily transportation processes and reducing related costs are significant burdens that require the expertise of providers of managed transportation services (or managed transportation services). Managed security service providers and managed IT service providers can also focus on specific sectors, such as legal, financial services, healthcare, and government agencies. Managed services also differ from traditional IT consulting agreements in that consulting is generally project-based, while managed services are ongoing subscriptions.
The experience of the managed IT service provider provides the best IT knowledge to small and medium-sized businesses that wouldn't own it on their own. MSPs provide access to experienced IT staff that you would otherwise have to hire as full-time employees, even if your IT needs aren't constant, full-time work. A managed cloud service provider manages operations that customers don't see, such as IT, human resources, supplier management, and procurement. When a company doesn't have the resources to hire a specialized IT team to handle development, maintenance, and repairs, those needs are outsourced to a managed IT service provider.
As the value-added reseller (VAR) community evolved to a higher level of services, it adapted the managed services model and adapted it to small and medium-sized businesses. A managed service provider (MSP) is an external company that remotely manages a customer's information technology (IT) infrastructure and end-user systems. According to this subscription model, the customer is the entity that directly owns or oversees the organization or system being managed, while the managed service provider (MSP) is the service provider that provides the managed services. After initially focusing on remote monitoring and management of servers and networks, the scope of an MSP's services expanded to include mobile device management, managed security, remote administration of firewalls and security as a service, and managed printing services.
