Your Guide to Finding the Best Managed IT Solutions
If you’re like most business owners, you don’t have time to worry about the day-to-day operations of your IT infrastructure. That’s where a managed IT solutions comes into play. Managed IT Solutions, also called managed services, provide business IT services by securing the services of the IT department and taking care of all the nuts and bolts of their day-to-day responsibilities. These offsite services providers are often known as Managed Services Providers (MSPs).
Any business that relies on cloud services for critical operations needs to carefully consider its options for an IT managed service provider. An MSP can provide significant benefits in terms of monitoring and management, but only if the right one is chosen.
By outsourcing your IT needs to an MSP, you can focus on running your business and leave the technology worries to the experts. But with so many MSPs out there, how do you find the one that’s right for you? Check out our guide for tips on how to find the best managed IT services for your business.
Benefits of managed IT services
Some of the biggest companies on the planet list IT as one of their main concerns. The good news is, it’s easy for IT teams to create high-level IT teams if they have the requisite revenue to achieve this, but many SMBs face challenges if they are not able to solve this gap. So, while intelligent companies have access to managed IT services, is there any advantage in hiring third-party IT specialists? Yes. Managed IT services can provide a number of important benefits for businesses of all sizes.
Here are some of the key benefits to offloading IT to a professional service provider:
More efficient
Perhaps most importantly, managed IT services can help to improve the overall efficiency of your business. By entrusting your IT needs to a team of experienced professionals, you can free up your own staff to focus on more important tasks.
Better security
Managed IT services can also help to improve security. By proactively managing your IT infrastructure, managed service providers can help to identify and fix potential security vulnerabilities before they’re exploited. As a result, managed IT services can provide a number of important benefits for businesses of all sizes.
Dependable service
Finding the right talent is not easy and many businesses forget IT operations require a critical resources and are often reluctant to spend the dollars. However, partnerships with MSPs could improve service reliability while eliminating interruption, and that kind of dependability is priceless. Additionally, vendor-client SLAs clarify the expected outcomes to help better ensure their IT services are not only reliable, but satisfy the technical aspects of a joint legal agreement.
Reduce IT spending
MSPs usually have fixed and consistent costs which frees SMBs up for missions like business development and marketing. Small and medium enterprises typically have access to IT support through subscription-based pricing for the amount, type, and regularity of service which helps organizations to better forecast annual, quarterly and monthly expenditures.
Leverage expert knowledge
The MSP provides a broad knowledge base that is useful for any business. These professionals possess extensive expertise and know-how in cybersecurity and industry compliance. An MSP can provide valuable cybersecurity and regulatory information and help mitigate risks to its clients.
Steps to effective MSP evaluation
When evaluating IT service providers take the following steps to make sure the MSP can meet your business needs. While these measures may require a bit more work, it’s important to take into consideration your needs, assets and goals to get the most from the provider you select.
Understand business goals and objectives
The process of selecting an MSP should begin with a clear understanding of the business’s goals and objectives. Once you identify the goals and objectives, focus on MSPs that have a proven track record of success in helping businesses achieve their goals.
Understanding your goals and objectives is critical when it comes to choosing an MSP that is the right fit for your organization.
- Define critical requirements. The first step is to clearly define your needs. What are you looking for in an MSP? What are your expectations in terms of response time, performance, and pricing?
- Select your top five. Once you have a good understanding of your needs, you can begin to narrow down your choices to a handful of options that meet your most pertinent needs.
- Vet. Be sure to carefully vet each potential MSP to ensure they can meet your specific requirements. With a little due diligence, you can find an MSP that will help you achieve your goals and take your business to the next level.
Assess experience
The next step is to perform a thorough audit of the potential MSPs, looking at factors such as pricing, cloud platform support, and customer service. Once you’ve narrowed your list down, you could ask the service providers to review your data and systems. This provides an opportunity to determine if the potential MSP and asset manager has experience managing your assets. The goal is to verify that your provider has the necessary skills to manage the software and equipment your organization uses.
It’s also important for the company’s IT personnel to be familiar with all compliance requirements and regulations relating to its systems and data. If a provider is unable to audit systems properly, they may have difficulty in supporting system functions.
Assess current IT environment
A system audit is also an important step in ensuring that your company is using the best managed IT solution possible. Working with your managed services provider, you can take a close look at your current storage and operations procedures to see where you can make improvements. On-premise storage and computing solutions are a good solution for businesses that have a lot of data and need the ability to manage it locally. However, in many cases, cloud services can be a more cost effective and efficient solution than on-premises infrastructure.
By moving to cloud based solutions, you can take advantage of economies of scale and pay only for the storage and computing power you actually use. For small businesses, cloud computing can be a more cost-effective solution. In addition, cloud computing can help you to better manage your data by making it easier to track usage, set access controls, and monitor activity. By taking the time to audit your current systems and evaluate the solutions available with the service provider, you can make sure that you’re using the best possible solution for your needs. And whatever solution you choose, make sure that it is scalable and able to meet your future needs.
Final Thoughts About Managed IT Services
In order to ensure success with a managed IT service, it’s important to find an MSP that is the right fit for your organization. The provider should be able to offer services and support that meet the specific needs of your business. Managed IT services can provide a number of important benefits for businesses of all sizes, including better security, dependable service, reduced IT spending, and available expert knowledge. If you are interested in exploring managed IT solutions for your business, contact an MSP today to get started.
Visual Edge IT, Inc. (VEIT) specializes in managed IT services and security, cloud computing, and print/copy solutions for businesses across the U.S. including remote office locations. We offer a full line of office technology and services including 24/7 remote monitoring and administration of networks, service desk, and data backup and restore to improve business processes across a variety of industries. Plus, Visual Edge IT™ represents the industry’s leading manufacturers of office technology allowing businesses to get equipment, supplies and service from a single source. Backed by more than 20-years of technology service and a national network of expert engineers, VEIT is uniquely positioned to support business technology needs. The company is headquartered in North Canton, OH, USA. Request your no-obligation assessment today and get a free dark web analysis.
