In an era where businesses are hard-pressed to optimize resources, operations and investments, outsourcing your company’s IT or appointing a Managed Services Provider (MSP) could prove to be an efficient and multi-benefit solution. As per CompTIA’s ‘Buying Guide for Managed Services’, the managed services market is estimated to grow to an overwhelming $193 billion by 2020. This reinstates the significance of MSPs and the value they add to any organization.
Here are a few key benefits a Managed Services Provider (MSP) can deliver for your organization:
- Scalability:
When you are in a business that witnesses sudden spikes during specific periods of the year or is seasonal in nature, having a full-time, in-house IT team can become a hole in your money bag. This is more relevant in case of rapidly growing startups or companies that fail to successfully gauge their IT support requirements. Having an MSP lets you scale up or scale down as per your current IT needs and also be ready with an additional tech force for the upcoming peak season.
- Improved Security:
An increasing number of companies are realizing the importance of outsourcing their IT, and along with it, their security and compliance concerns. This demand can also be gauged by the fact that as per a report, 44% organizations expect to encounter security breaches within the next one year. An MSP would be responsible for ensuring the security of your IT ecosystem, tackling cyber-attacks and mitigating data breaches, both internal and external.
- Technology/skill upgrade:
Technology ceases to evolve and that leaves organizations in a perennial need to upgrade their talent pool by reskilling or hiring. It is clearly visible by the fact that as per a report, 55% SMBs believe they need updated IT tools to ensure better operations. MSPs shoulder this responsibility of skill-upgradation, relieving you from the expensive and time-consuming process of reskilling or hiring fresh talent as per trending technologies.
- 24×7 support availability & increased uptime
Businesses in the current world do not work in the traditional 8 to 5 and Monday to Friday window. Today, businesses are up and running as long as their customers need them, 24x7x365. An MSP provider will monitor your IT infrastructure 24×7 and alert you about instances that require your immediate attention to mitigate risks. Companies have reported 85% reduction in network and server downtime after employing an MSP, as per a survey.
- Cost Predictability and Savings:
Every organization has its share of budget miscalculations or unexpected and ad hoc costs that they didn’t budget for. Additionally, reskilling, hiring or IT audits just add to the investment. With an MSP, you shall have the visibility of a fixed monthly or quarterly cost, depending on your arrangement with your service provider. Amongst all the companies contributing in a recent survey on the benefits of MSPs, 30% reported a 25-100% increase in revenue.
- Innovation and job satisfaction:
With an unburdened internal IT workforce, you can now leverage their expertise and channelize them towards innovation and core business projects. They could now function as your Innovation Lab or Center of Excellence for new age technology solutions and business requirements. This augments their job profile and helps them grow in their respective technology areas. As the employees get the opportunity to work on their areas of interest it also results in enhanced job satisfaction.
- Infrastructure Analysis
A reliable and experienced MSPs shall conduct a thorough analysis of your existing IT ecosystem before commencing the service engagement. This could actually bring to light numerous aspects and areas that need your attention and could have proved to be a chink in your armor. An MSP could help you unearth areas/issues such as:
- Processor utilization range
- Over-provisioning of IT assets
- Inadequate memory utilization by legacy systems
- Workload balance issues
- Hardware comparison with current industry levels
A Managed Service Provider can add immense value to your business and provide an elevated experience to your customers. But, the responsibility of choosing a reliable and capable MSP depends entirely on you and also how well you leverage your engagement.
