3 Ways Managed IT Services Can Help Your Business

You might think your business works like a well-oiled machine already, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses with little or no online presence were forced to move all their operations online, because offices, stores, and restaurants were closed for business for some time as countries used lockdowns as a means to “flatten the curve” or reduce the spread of this deadly virus. If this situation sounds familiar to you, read on to find out how you could use managed IT services to make your online operations safer, more secure, and more effective.

What are Managed IT Services?

Managed IT services are a form of IT outsourcing that transfers your online software operations to a company specializing in this type of business. Like other outsourcing decisions, efforts to control costs, provide specialized services, and optimize functions peripheral to your core business inform your choice to use managed IT services over handling these operations in-house. Most managed IT service providers such as Verticomm offer 24/7 IT help desk support to immediately address any tech-related issue your business might have, saving up time and money for business owners to think about other things.

Here’s a great graphic demonstrating the benefits of outsourcing:

Businesses specifically choose a vendor to manage their IT services when they require the following from their IT function:

1. cost-effectiveness
2. flexibility and scalability
3. managed IT services act as a single point of contact for vendors
4. access to specialized talent, especially when the business doesn’t require a full-time IT department
5. improved security
6. better customer relationships when IT works the way it should

1. Cost-effectiveness

Outsourcing seems like an expensive option at first, but when compared to the cost of running IT in-house, choosing to outsource your IT makes a lot of sense.

While running IT in-house allows you to control all your day-to-day operations, it requires hiring a full-time IT staff, purchasing or leasing software, and constant training of your IT staff in the newest IT trends. Running an internal IT department also means running huge, expensive servers that have the uncanny ability to go down at the worst possible moment. On top of this, you face lower productivity from in-house IT operations when, for instance, employees must work from home where they can’t access company resources such as software and databases without a cloud service.

Another way that managed IT services save you money comes when you don’t need full-time IT services. By outsourcing, you have access to needed services without the high overhead of paying full-time employees. Managed solutions also offer flexibility that reduces costs by only using what you need, as well as scalability so you can quickly and effectively take advantage of opportunities to grow your business.

2. Cybersecurity improvements

Cyber Crime is rife across all industries around the world and every year cybercriminals get smarter and present more dangers. To protect yourself and your business, you need watertight IT operations that protect against hackers and fraudsters who seek to steal from your company. This threat is particularly serious when your company assets include personal information about customers and staff. A breach not only causes operational challenges but creates a PR nightmare capable of destroying the trust customers have in your business and, ultimately destroying your operation.

Managed IT services such as Umbrella Managed Systems offer vast improvements for your cybersecurity by providing round-the-clock support. With expertly engineered antivirus and cybersecurity provided, your company need never worry about hackers entering your systems.

In addition, the online aspects of a managed IT system provides cybersecurity for staff in all locations. During the coronavirus pandemic, with so many office workers using personal devices to access company files, it is crucial that you put a managed IT system in place to protect these devices and workers from a cybersecurity breach.

3. Active Troubleshooting

Running a business can feel like running a never-ending obstacle course, at times. With very little breathing room between problems that arise, alleviating some of these issues feels like a much-needed rest for you and other employees in the business. Managed IT services offer an IT support team in place to troubleshoot any IT problems that arise at any time of the day or night. Outsourcing IT means you no longer bear sole responsibility for managing these issues but have a partner who scans your IT operations for trouble rather than waiting for a situation to arise where you lose time and money through outages. Managed IT firms employ trained IT experts with enough knowledge and expertise within their company to tackle any glitch that comes your way.

Instead of getting bogged down by IT problems, you can focus all your energy on the core elements that meet the needs of your customers rather than being sidetracked with elements that support your core business, such as managing IT to ensure everything hums along in the background. Thus, outsourcing takes a huge weight off your shoulders that allows you the freedom to grow your business into the successful enterprise you plan for in your long-term goals.

Final Thoughts

Managed IT services have helped thousands of businesses across the world to achieve further security and productivity. Although IT outsourcing isn’t for everyone, use this article to help you decide if it can benefit your business.

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