Understanding Managed IT Services Benefits

It's Possible to Budget for IT Costs While Better Serving End-Users

The term “managed IT services” is not new to Minnesota businesses, but its meaning might have different connotations for different people. We use the term to refer to outsourced IT services delivered for a fixed monthly fee. Ongoing technology support benefits companies by controlling and budgeting technology costs while better serving the end-users who rely on technology to do business daily.

How Managed Service Providers Work

Managed service providers (MSPs) use remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools to keep an eye on the performance and overall health of the IT infrastructure that powers business operations. Your provider should have a network operations center (NOC) acting as mission control to monitor servers, devices, hardware and software. When the system signals an alert, a response is initiated to resolve the issue quickly.

Monthly services should include regular systems maintenance such as:

• Automated tasks like cleaning temporary files

• Applying tested security patches and software updates

• Installing virus and malware protection

• System backup and disaster recovery processes

When choosing an IT managed service provider in Minnesota, you should look for a company with a help desk that directly interacts with your employees to address user issues as needed.

Are Managed Services Better Than Other Ways to Manage IT?

To assess managed IT services benefits, you should look at the alternatives and then compare the end result.

Hiring In-House IT Support:

A company with 20 to 60 employees may feel one person can manage their technology. While they may be successful in finding a degreed computer technology professional, this person will probably not have a broad enough skillset to handle all the tasks needed to maintain a network and keep users happy. Additionally, employment longevity for an internal IT role is less than three years, so you can expect to pause or take a step backward as you transition and train the next person.

Break-fix Mentality

Many smaller companies oversee their IT themselves and only direct resources towards it when something breaks. Although they feel like they are saving money, a break has the potential to significantly disrupt the business and end up costing lost revenue and even customers. Resolving tech problems in this way can be expensive and, depending on the issue, could extend downtime for the business. Being reactive instead of proactive is a costly mistake that could be avoided.

The Benefit of Business Value

Every company that describes what they offer as "managed IT services" will not give you the business value you want from what they deliver. Only fully managed services with an IT strategy aligned with your goals will provide you with real ROI from your IT investment. How do you find that company?