Why Managed IT Services Are Better For Growing Businesses

Posted on Thursday, August 31, 2023 and filed under Articles

Business growth is an exciting time for any SMB, but it’s not without its challenges. As you scale up, you need to be sure that your information technology can follow suit. This is why managed IT services are ideal for any growing business. You’ll get IT experts helping you scale without the need for any time-consuming busywork on your end.

“If you think you don’t need managed IT, wait until the first major tech hiccup throws a wrench in your operations.” – Jim Stackhouse, Chief Executive Officer, NeoLore Networks

Even if you’re a larger company, there are a lot of benefits to choosing a managed services partner. In fact, it’s predicted that roughly 60% of organizations of all sizes will rely on managed IT by the year 2025. This shows that managed IT is ideal for more than just growing businesses.

This article will take a look at why this trend is happening. We’ll explore managed services’ importance by examining its benefits and what you risk when you decide not to use it.

The Benefits of Managed IT Services

The Proactive Approach

A managed services provider (MSP) can catch and address issues before they escalate, which helps ensure smoother operations. This is in stark contrast to the old break-fix approach, where you wait until something goes wrong before you take action.

Even with rapid break-fix response, that’s still time wasted solving a problem that could have been spent on business operations. With proactive support services, you can reduce the amount of time that you’ll have to spend fixing IT problems, because they’ll appear less in the first place!

Expertise on Demand

Managed IT service providers usually have a diverse team of experts from various IT fields. All of whom come with your MSP partnership. That means you’ll have access to an on-demand talent pool without having to waste time and resources on recruiting.

Better yet, a lot of providers have a 24/7 helpdesk. So, you’ll have the luxury of being able to tap into this vast wealth of knowledge whenever you need it. 24/7 support desks are also ideal for companies that employ a remote workforce in varying time zones.

Business Continuity Planning

Most MSPs offer disaster recovery services. That means that in the worst-case scenario, you can quickly get back to normal with minimal disruptions. Not only will this save you time, it will also reduce costs related to data loss mitigation.

That’s because regular data backups are an important part of any good MSP’s disaster recovery strategy. When you have preserved backups in place, your data integrity remains intact even if there’s a server meltdown or technical failure.

Enhanced Cybersecurity

Most people have a cybersecurity strategy of some kind. It could even be as simple as periodically running your free-to-use antivirus software. The problem is that too many SMBs rely on barebones cybersecurity strategies. This usually works for personal devices, but it’s not enough for a business.

Managed IT providers are experts at monitoring and managing secure business networks. They’ll help you do more than the basics, so you’ll be set to prevent more sophisticated cyber attacks that might be beyond the scope of a simple antivirus application.

Up-to-Date Technology

Staying competitive means keeping up with the latest technological advancements. With an MSP, you’ll have the advantage of always being up-to-date with the most current tools and software, without the need to research them yourself.

This is all thanks to IT consulting and IT procurement services. It’s common for MSPs to offer both. How it works is that your partner will assess your current infrastructure, talk to you about your business goals and processes, and then use that information to source the right solutions.

The Risks of Going Without a Managed IT Partner

Network Downtime

Without proper management, networks can experience more frequent and prolonged downtime. That’s a big deal considering that network downtime costs an average of $9,000 per minute. It’s also just plain frustrating. Employees and customers alike can’t use your network when it’s down. This can cause both productivity and sales losses.

Proactive network support is one of the top services of an MSP. This means that downtime-causing network issues get caught before they escalate. No one will even notice that the issue was there at all (except the MSP, of course).

Higher Turnover Costs

Employee turnover is always difficult to deal with, but some degree of it is inevitable. Of course, you want your employees to stick around as long as possible, but you can’t expect turnover to never occur.

One of the biggest challenges in this situation is getting someone to fill the gaps. If you had an MSP, this wouldn’t be an issue (at least on the IT front). Without one, you could deal with excess expenditures on additional training and error mitigation if the role is temporarily filled by someone who wasn’t trained to do it.

Vendor Management Headaches

Managing multiple IT vendors can become complex and time-consuming without an MSP to streamline the process. Each vendor has its own specifications, contract terms, and support protocols, which can be a nightmare to keep straight.

You could solve this problem with managed services in two ways:

1. You won’t need as many vendors. Most MSPs act as multiple IT service providers in one.
2. An MSP can act as a liaison between your business and your IT vendors. So, you can take this headache off your plate.

Resource Drain

A lot of business owners assume that an MSP is redundant if they have their own IT department. The trouble is that your in-house team only has so many work hours each day. If you’re asking them to do both day-to-day IT maintenance and new development projects, one of those things is going to give.

This can also lead to employee burnout which can then lead to employee retention issues. Leaving the mundane daily tasks to an MSP while your team works on new projects is a better use of your resources. The MSP is an expert on all things IT management and your people are experts on what new projects will really make your business shine.

Hidden Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities

As cyber threats evolve, not having a dedicated team to address them exposes your business to greater risks. The tougher part is that most exploitable network vulnerabilities aren’t obvious. Without an expert trained to detect these issues, these vulnerabilities are left unpatched longer.

This is a huge risk to your overall security posture. Since 69% of data breaches begin with an internet-facing network vulnerability, you can’t afford not to have someone patching them as fast as possible.

Still Wondering Why Managed Services Providers? Talk to NeoLore to See For Yourself!

If our list of benefits and risks hasn’t convinced you, perhaps a demo will?

NeoLore Networks is an Ottawa-based managed IT service provider. We’d be happy to give you a free consultation to see if an MSP is right for you. We also aim to stand out among other managed IT providers by focusing on active listening and truly helping you meet your goals.

Contact us today to see what all the buzz is about!