Managed Services: What It Is and Why You Need It
Traditionally, when you are experiencing problems with your business’s IT systems or perhaps you need to upgrade, you would hire the services of an IT Technician. This is not a perfect solution as it takes up a lot of time which might translate to a lot of money lost. Alternately, you can engage the services of a Managed Services Provider who, in exchange for a subscription-based fee, will routinely monitor the health of your IT systems so that if there are any indications of future failure, preventive action can be taken. Why do you need Managed Services? Here are just a few reasons:
It’s Faster
When you’re a business that deals with a lot of customers on a day-to-day basis, even having your IT systems down for an hour can be disastrous. When you call in an IT Technician, he/she has to first study your setup and then troubleshoot in order to locate the source of the problem. If you have lots of supporting technologies in addition to your primary IT system, it can take an additional amount of time to comb through them all.
In contrast, your Managed Services Provider will already be familiar with your setup and may have even integrated an alert function in your IT system which will point to the source of the problem almost instantaneously. Hence using Managed Services will minimize the disruption of work and allow you to return to normal much faster.
It’s Personalized
Managed Service Providers often provide their services in different packages. Each package, priced differently, will have varying sets of features which are designed to meet individual business needs. For instance, the entry-level package may just offer health surveillance while the more expensive, all-inclusive packages may also include consultations and routine maintenance. After an initial evaluation of your business’s infrastructure, a Managed Service Provider will recommend a particular package for you, which aligns with your current needs as well as future goals.
Unlike with normal technicians or IT agencies, the relationship with your Managed Service Providers is a very personalized one. For example, Managed Services Providers like Interscale Managed Services Melbourne are typically pro-active, looking out for and recommending updates and new technologies that can help improve your business’s workflows in order to help you reach your goals.
It Can Help Push You Forward
In today’s fast-paced, intelligent world, you either adopt the latest technologies or you fall behind. Keeping up with technology can be quite difficult, especially if you run a small business. This could be due to several reasons, but most commonly, the lack of capital to invest in an all-encompassing in-house IT department. Managed Services Providers can effectively solve this problem by performing all the routine tasks like backup, data restoration
The advantage here is while you and your staff are at liberty to focus on the primary, revenue-generating functions of the business you can have peace of mind knowing that a sudden IT failure will not majorly stall any progress. Managed Services Providers also maintain full transparency so that you are fully aware of all the tasks they perform on your IT systems.
In summary, by opting for Managed Services, you make the smart choice because when you’re running a business, you can’t afford to be held behind by technology-related inadequacies, letting your competitors get miles ahead of you.