In an ever-changing business landscape, more and more businesses are turning to a Managed Services Provider (MSP) to fulfil their IT needs.
MSPs are third-party, expert companies that can help their clients achieve greater efficiency, security and reliability, not to mention significant financial and environmental savings, by taking responsibility for a group of otherwise in-house IT functions.
Using Managed Services can bring unique advantages depending on the nature of your business, but there are some benefits that are universal.
An MSP will help you define which services your enterprise will benefit from being outsourced, at what cost and for how long, then service level agreements are put in place to ensure accountability for a consistent and excellent standard of service.
Here are five reasons why your company would benefit from a Managed Services arrangement:
1. Free yourself to be successful
Instead of getting tangled up in everyday IT issues that can hinder your performance, a Managed Services arrangement can free up your team to focus on business-critical tasks that will ultimately allow your organisation to thrive.
Moving to Managed Services is not about making your in-house IT team redundant, it’s about putting their skills to the best possible use instead of spending time ‘firefighting’ problems.
The IT experts closest to your business needs can be freed up to provide innovative insight and boost your business while your MSP takes care of all the other issues.
2. Financial savings and value for money
Using Managed Services on a pay-monthly basis allows you to access the very best solutions to suit your needs at minimal cost.
MSPs have knowledge of and access to the most up-to-date solutions and technology at any given time, and close relationships with specialist partners mean they are able to provide solutions at a fraction of the cost that their clients would otherwise face.
Your MSP should regularly be upgrading your systems and products, further providing unparalleled value for money.
Managed IT Services are also extremely flexible and scalable compared to in-house investments and structures. Arrangements can be scaled up for growing businesses or back for those looking to reduce their monthly spend, giving businesses the security of knowing that their IT spend can be kept in line with company growth or even seasonal requirements.
3. Enhanced security and support
Many people have experienced the stressful delay that can accompany an out-of-hours IT issue, but with an MSP on board, this simply doesn’t happen. Your organisation is guaranteed 24/7/365 support to ensure that operations are back on track in the absolute minimum time scale.
In addition, as they often manage the data of hundreds of companies all around the world, the IT infrastructure provided by an MSP is usually far more secure, resilient, robust and impenetrable than what would be accessible to most client companies.
Smaller businesses can rarely match the size and calibre of in-house IT teams at larger companies, but outsourcing to an MSP means these enterprises can access many of the benefits of being a ‘bigger player’.
For example, Xpertex offers government-approved security to ‘Official-Sensitive’ level organisations, so as an MSP it can assure your company – no matter what business group or size it is – the very highest security and service levels.
4. Better resources and reduced risk
IT downtime is a costly experience for any company, not only financially but also in terms of the reputational damage it can do. To avoid this, an MSP can monitor your IT infrastructure 24/7, identifying potential problems before they even occur.
Cloud-based managed IT services mean that your business should be able to continue with minimal disruption even in a worst-case scenario.
Furthermore, any issues that do arise can be fixed quickly and efficiently by an attentive and responsive team of IT specialists. Not only does this minimise the risk of prolonged downtime, but it can also save you money on IT training costs.
MSPs are also able to use their industry-specific expertise to avoid risks around security and compliance, which can be invaluable to certain sectors.
5. Greener, cheaper and more secure
There are two things that most organisations are looking to save in 2021: money and the planet. Thankfully, turning to the expertise of an MSP is a valuable step towards achieving both of these things.
Consumers in all business sectors are demanding that the products and services they use show a conscious effort to reduce their environmental impact. Hosting your IT through Managed Services can reduce your company’s energy consumption, thereby increasing the eco-credentials of your organisation by making ‘greener’ decisions about the way you work.
Not only can MSPs reduce the cost to the planet, but they will also reduce your energy costs, making it a win-win situation.
Even further savings are ensured as Managed Services are VAT recoverable, so can work out 20% cheaper than using the services of specialist contractors. Xpertex is a leader in the Managed Services field. To find out how we can help your organisation, email info@xpertex.co.uk or call 020 3021 0749.
