3.3.20 – Managed IT services are nothing new, so why the big push in the past several years to go with “Managed” Service Providers? With the economy not being at it’s best the last several years many, many companies have been forced to look at their bottom lines and make cuts where needed. At the end of the day the main reason companies choose managed IT services is cost reduction….Plain and Simple. Managing and paying an in-house IT department can and does become costly very fast these days. The fact of the matter is, many smaller companies can no longer afford to have a full time IT staff “in house”. Herein lies the problem…. While many companies cannot afford to have their own IT staff they still need someone to watch over their IT needs. Many times when selecting a Managed Service Provider, companies gain access to staff with special skill sets and while they may only need these skill sets once or maybe even twice they are there for the taking. The beauty of this is that you as a company save the expenses of training your staff for skills they may never use again. The age old saying of “Why reinvent the wheel” definitely holds true with this. The delivery of services is the life blood of any Managed Service Provider. MSP’s have designed networks, data centers, voice systems and infrastructure that will be available, resilient and redundant to maintain business continuity. As a company using an MSP you can take advantage of the infrastructure and skill sets they bring to the table all while not breaking the bank.
The other most popular reason for using an MSP would fall under both flexibility and scalability. As a business you must be able to evolve and grow. MSP’s give you the ability to scale up or down as needed and are there to help with the immediate problems that may arise. MSP’s will also help you improve your overall IT strategy going forward.
The fact that IT services are no longer just reactive and now have the option of being proactive means your company gets the best of both worlds. At the end of the day, the choice is not about will you or your company buy and/or use managed services but rather which Managed Service Company will bring the most value to you and your company.