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Five Benefits of Contracting with a Managed Service Provider (MSP)

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A managed service provider can eliminate the stress and hassle of having to manage your own IT department.

Outsourcing in general has the effect of boosting productivity and saving money while taking care of a business’ tedious tasks. This is especially true when companies outsource their information technology (IT) to a Managed Service Provider (MSP).  Progressive business leaders have long realized the power of delegating essential aspects of their business that simply don’t make sense for them to handle personally.  The same is true in the area of an organization’s IT services.  Through outsourcing the management and in effect, augmenting their IT capability with experts in the IT industry, a business can now compete directly with the big players in their organization’s field.

IT management “is the discipline whereby all of the information technology resources of a firm are managed in accordance with its needs and priorities.”  Your IT department consists of a complex environment of hardware, software, and computer networks that allow you to execute  important business operations such as accounting and financial processes (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), email, and document creation. Your business’ success depends upon being able to use these functions reliably and efficiently. An essential element for an IT department is credibility with your sales force, administrative staff and employees.  They need to trust that the IT staff  is capable, interested, invested and equipped to deliver their IT requirements.  Without the right set of skills and standards, this user trust can be easily eroded.

Ask yourself, with such vital imperatives, is it really feasible and cost efficient for your company to take on the tasks and responsibilities of running an in-house IT department?  Training your IT staff, maintaining and keeping your business’ IT infrastructure up-to-date can be significant burdens.  In most cases, the benefits of outsourcing far outweigh any perceived advantages of managing and funding an in-house IT department.

  • Cost Control: By contracting with a Managed Service Provider, your IT costs will remain constant even as you take advantage several IT needs such as scalability when necessary. Moreover, you have access to efficient and expert technicians that maintain your total IT environment, as well as keep current with new technologies and ideas. Additionally, most Managed Service Providers offer other services, such as cloud-hosted environments and essential IT hardware that is continually monitored. All of this means your IT investment would be substantially reduced and controlled.
  • Core Competency Focus: Your core competencies or main strengths lie in those specific areas of capabilities that allow you to be competitive in the marketplace. Unless you are an IT organization, your main strength will not be in Information Technology. Every company has limits to its resources and by making the decision to contract with a qualified MSP and outsource your IT, you will be able to concentrate all your efforts in areas that provide the greatest return.
  • Current Technology and Expertise: A qualified and creditable MSP will bring first-class expertise and best practices to your organization’s IT on a continuing basis. Your company will be able to use technology and information that you may not have previously considered, as well tools and techniques you may not be able to afford or possess if you fund and house your own IT department. By outsourcing your IT management, you will have a wide variety of IT professionals with diverse talents and qualifications to call on for each situation that arises.
  • Monitoring and Risk Minimizing: When you outsource your IT needs, there are qualified technicians monitoring your IT environment constantly. Yes, that means monitoring 24/7 and 365 days. Your IT is their focus, your issues are serious to them and they have the staff, tools and expertise to monitor, predict problems and anticipate your every need. Your IT environment is kept up-to-date and safe from unpredictable circumstances, such as back-up and hardware failures, software crashes, data corruption, and intrusions from malware and viruses.

Running your own IT department can not only be a headache, but can cost your business time, money and unnecessary resources. Contact us, and let the experts take care of these things so you can focus on critical business functions.