Small firms and startups have traditionally been the domain of one person wearing many hats (or a few individuals wearing many hats), handling everything from trash collection to ensuring that servers are working at optimum capacity. While this may appear to be a smart concept for individuals who want to save money by doing their business with the fewest number of personnel feasible, it is not always the greatest option. Multitasking has long been known to reduce productivity (by up to 40%), but it also pulls people out of their zone of brilliance. Non-technical workers currently spend roughly 8 hours each month resolving technological issues.
Every month, that’s one full day when they aren’t working. The good news is that small business owners don’t have to devote all of their time to IT management, nor do they need to recruit a tech team to do so. Managed services companies can supply them with all of the assistance they require (MSP).
What is the definition of a managed services provider?
A managed services provider is a business that manages your IT and other technical requirements for you. They’re a group of specialists that can handle aspects like tech strategy and planning, helpdesk services, cybersecurity, and digital transformation for you, so you don’t have to stretch yourself too thin or waste your workers’ time doing it yourself.
What role does a managed service provider play in the success of a small business?
MSPs don’t simply take care of the technical parts of operating your company; they also bring a wide range of talents and abilities to the table that you might not have expected. Let’s look at seven reasons why you should outsource your IT management to an MSP.
- Spending that is more strategic
The main benefit of working with an MSP is that you receive more value for your money than you would if you employed individual IT workers. The starting salary for an IT professional is roughly $100,000 per year. When you recruit your own IT personnel, this may be a small expenditure, but as your company develops, so does this expense. MSPs aren’t just one person; they’re a group of people dedicated to assisting your company.
This means you’re getting more bang for your money right now on even the most basic chores. You’re not only getting more for your money, but you’re also saving money because non-IT employees aren’t dealing with technical difficulties. They’re able to concentrate more on the tasks for which you recruited them, resulting in increased productivity and fewer errors.
- In-house knowledge has grown.
MSPs provide years of experience and knowledge to your company. We’re continuously searching for new and inventive ways to use technology to benefit our clients since the entire MSP business model is geared to being at the forefront of technology. Based on such expertise, we also contribute industry-specific information to your company. You won’t be receiving someone who is attempting to apply what they’ve learned in another industry to your company; instead, you’ll be getting someone who has already assisted businesses like yours.
- You’ll have a whole crew at your disposal.
We’ve previously touched on this, but MSPs aren’t just one person; they’re a whole team. You’re not fully dependant on a person who needs time off, may resign, or may get fired, in addition to having additional hands on deck. An MSP’s structure ensures that even if someone takes time off, someone is continuously keeping an eye on the firm (even in the middle of the night). Finally, this piece of mind means you won’t have to be concerned about something going wrong while your IT worker is on vacation. It also means that when things become hectic, you’ll have the resources you need to stay on top of everything.
- IT operations become more efficient and dependable.
MSPs work hard to ensure that you have as much uptime as possible, and they’re always there to help if something goes wrong. MSPs can put as many resources at your challenges as you require as a group. You can hire extra people if it turns out that you require more than one. As a result, issues are resolved more quickly. MSPs are also accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week to assist you. Tech issues don’t go away simply because it’s Sunday; they can occur at any time. With the coverage provided by an MSP, you may begin resolving issues as soon as they arise.
- Maintenance and cybersecurity are addressed proactively.
We’ll probably never stop repeating it, but taking a proactive approach to network maintenance and cybersecurity will go a long way toward keeping your company secure and running at full capacity. A proactive strategy entails monitoring your systems 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ensure that if something goes wrong, you are aware of it as quickly as possible. This allows you to lessen the effect of an occurrence and address minor concerns before they become major problems. From a security aspect, it allows you to detect when someone is attempting to get access to your system or bring your organisation down with a DDoS assault (a distributed denial-of-service attack that overwhelms your network, causing it to crash). Because the damage that may be done is limited, the sooner you identify these things, the easier they are to counteract.
- Allow IT personnel to focus on strategic initiatives.
Working with an MSP, believe it or not, may benefit your company even if you already have an IT department. Your in-house staff is free to explore strategic technology projects that you’ve been intending to execute but haven’t been able to since everyone is too busy when they aren’t dealing with the day-to-day of maintaining your tech stack. MSPs free up their time by taking care of the minor but equally critical chores like network monitoring and customer service. This frees up your internal staff to focus on things like infrastructure upgrades, workstation expansion, and data transfer tasks.
- Have more access to cutting-edge technology.
MSPs devote a significant amount of time and effort to be on the cutting edge of technology. We do this not just because we like learning about new technology, but also because it allows us to provide our client’s thoughts and recommendations on how new technology may help them develop and prosper. We can provide recommendations based on our expertise dealing with firms in a variety of sectors that will not only help you work better but will also give you a competitive advantage. We’ve spent years creating and studying how the industry shifts and changes, so we can frequently advise you on the next major tech trend before it’s completely realised.
