The popularity of managed IT services is rising exponentially. By the 2030, the total value of outsourced IT services is expected be around 1.06 trillion. Companies of all sizes choose to delegate IT-related tasks to third-party teams of professionals to get high-quality services at a reasonable cost.
As new technologies appear and cybercrime rises, more and more IT functions need fulfilling. Only a few businesses have time and resources to support a full-size IT department. Meanwhile, outsourcing yields excellent results and allows the company to scale and grow without worrying about IT issues.
The main reason for outsourcing is cost reduction. However, numerous other benefits of managed IT services exist. Let’s take a look at a few of them.
Given the ever-evolving landscape of information technology and the increasing demand for specialized expertise, we've refreshed and expanded our analysis. In this updated article, we delve into the top 13 benefits of Managed IT Services, illustrating why more and more businesses are opting to outsource their IT needs to dedicated professionals.
What are Managed IT Services?
Managed IT services are a set of IT-related services offered by a third-party company. Different managed IT service providers can offer a different collection of services. Some only provide basic support like software and hardware maintenance. Meanwhile, others offer complex cybersecurity support and software development assistance.
The most common services that managed IT services providers offer include:
- Cybersecurity (preventive measures, employee education, reaction plans)
- Cloud migration and support
- Network support
- Hardware installation and maintenance
- Software installation and maintenance
- Continuous system monitoring (some companies offer 24/7 monitoring options)
- IT consulting
- Communications support
- Development of disaster recovery plans
- Helpdesk
- On-call services
- Managed backups
Depending on your company’s needs, a provider can develop a custom service package that suits your business perfectly. When needs change, you can usually add or remove services according to the terms of the MSP contract.
One of the benefits of managed IT services is the flexibility of pricing plans. Depending on the company, you can choose the following payment options:
- Hourly rates for break/fix service models
- Per device support fees
- Per user support fees
- A la carte
- Tiered model
- The hourly rate model
- Flat rate
- Unlimited
Many companies choose “full-stack” managed IT services. By paying a certain monthly fee, they get a specific set of services that suits the company's current needs.
Also read:
Top Benefits of Managed IT Services
1. Cost-Efficiency
No matter how small your company is, it has substantial IT needs. From software installation to cybersecurity, the size of your company doesn't always affect the size of its requirements. For example, even if the volume of data you work with is small, you still need to develop a plan to protect it from cybercriminals.
That's why even a small company requires a large IT department. Unfortunately, startups and SMBs (small and mid-size businesses) can rarely afford it. With the average salary of an IT expert being $48,000 per year, supporting several team members can be pricy, especially when you factor in the costs of benefits, onboarding, and possible churn.
When choosing to work with a managed IT support company, you get a team of experts at a fraction of the price you would pay for an in-house team. This can help your business stay on top of its game and scale or grow as needed.
2. Expertise
Members of the IT team in small companies tend to multitask. Since the company can't afford to hire new experts, the existing members often work overtime. Meanwhile, they simply don’t have an opportunity to become experts in all IT fields. As a result, IT infrastructure often has unfortunate loopholes and becomes sensitive to security issues.
One of the key managed IT service benefits is the ability to work with a large team of experts. Managed IT service providers hire experts in different aspects of IT support. Depending on your business needs, you can work with specific experts that aim at improving your company's bottom line.
A managed IT service provider can replace the entire IT department or become a valuable addition to your existing IT team.
3. Proactive Support
With technologies changing regularly, it can be hard to stay on top of the latest IT developments, especially if your IT department is overwhelmed with other tasks. Meanwhile, failing to stay up to date with IT-related innovations in your industry could easily put you behind the competition.
Monitoring the industry and making adjustments to your IT infrastructure could help you steal market share and become an industry leader. To do that, you need to work with IT experts that gather information and offer valuable advice.
One of the main advantages of managed services is proactive support. A team of IT experts monitors the developments and presents the relevant information in a nice and digestible package to help you gain valuable insight.
4. Cybersecurity Support
One of the key issues businesses have with their IT infrastructure is cyber vulnerability. Regardless of the type of data your company works with, losing it to cybercriminals could spell disaster for your business.
One of the top benefits of IT managed services is access to cybersecurity support. To provide sufficient support to your company’s and customers’ or clients’ data, you need to implement a variety of functions. This requires the attention of a large team of cybersecurity experts.
By choosing managed IT services, you can improve your cybersecurity process without investing in a large in-house team. These specialists monitor the latest developments in cyber threats and make sure they don’t pose a danger to your business.
Also read: The most dangerous cybersecurity threats revealed by 40 IT experts
5. High ROI
No matter what size your company is, each investment makes a significant impact on its bottom line. With average employee turnover rate in the United States reaching 15%, investing in in-house specialists can be a risky endeavor.
While you need to hire employees to fulfill many functions, doing this for IT tasks isn’t necessary. By partnering with a managed IT service provider you can get comprehensive support at a reasonable price.
The popularity of managed services in the world is rising due to the impressive ROI (Return on Investment) it generates. When it comes to managed IT support, the ROI is especially high.
6. Simple Scaling
One of the benefits of managed IT service model is the ability to scale with the needs of your company. As your business begins to grow, it needs closer attention from your IT department. You may start working with larger volumes of data or need new software and hardware to support the growing needs.
If you have a small in-house IT team, it may not be able to keep up with the new requirements. As a result, your staff will be overwhelmed and miss important aspects of IT support.
When you work with managed IT support company, you can request more or fewer services as you see fit. Managed IT support providers can grow together with your company.
Meanwhile, if for some reason you need to scale down, the provider can do the same. All you need to do is sign a new contract.
7. New Technologies
When it comes to IT, new technologies appear regularly. Implementing them can be complicated and time-consuming, especially if you don’t have sufficient experience. Many companies struggle to take advantage of the latest tools only to find that training is too complicated.
When you choose to work with a managed IT support provider, you can take advantage of that team’s experience and expertise. These experts can help you with choosing the best new technologies for your niche and implementing them to suit the company’s requirements and capabilities.
Quick and easy implementation saves time and money while ensuring the expected benefits of new technologies for your business.
8. Focus on Core Needs
When your team has to take care of IT-related functions, it can’t focus on the core needs of your company. More often than not, a couple of experts handle a huge variety of IT tasks, making it impossible to do what they do best.
As a result, the company’s bottom line suffers. Even worse, employee satisfaction rates go down, contributing to high churn rates and unexpected hiring expenses.
When a managed IT service provider handles your IT functions, your in-house experts can focus on core tasks, maximizing your profits in the process. Meanwhile, you can have peace of mind about the quality of IT services without micromanaging.
9. Vendor Relationship Management
In the IT field, working with multiple vendors is a common practice. Managing relationships and negotiations with these vendors can be a time-consuming and complex task. A managed IT service provider handles these aspects, providing you with the convenience and peace of mind to focus on your core business.
10. Risk Management
Managed IT services are proficient at managing risks, especially those related to compliance and security. They have specific industry knowledge, which can help minimize risk in this ever-changing world of threats and compliance regulations. This is an added advantage for companies that don't have the time or resources to stay abreast of these issues.
11. Strategic Planning Support
Managed IT service providers have broad experience across various business sectors and technologies. This enables them to bring in valuable insights for long-term IT strategic planning. By analyzing your existing IT infrastructure and the directions your industry is heading, they can provide advice on how to make tech decisions that will support your business goals.
12. Sustainability and Efficiency
In today's world, businesses need to be mindful of their environmental impact. Managed IT services can help companies reduce their carbon footprint by optimizing resource usage, utilizing cloud platforms, minimizing hardware dependencies, and managing energy consumption more efficiently. Additionally, through regular maintenance and upgrades, they ensure that your IT infrastructure is running at peak efficiency, thus saving energy.
13.Seamless Service Continuity
Service disruptions can be costly for any business. Managed IT service providers ensure seamless service continuity and minimal downtime through robust disaster recovery and backup plans. This allows your business operations to continue even in the face of unexpected IT issues, minimizing potential downtime and data loss.
Interested in learning more about Managed IT Services?
Check out these posts from our MSP Blog:
- Managed IT Checklist: Is It Time for an IT MSP?
- Managed Services vs. Staff Augmentation
- Managed Services vs. Professional Services
- What is the Difference Between MSP and MSSP?
- Questions to Ask Your MSP
- MSP Contracts Explained
- Top 8 MSP Industry Trends
- Top MSP Certifications
- How to Start an MSP?
- Best RMM Tools for MSP
- MSP Backup & Disaster Recovery Solutions
Benefits of Managed IT Services: The Takeaway
Taking advantage of managed IT services is no longer optional for small and mid-size businesses. If you can't support a large IT department, you have to get third-party assistance. The key benefits of managed IT services include proactive support, extensive expertise, scaling possibilities, and cybersecurity support.
By choosing the right managed IT partner, you can have peace of mind about cybersecurity, new technologies, software and hardware maintenance, and much more. In short, you can have a comprehensive set of IT services at a reasonable price while enjoying a high ROI.
If you are looking for a managed IT services partner, you can take advantage of ITcompanies.net. Our platform is created specifically to bring business owners and qualified managed IT services providers together for a fruitful collaboration.
