5 Ways managed IT services help reduce costs

For many businesses, technology has advanced at such a pace that they can no longer keep up. When that happens, innovation and growth end up under threat, while more agile competitors take over. Unfortunately, few small businesses can afford to take care of their IT needs solely by themselves, hence the increasing popularity of managed IT services.

Managed IT services allow companies to delegate the management and maintenance of certain IT operations to a third party. Many managed IT services providers (MSPs) offer a wide range of services, such as strategy consultations, cloud hosting, and proactive maintenance. Clients typically pay for these services with a monthly subscription.

Due to their service models and a host of benefits they provide businesses, MSPs can help your company save money in a number of ways.

1. Free up time to focus on core business functions

Not many small businesses have a fully staffed and dedicated IT department, instead relying on their managers and employees to solve technical problems. However, given the complexity of today’s business technology infrastructures, this often takes up a great deal of time, leaving people unable to focus on core operations like marketing, product development, or accounting. By delegating these ancillary tasks to an MSP, companies can free up time, boost productivity, and reduce costs.

2. Reduce your technology management overheads

With executive-level technology experts often commanding six-figure salaries, having a fully staffed IT department to manage everything is far beyond what most smaller businesses can afford. Moreover, business leaders have to find the time to train new hires, which also costs money.

Partnering with an MSP minimizes costs by letting you outsource these roles and keep control over expenses by doing so on demand. For example, not many small businesses need a full-time chief technology officer (CTO), but they still need access to that level of expertise.

3. Minimize reliance on break/fix IT support models

Even the most reliable computer systems can break down without any warning, forcing you to call in a technician in the hope they can resolve the problem quickly without the invoices piling up out of control. Unfortunately, it’s often impossible to identify the scale of the problem until you’re already faced with a huge bill.

This is one of the main reasons businesses are moving toward proactive support models, where their IT services are delivered over the cloud, making them accessible on almost any internet-connected device. That means fewer unexpected repair costs. For example, a company that relies solely on a remote workforce in which staff use their own devices for work has absolutely no break/fix overhead. They just need to have someone make sure their software environment is working reliably at all times.

4. Keep unscheduled downtime to a minimum

Any system can break down, and that holds true for those used by MSPs themselves. However, MSPs are focused on keeping downtime to a minimum, as per the obligations they commit to in their service level agreements (SLAs). To keep service availability to a maximum, they often have redundant servers and automated rollovers in place. That’s why, for example, it’s very rare for a popular online service like Google Cloud or Amazon AWS to go offline unexpectedly for extended periods. By keeping unscheduled downtime to a healthy minimum, you get to eliminate the unexpected expenses associated with employees being unable to access apps critical to their jobs.

5. Mitigate the risks of a costly data breach

With cyberattackers out in force and determined to exploit businesses at every opportunity, it has never been more important to have a comprehensive and multilayered approach to data protection.

Achieving a high level of cybersecurity sophistication is difficult if you don’t have a dedicated chief information security officer (CISO) and a fully staffed team to oversee your systems and communications. Fortunately, most MSPs also offer a comprehensive range of security services to keep your critical assets safe and ensure legal compliance.

outsourceIT serves as an extension of your team by providing expert technology guidance to grow and secure your business within your budget. Call us today to schedule a strategy session.