How can a Managed Services Provider save YOUR BUSINESS money RIGHT NOW?
Let’s pretend for a moment you’re a small business owner. Here we are, coming out of a crisis with a lot of economic recovery ahead. A lot of places are tightening their belts and not sure exactly where this is going. They may not be thinking about whether (or not) their IT is properly supporting them. In fact, it may be far from the forefront of their thoughts. BUT THAT’S WRONG. “Well, that’s a bold statement”, you may be thinking. “I have ten thousand other things to do.”
Yes, indeed you do. But the right IT solution can not only help you get back on track, it can get you back faster and more efficiently. Furthermore, finding the right outsourced IT firm can do all of that, and more, for far greater value. That where Managed Services Providers come in.
Hiring a Team of Professionals
An MSP should have a staff of professional engineers that can serve your needs in a variety of ways. Individuals on that team may specialize in different areas and can apply those strengths to various projects or simply your ongoing, everyday IT needs. Most small businesses cannot afford to hire their own IT staff, and the “IT guy/gal” generally will not be versed in as many disciplines as an MSP’s team. This isn’t a knock on the “IT guy/gal”; it’s simply reality, though, that they would have to be exceptionally talented (and thus, exceptionally expensive) to meet the expertise offered by a good MSP.
A Managed Services Provider Allows You to Focus
You do whatever your business does. Most likely, because you’re still in business, you do it well. When IT issues are slowing you or your employees down, it costs productivity…and money. By outsourcing to an MSP, the responsibility is lifted from your shoulders and placed on theirs. You don’t have to worry about weird nagging network problems or that one machine that just isn’t running right. These inefficiencies slow businesses down and outsourcing can keep them from being a problem.
You Can Spend Less Time Worrying About Cybersecurity
Please notice we didn’t say no time. In fact, an MSP isn’t doing their job if they aren’t recommending security training at the human level: it’s one of the weakest points in the chain. But on the tech level, MSPs will know the best methods for your situation. For one reason, they do it all the time for businesses in similar situations as your business. For a second, it is their responsibility to remain educated on threats and what new products to market can do to combat those threats. A quality MSP has a suite of threat counters (called a “stack”) that is deployed to keep bad actors at bay.
Managed Service Providers Fix Your IT Proactively
Believe it or not, using “break-fix” services (the term used for working on IT only when it no longer functions correctly) are often demonstrably more expensive as an IT solution because time and productivity are such valuable commodities for small business. One could argue that paying $4,000 once a year to have a particular machine repaired is 1/3 the cost of a $1,000 a month plan to keep it going. That’s true in raw numbers, but it doesn’t account for business and reputation lost, productivity decreases resulting in wasted wages, possible liability, compliance and regulation violations, or even the simple aggravation of such a situation. Is it a wise decision to stop changing oil in your car just because you’d spend $200 a year for oil service if getting a new motor only costs $1,000? We’re “fudging” the numbers of course, but the point remains that most people would prefer to keep their car running predictably (even if motors were that inexpensive and ran for five years with no oil).
An MSP can accomplish this by monitoring your systems and their operation. When a storage drive shows signs of instability, an MSP is often able to detect it before it fails…and you lose data. If a server is acting up, an MSP can often fix it before it brings the business to a halt.
Managed Service Providers Provide You VALUE
Hiring a full-time IT person comes with the cost of a full-time salary. MSPs can maintain your equipment running smoothly for a portion of the cost, all while monitoring your systems 24/7 and offering experts in software, servers, workstations, VoIP, and related fields.
This brings us back to you, the business owner. Why are tough times the perfect time to re-evaluate your IT solutions? Why are you WRONG to ignore it? Simply, because we can save you time and money—two things you need the most when times get tough—and save you aggravation—which is in ample supply.
Let us help your business succeed in both trying and prosperous times! Click on “Contact Us” or give us a call at (443) 283-0666!