Managed Service Providers – or MSPs – are often recommended as a cost effective IT solution for small businesses. For a minimal monthly fee, MSPs provide a reasonably priced solution to the complex technology pains of small businesses. Here’s a look at the various benefits an MSP can offer your business…

Freed-Up Resources and a Renewed Emphasis on Core Business

Both business owners and internal IT staff would much rather focus on revenue enhancing tasks like product development or the creation of cutting-edge applications and services. This is one reason routine monitoring and maintenance tasks are often neglected by an internal IT person or team, which always proves to be detrimental much later. Often misportrayed as a “threat” to an internal IT person or staff, MSPs can instead relieve internal staff of mundane network operations maintenance, repetitious monitoring of server and storage infrastructure, and day-to-day operations and help desk duties. With these tools, MSPs can help internal IT teams with monitoring, maintenance, and more.

Outsourcing IT management to an MSP allows businesses to focus on their core competencies and strategic initiatives. By relieving the burden of day-to-day IT tasks, businesses can redirect their internal resources and expertise toward activities that drive revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and overall business success.

Managed Service Providers Are A True Partner Sharing Risks And Responsibilities

The goal of an MSP is to deliver on contracted services, measure, report, analyze and optimize IT service operations, and truly become an irreplaceable catalyst for business growth. Managed Service Providers not only assume leadership roles, they enable risk reduction, enhance efficiency and change the culture by introducing internal IT operations to new technologies and processes.

MSPs are much more scalable than internal IT teams as well. Internal IT teams have a large cost associated with them, including insurance, training, and more. The ongoing relationship with an MSP has multiple benefits. MSPs act as a partner for your in-house team and a bridge between you and your vendors. They serve as a single point of contact for your business and become familiar with your company over time.

Managed Service Providers Provide Access to Expertise, Best Practices and World-Class Tools and Technologies

MSPs have experience with a variety of businesses and organizations. With that experience, Managed Service Providers can keep your business relevant and on track with continually evolving technology, support, and productivity demands. Let’s face it, no small or medium sized business can afford to fall behind with technology trends in today’s business world. With the large variety of experience MSPs can provide, a small business would have to have multiple employees to provide a similar amount of experience which can be very costly.

MSPs stay up to date with the latest technology trends and advancements. They can help businesses leverage cutting-edge technologies, such as cloud computing, virtualization, artificial intelligence, and data analytics, to drive innovation and gain a competitive edge. MSPs can guide businesses in selecting and implementing the right technologies that align with their specific needs and goals.

Preventative Maintenance

Managed service providers focus on preventative maintenance and proactive monitoring and management of IT systems, networks, and infrastructure, keeping downtime for businesses to a minimum. They can identify and address potential issues before they become major problems, minimizing downtime and maximizing system availability.

This compares to the older model of waiting for things to break before it is fixed. With preventative maintenance, you can avoid costly downtime and focus on preventing issues before they become a concern. With monitoring and preventative maintenance, costs are kept down as well. It’s much cheaper to prevent issues and having to call in support and fix something after it’s broke. This proactive approach helps businesses maintain smooth operations and reduces the risk of costly IT disruptions.

Managed Service Providers Provide the Benefit of a Full-Time Fully Staffed IT Department at a Fraction of the Cost

Managed service providers are staffed with highly skilled IT professionals who possess a wide range of expertise and specialized knowledge in various technologies and industry best practices. By leveraging their expertise, businesses gain access to a team of professionals who can handle complex IT tasks and provide strategic guidance, ensuring that their technology infrastructure is optimized for efficiency and productivity.

Most small business owners live and die by proactive management. They just haven’t had the budget, resources or access to on-demand expertise to be proactive with information technology management. A Managed Service Provider gives business owners and overwhelmed internal IT staff affordable computer and server support, remote monitoring of critical network components like servers and firewalls, data backup and disaster recovery, network security, custom software solutions, and technology evaluation and planning.

Managed Service Providers can decrease the overall IT support costs by as much as 30% to 50%. Rather than being stressed about technology, business owners can instead get back to focusing on growing their business. All while enjoying the benefits of highly-trained IT experts boosting their network’s reliability and performance.