Managed IT: What it is and Why you need it

If you’re running just about any kind or size of business,?Managed IT might make it a whole lot easier for you. Here’s a quick and dirty guide to what it is and why you might need it.?

So, what’s Managed IT?

There’s a broad clue in the title. Basically, you pay someone else to manage your IT for you by outsourcing some or all of your?IT infrastructure and management to a third party.?It’s a bit like getting someone to keep your house nice, because you don’t have the time to do it properly, and you’re no good at it anyway. Except if your housekeeper doesn’t dust under the bed, you’re not going to go to jail or lose business. Ok, we’ve stretched that analogy as far as it can go.?

Companies that manage your IT for you are often called Managed Service Providers (MSP).?

When’s a good time to have a conversation with an MSP??

Perhaps your business has been trotting along quite nicely without the help of an MSP, thank you very much. Your lovely employees work from home (different homes probably) on a laptop and do a load of stuff on the Cloud. You’ve had a few glitches that were troubling but it’s all been pretty straightforward. But it’s worthwhile thinking about an MSP if:

• You don’t have the time or expertise to monitor your IT systems carefully for potential data breaches.
• You don’t have a dedicated IT specialist in your team, and hiring one isn’t in your business strategy or budget.
• You do have an IT specialist but there’s more work for them than they can handle.
• You keep having tech problems or system fails.
• Your business is expanding and you’re onboarding a tonne of new employees.
• You’ve a remote or hybrid working business model, or use on-the-road or seasonal teams.
• You want to take advantage of all the great IT stuff out there for your business, but don’t know where to start.
• You don’t really have a handle on your IT infrastructure, so you could be wasting money paying for software licences that your people hardly use, or buying hardware you don’t need.
• You’re starting to work with enterprise-level corporates, and you need to demonstrate that you’re compliant.
• You’re starting to work with protected health information or customer data where demonstrable data security compliance is mandatory.?
• Your IT budget is unpredictable.

What can you expect from an MSP?

Not every MSP gives you the same level of support or breadth of services. Some typically include mobile device management, configuration and management of Cloud services, security monitoring and testing. Some are more of a “call us when you break it and we’ll fix it for you” kind-of-outfit, which is fine if you have a fantastic IT team and that’s all they need. Some may even store and manage your spare devices for you (ahem. We offer this.)?

When you’re thinking about an MSP, think about your business strategy. It’s probably a given that you want to stop the bad things happening. You’ll also want to make sure that your IT helps your people do their jobs effectively. But if you’re looking to grow?your business through employing more people, expanding into different markets or offering new services, you may want an MSP with higher service levels.??

A good all-round MSP will:

• Understand your business, how it works and what you envision for it.
• Keep you legal, compliant and out of jail.
• Do all the IT donkey work, so you don’t have to.
• Help make your business run more effectively and efficiently.
• Help you transition smoothly between IT systems if you’re scaling up or your business changes, or help you with IT for special projects such as app development.
• Troubleshoot and fix problems quickly.
• Be an expert sounding board to consult on IT strategy.
• Give you the right support when you need it.

How to choose an MSP provider

When you’re shopping around, arm yourself with the right questions and observe the response. A good MSP will be happy (frighteningly so) to be open about anything you ask. Find out if:

• They support multi-vendor and multi-device environments.
• They seem proactive, rather than reactive. Can they give?examples of how their knowledge of industry trends have helped other clients?
• They ask lots of questions about your business, how you operate and how you’d like to operate.
• They explain clearly and simply like normal people, or prefer to blind you with jargon.
• The pricing structure is clear and simple to understand, and what service level agreement they offer.
• What accreditations they have.
• They’re available 24/7, and the average response and fix time.
• They’re happy to let you talk to their existing clients.

During your conversations, you’ll get a feel not just for what an MSP can do for you, but for how they’ll do it. A good, can-do attitude is a must.?If you’re thinking about taking the MSP plunge, we’d love to show you our good, can-do attitude.?Give us a call.?We’re here to help.