Managed IT Services Austin

The Advantages of Moving to a Managed IT Services Model

The information technology (IT) function represents a critical and valuable asset for any business. As the global economic environment becomes more competitive, companies are looking for ways make day-to-day IT operations more efficient and cost-effective. Consequently, many large firms have outsourced the IT services component to capitalize on the operational and financial advantages and increase functionality.

Comparatively, small and medium-sized companies have been more hesitant when it comes to hiring managed IT support services. Many of these business owners simply do not want to bring in an outside vendor to handle IT operations for fear of losing control and compromising security.

However, it important to remember that making the decision to partner with a managed IT services provider does not entail the total surrender of the infrastructure to an outside firm. A good IT support vendor operates as an extension of the client and ensures that management has the ability to review the system and key metrics at any time.

Here are some important factors to help determine if managed IT services is right for your organization.

Managed IT services help control costs

Maintaining a full-time IT staff is expensive.  Your staff must maintain the infrastructure--hardware and applications and research and implement the latest technology to increase operational efficiency. Selecting an IT services provider to take over the daily operational responsibility of your IT environment can provide a simple cost- effective approach and ensure that the IT infrastructure is fine-tuned and maintained to the highest industry standards.

Managed IT services bring into the fold a team of experts for far less than what it would cost to staff an IT department.

Budget effectively

Businesses find they can aggressively assess and plan for the resources they need to get from Point A to Point B. The managed IT services model not only help reduce costs, but  allows management plan more effectively, allocate resources, and build a   predictable and reliable budget  for supporting IT assets. This approach frees up valuable resources to allot to core business needs.

Companies can free up valuable IT personnel to focus their efforts on more strategic objectives.

Minimize downtime risks

Business owners and management have an ongoing challenge to balance the demands of growing their businesses and dealing with technology. According to a 2011 study conducted by CA technologies, businesses in Europe and North America lose more than $26.5 billion in revenue each year because of IT downtime and delays.

Regardless of the industry—health care, manufacturing, pharmaceutical insurance or financial services and other sectors— if applications or hardware stop working properly, it can bring your business to a screeching halt.

It can lead to lost productivity, order fulfillment and deliveries. It is not only a counterproductive and expensive event, but can also cause customer satisfaction issues among end users and clients.

If any IT support provider suggests that they can completely eliminate IT disruptions, they are not being realistic. Nonetheless, partnering with a reliable IT services company can ensure that systems are up-to-date and, properly maintained to reduce downtime.

Add organizational value

Once business management begins to see the financial advantages of working with an IT services firm they can measure the added value of the IT support offered by the firm by evaluating the quality of:

·         24/7/365 days a year monitoring and alert on critical components-- servers, computers and devices-- for hardware and application issues

·         Automated maintenance performing a variety of weekly tasks to proactively keep the environment in check.

·         IT support services

·         Vendor management services

·         Back-up and disaster recovery services

·         Virus and malware protection

A managed service provider can also help an organization develop operational standards for the IT infrastructure.

Choosing an IT service provider

Large global corporations gain an advantage over small and mid-size companies because of their economies of scale. They also have the resources to leverage leading-edge IT management tools and teams of experts to lower the cost of IT support. 

The “right“ IT support provider can bring the same advantages to small and mid-size firms. Both small and mid-size companies can leverage the expertise and experience of an IT services company as their IT support staff.

A good IT service company proactively manages critical systems and responds immediately to IT challenges and needs.  Moving to this model frees management and personnel to focus on core business goals to identify new sources of revenue and grow the company.