When you engage with an IT consultant or Managed IT Services provider (MSP), you generally pay a monthly fee for IT services and support.
Your MSP might be managing your entire IT environment or only helping out in areas your team doesn't have the bandwidth to support.
In today's blog, we discuss what a managed service provider (MSP) is and how to use them to your advantage.
What is a Managed Services Provider (MSP)?
An MSP should understand your business’ needs and how it operates to fill all the gaps. A company can, but doesn't have to be, all-in to take advantage of managed services.
If you do have an IT staff but need certain tasks managed for you, like routine patching, help desk calls or data storage, the MSP can fill in where needed. If you have no IT staff whatsoever, the MSP can step in and provide IT services for your entire organization.
Maybe you have two mid-level IT professionals who handle most of your IT needs, but they don’t have experience with storage and you need a new storage area network (SAN). An MSP can advise and take care of that task for them. Or maybe they understand the technology, but don't have time for a project, so the MSP takes it on. An MSP can also project manage, design, configure, install, test and train your team on how to use your new system.
You might have two higher-level IT professionals who need to be focused on the big picture. Managed IT services from an MSP can take those day-to-day operations, end-user concerns and support items off their plates, allowing your existing staff to be available for bigger projects and initiatives.
How to Use Managed IT Services to Your Advantage
If you have an IT team, an MSP can do things that are tedious and/or repetitive, while your team handles the tasks specific to your business. Outsource the standard, basic and repetitive tasks while keeping your business-specific tasks in-house. Examples of those standard items include:
- Endpoint security (updates, antivirus, patching, monitoring)
- Expertise in backup and recovery
- Help desk calls
- Budget and strategy advisement
An IT person working on a large project shouldn’t need to worry about backups and data recovery; that's when outsourcing makes sense. An MSP can do the same work for 8,000 workstations spread over many companies, reducing the time and cost to each organization due to the economies of scale.
A smaller organization may have concerns that working with an MSP for Managed IT Services or IT projects can be too advanced for them. Here are a few common questions and answers to those concerns:
Is It True That Some Businesses Cannot Fit the Cost Model?
An MSP should deliver services that reflect the value organizations need. As mentioned earlier, the goal of IT is to allow people to do their jobs efficiently and effectively.
Some organizations look at IT as a frustration. They may not have taken a strategic approach to IT or failed to budget for IT needs. Outsourced managed IT assists those clients in getting back on the right track and focusing on ongoing, proactive care of their IT environment.
For a small, three-person organization, the cost per person may be higher than for a larger number of users, but in some cases, the price tradeoff is worth the help. For professional services such as building, improving, and maintaining infrastructure, smaller organizations can be easily accommodated.
Will My Company Be Lost in the Shuffle of an MSP?
Some companies fear they will not get the attention they need when working with an MSP. This is where customer intimacy is essential. Customers should expect to know their managed services team on a first-name basis.
With that model, any fear that the MSP is too big to support your company is diminished, because you know who you are working with.
At Loffler, we segment our managed IT experts into teams, so when a client calls or sends an email request, someone they have worked with in the past or someone they can expect to work with again in the future, responds to their request. Our IT service teams range in size from five to ten engineers with varying levels of experience to accommodate different requests.
What If My Current Infrastructure Cannot Be Supported?
To support customers effectively, engineers need to be familiar with the hardware and software being utilized. Outdated equipment or equipment that hasn't been properly maintained can cause issues for the MSP and the end-user when asking for assistance. Your MSP should have the experience, knowledge, and tools to help get you back on track.
An MSP might start with a consultative engagement, discuss plans, ask about where your organization is going and whether your infrastructure supports what you do currently. After that, change recommendations may be made to aid in the growth and stability of your organization.
Big or small, your business needs the tools and technology to stay competitive. Assessing and improving your IT environment now will help you prepare for future success. With the help of an MSP, you can focus on growing your business and spend less time playing tech support when something goes wrong.
Read Next: Managed IT Services Pricing Guide
