Top Benefits of Using Managed Services
With each and every passing year, technology evolves and continues to get more sophisticated. Which also means, the benefits of using these technologies evolve as well. I think back a few years when we first started hearing about Managed Services and the benefits of using the technology, and although those reasons still hold true, there is no ignoring the fact the technology and vendors have come along way in a few years with their advances. If you have not yet adopted Managed Services in your organization, here is an overview of some of the top benefits end users saw in 2015. Keep in mind, by adopting this technology now, you will gain not only these benefits, but also all of the new benefits we will find in the next 12 months.
- Simplified IT Management. The idea of Managed Services used to intimidate a lot of people due to it simply being unknown. Initially people thought it was complex. The truth is that Managed Services allows you to streamline your technology. When you allow a Managed Service Provider to handle your technology remotely, you no longer have to be constantly aware of all your technology needs. Most upgrades and bug fixes can be done by them remotely, leaving you out of doing the dirty work. Due to the rise of cloud technologies, backup and disaster recovery solutions are now handled through Managed Services. Every year as technology gets more complex, the reality of your internal IT staff being able to keep knowledgeable and trained on all the technologies your organization needs to run to be successful, decreases exponentially. Managed Services takes the pressure off your staff and puts this task on the plate of your MSP. Which also means that since an MSP is more qualified and knowledgeable, reliability increases and downtime decreases.
- Improved Security. This benefit may surprise those that don’t have intimate knowledge of how Managed Services work. MSPs are trained to look for any vulnerabilities in your network and solve them before they cause damage or downtime. They also make sure all the anti-virus protection is up-to-date and automatically renews, so that you don’t let it lapse and open yourself up to hacks and viruses. One of the newest security benefits happens when organizations backup their data and storage in the cloud. Having off-site backups ensures that if a natural disaster happens at your business, your data is still able to be accessed through the cloud. Why have your IT Manager manually backup your data daily to a tape and then have to find somewhere to store those tapes? Talk about old school.
- Increased efficiency. Since you simplify your IT Management with Managed Services and you also improve your security, is seems inevitable that you also increase your efficiency. In addition to those items, your IT department becomes more efficient because your MSP free’s them up and allows them to be proactive about other IT initiatives they were putting off dealing with the daily demands of managing your systems.
If you do not currently use an MSP, you need to consider a few items:
- Do you need 24/7 support? You need to determine if you need it and if not, don’t settle for someone who has limited hours.
- What is their reputation? Ask for references and other companies they work with. Don’t sign an agreement with someone that may not be knowledgeable in what you need.
- What is their geographic location? With most issues being able to be handled remotely, you need to decide if you think your organization will need to hire an MSP that is geographically close to you or if you don’t foresee the need.
- What markets do they have experience with? If you have Industry specific software you use, you need to ask yourself if having an MSP that has experience with it is important or a deal breaker?
2W Technologies is an MSP and has many clients on the Managed Services model in various vertical markets. We would be happy to discuss your technology needs with you and see if you could be our next new partner!
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