7 Reasons Why You Need a Managed Service Provider

Why use a managed service provider? In today’s rapidly evolving technology landscape, it’s imperative for businesses of all sizes to have reliable and efficient IT support. That’s where Managed Service Providers (MSPs) come in.

A Managed Service Provider is a valuable partner for your business, offering a wide range of IT services that keep your systems running smoothly and help you stay ahead of the competition. But why exactly should you use a Managed Service Provider?

In this blog, we’ll explore 7 compelling reasons why having a Managed Service Provider is a must-have for your business success.

1. Get the Expertise You Need

New technology means new challenges — challenges you may currently have or ones you may soon run into. Managing your systems can be an issue regardless of whether they are in the cloud or on-premise. Either way, they require a significant number of resources to support them. This poses a problem when you don’t have the right expertise even if your business has an in-house IT department.

You could solve some of your issues by recruiting new team members, but you will need to decide if it’s worth the time and expense to hire and train them. It costs over $1,886 per employee for training alone. Plus, it can be difficult to get qualified candidates due to an ongoing IT talent shortage.

Or you could hire an MSP. An MSP’s core business is keeping its customers’ technology running as smoothly and efficiently as possible. MSP’s will be able to solve your problems more quickly having hired the best IT professionals to do just that. Most MSP’s offer flat monthly fees allowing you to fit this expense into your budget. Plus, due to economies of scale, an MSP can offer you the most competitive pricing on both hardware and software.

One of the key advantages of the managed services model is that it enables you to hire an entire team of IT professionals at a flat monthly rate. Certain Managed Service Providers (MSPs) even take a shared approach to managed services, meaning you can add or remove specialists from your managed services team as needed depending on the demands of each project. These specialists include technical, functional, architectural, and training consultants who can help you keep your systems up and running, as well as unlock their full potential.

2. Reduce Operational Costs

Maintaining infrastructure and networks in-house can result in huge cost overheads, especially if you are running a small or medium-sized business with limited resources. Essentially, you are spending money acquiring tools. You may not even need some of these tools to manage your cloud infrastructure.

Working with an MSP you will only pay for what you use. They will already have the tools necessary to set up your infrastructure in the cloud and the workforce to maintain it. Why not lower your IT expenses, reduce operational costs, and conserve your capital budget?

Managing information technology via an outsourced provider can reduce operating expenses by 80% through improved network and productivity, predictable budgeting, and local support.

According to the CompTIA study:

3. Business Continuity

As a business owner, do you ponder how you would go about restoring all your systems and data in the event of a disaster? If not, you should. Do you know what you will need to get your business back up and running if a disaster becomes a reality?

Does your enterprise have your IT infrastructure on-premises? If it is, a disaster or a critical server failure will likely adversely affect your day-to-day business operations. You also run the risk of losing data that is vital to your business processes and overall growth.

If, however, your data is stored in the cloud, even the most catastrophic situation can be just another day at the office. You will experience minimal to zero downtime! This is a huge advantage considering that an hour of downtime costs a small business about $8000 and a large business approximately $700,000.

Even in the event of a host failure, you have stand-by cloud servers to fall back on, and because everything is up on a virtual platform, hardware failure risks are almost eliminated. This is one of the biggest reasons our clients have switched to managed services in the cloud. An MSP is invaluable in helping you create an efficient disaster recovery plan. Let Sandra Network help you plan one and we guarantee you’ll sleep better at night knowing that your business has planned for and will survive a disaster should one strike.

4. You need the Best Security

We won’t mince words: cyber-attacks are a guarantee and are now a very plausible scenario. This is one scenario you never want your business to experience. Cybersecurity issues are becoming a day-to-day struggle for many businesses. According to Accenture, 68% of business leaders feel the risks of a cybersecurity attack has increased significantly. Cyber-attacks now target 43% of small businesses, according to Symantec.

An MSP provides up-to-date security methods. These include network monitoring, software, and backup plans for cybersecurity scenarios. Your risk of being attacked by cyber criminals, or with malware and phishing attempts will be greatly reduced when you place your systems in the hands of an MSP. Firewall deployment, VPN Tunnelling and Monitoring are all services that are easily managed and kept up to date by a managed services provider.

5. Focus on Core Objectives

Your company’s IT needs are sure to increase as your business grows. An in-house IT team may be able to handle this increased workload but there is also a good chance your team will find themselves overwhelmed and unable to scale according to your business needs.

If you don’t have an MSP, you’ll be forced to assign additional responsibilities to employees from other teams who may not have the technical knowledge necessary to do the job while at the same time, distracting them from their work.

One benefit of managed services is that it frees up your employees to focus on their jobs while also enabling you to fill in gaps only when necessary. A truly qualified managed service partner will offer a flexible service model allowing you to determine which level of service you require, from requesting support only when needed up to having a monthly contract.

6. Enhance User Productivity

Are you tired of having IT problems constantly interrupting your employee’s workflow? Are your customers getting frustrated due to IT issues they are experiencing when dealing with your business?

Anytime your employees are unable to work, you lose money. As a business owner, you want your employees to be productive.

It’s a problem if your technology isn’t optimized well for your business needs. The right technology will improve your employee’s productivity and enhance the way your company does business.

7. Peace of Mind

With a reliable MSP like Sandra Network, you can rest easy knowing that your IT needs are in the hands of skilled IT professionals.

Nearly every business needs IT, but not every company has the resources to invest in recruiting and training an entire IT department.  MSPs are designed to provide skilled IT professionals to act as your external IT department.

If you’re considering outsourcing all or some of your IT needs for your small or mid-sized business, let Sandra Network provide Peace of Mind for your business. Call (978) 535-0202 or schedule a call. We have some of the most talented IT professionals in the business ready to take care of your IT needs.

Considering Managed Services? Let’s Talk!