What Is Managed IT Services?

Managed IT services are the outsourcing of the IT function of a business to an external firm that can provide better results for less annual cost than the business could internally. While the definition looks pretty concise at first glance, it leaves room for interpretation by the managed IT service provider, so there is a vast delta in the deliverables and results of managed IT services.

The IT function needs to consist of several different roles:

• Support to get users back working when there are issues
• Management to monitor the network for issues and implement patches to help protect it
• Proactive audit and alignment to best practices to prevent problems from arising
• Guidance and direction on an IT plan and budget for what to do next to help your business do more with less

Results from managed IT:

• Improved response time
• Fewer issues, clearer guidance
• Lower risk
• Greater operational efficiency
• Increased staff productivity

While less annual costs don't always mean it costs less than what you are spending today, it may cost more. The actual annual cost savings are realized in the benefits of the results above. In fact, managed IT services, when appropriately executed, should cover its entire cost within the first 12 months.

The Importance of Managed IT Services

By outsourcing to a managed IT service provider, companies can focus 100% of their time on what matters most to their business: growing revenue and delivering their service/product.

Managed IT service providers focus 100% of their time on delivering the same result across all their clients in a repeatable way. To do so, they create a disciplined process, best practices and roles to fulfill all required duties. In this way, costs that would otherwise need to be burdened by each company can be spread across all companies.

Issues affecting one client can be developed into best practices implemented across all companies to prevent the issue from ever happening. Likewise, workflow and reporting inefficiencies solved once can be replicated across all clients instead of each client needing to solve on their own through trial and error.

Types of Managed IT Services

When we boil it down, there are two types of managed IT services: reactive and proactive.

With reactive managed IT services, the provider focuses on keeping the day-to-day running, whether on-premise, in the cloud or a combination.

In contrast, proactive managed IT services are when the provider focuses on helping the business run more efficiently while keeping the day-to-day running. This service aligns you with best practices and guides your entire technology spend, eliminating issues before they start and allowing your business to do more with less. In this way, the proactive provider helps you with all things technology, including using suitable business applications, paying too much for them or not getting the results we should.