When Does Outsourcing Become Managed Services?

When Does Outsourcing Become Managed Services?

Blog, Managed IT

Managed IT services is a term referring to the practice of outsourcing a company’s IT computer network support and management in order to enhance business operations. Companies providing managed services are called Managed Service Providers. IT adopts a holistic approach to IT Services, resulting in a superior standard than many organisations are able to achieve in-house. Leading service providers also offer ongoing management and maintenance of the underlying infrastructure together with end-user support and service guarantees.

As organisations evaluate this type of model, they typically ask themselves: What are our business goals and how does technology enable realisation of those objectives? Based on overall value, what systems need to be changed and how will new platforms and processes then be maintained and updated to be sure we stay on track and relevant?

And does executing all of this with just my internal team bring the agility, service delivery assurances and flexible, cost optimised model for the organization that we need today and three years from now?

All business investments carry a specific amount of risk. Competition, government regulations, markets, technologies, and financial conditions all change very quickly. Outsourcing providers anticipate and handle much of this risk for you, with specific industry knowledge, particularly security and compliance issues. They are generally considered to be much better at deciding how to prevent risks in their areas of expertise. Bigger companies generally have in-house support services along with a team of full-time IT professionals. Businesses both small and medium cannot afford that luxury all by themselves. One of the advantages of employing managed IT services is that outsourcing enables gaining the insight and expertise that larger companies have. This can indeed help level the playing field between you and your competition.

One main advantage of managed services is how rapidly new technology can be enforced into your business. A quality outsourced IT support service will possess all the essential resources to immediately start off the new projects. Handling the same project in-house could take weeks or months just to hire the right people, train them, and then provide the support they need. For most implementations, quality IT companies will bring years of experience in the very beginning, thus saving money and time.

The typical cost components of an IT department, including training, equipment and personnel, are absorbed by the MSP and presented as a fixed monthly charge to the company. This helps in effectively predicting costs every month when budgeting. Depending on the future requirements and the speed of the your organization’s IT maturity, the managed service can scale to address such scenarios. The biggest benefit is that a company can decide how much to scale based on factors that may include finance and the CIO’s strategic vision. IT Service interruptions and outages can also be prevented, thus mitigating the risk of further losses. In terms of the energy company, the client went from multiple daily outages to one scheduled outage a month.

Businesses are known to have limited resources and limit the time and attention of every single manager. Outsourcing can actually help your business stay focused on your core business and not get disturbed by complicated IT decisions. Your business will have to run at its highest efficiency, and this can be achieved only when your networks are operational.

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