An Overview of Managed IT Services and Key Benefits To Organizations
Organizations are constantly looking for ways to gain an edge over the competition in today’s highly dynamic business environment. One key area crucial to this is adopting tech and utilizing it to enhance an organization’s fundamental abilities and competencies.
For many organizations, this means a full-time IT staff that can react immediately when new technologies come along or when existing systems need to be updated. But what happens when the budget is tight, and your organization needs to outsource its IT needs?
The short answer, consider managed IT services.
A managed IT service is a great way to keep your tech needs in check without wasting time and effort it would take to manage it all on your own. A managed IT service provider can handle everything from patching and updating the software on your computer to supporting the entire network for you – so you don’t have to.
Learn more about managed IT services and the numerous benefits they offer to organizations.
What Services are Included in Managed IT Services?
Managed IT services can encompass a wide range of services but typically include things like:
- Help Desk Support: This is the most common service in managed IT services. Help desk support can be used for various issues, including password resets, software issues, and hardware troubleshooting.
- Network Administration: Managing a network can be a full-time job in and of itself. When you outsource your network management to a managed IT service provider, they will handle tasks like ensuring that your network is secure, monitoring for performance issues, and ensuring that your devices are connected and running properly.
- Data Backup and Disaster Recovery: A reliable backup and disaster recovery plan is one of the most important aspects of any business’s IT infrastructure. Managed IT services can help an organization create a robust backup plan to keep its data safe during an unexpected outage or disaster.
- Security: cybersecurity is more important than ever before. Managed IT services can guide you in implementing security measures like firewalls and intrusion detection to protect your data from cyber threats.
- Software Updates and Maintenance: Keeping your software up to date is essential for security and performance. A managed IT service provider can manage software updates and patch management so that you can focus on running your business.
- 24/7 Monitoring: Managed IT services often include 24/7 monitoring of your IT infrastructure. This means that if there is ever an issue, someone will be there to resolve it quickly.
Some of the top benefits of managed IT services include:
1. Improved efficiency
Managed IT services can help improve an organization’s efficiency in several ways. First, they can help reduce employees’ time on IT, freeing up more time for them to focus on other essential tasks.
This is because managed IT services can handle many of the routine tasks that would otherwise need to be done by employees.
Similarly, managed IT services can help to improve the reliability of an organization’s IT infrastructure. This is because managed IT service providers have the expertise and resources to ensure everything runs smoothly.
2. Faster response time
It can be frustrating when your organization needs urgent IT assistance but doesn’t have a dedicated or well-resourced IT department that can respond quickly.
Managed IT services offer faster response time by providing helpdesk support such as email/chat or onsite visits by professionals who can resolve your issues quickly and effectively.
3. Lower costs
When businesses outsource their IT needs to a managed service provider, they can save money on hiring and training in-house IT staff. Additionally, managed service providers often have economies of scale that allow them to provide services at a lower cost than businesses could achieve.
Another way that managed IT services can help to lower costs is by helping businesses to avoid or resolve problems more quickly. When businesses have access to 24/7 IT support, they can resolve issues more quickly and avoid downtime. This can save the business money in the long run.
4. Better security
Security is a significant concern for all organizations; managed IT services support can help with security by providing the following:
- Identity management. This includes user access control, password management, and access control.
- Compliance with industry regulations (for example, PCI DSS) by providing access to the latest security best practices and helping create and implement policies and procedures that meet compliance requirements.
They can also provide access to the latest security technologies to help protect against new threats. Managed IT services can also help to keep security systems up-to-date and free of vulnerabilities. They can also provide 24/7 monitoring of security systems to identify and respond to potential threats quickly.
Managed IT services also conduct regular security systems audits to ensure they are effective and compliant.
5. Improved compliance with government regulations
Compliance with industry and government regulations is a significant concern for businesses, and it’s not just the cost of having a breach that can put you at risk.
Managed IT services can help you achieve compliance in several different ways. Some of these include:
- Ensuring compliance with regulations around data protection and privacy (such as GDPR) by providing updated technology that meets or exceeds industry standards and guidelines such as ISO 27002 or SOC 1 Type I and II assessment reports.
- Ensuring compliance with regulations around information security management, such as ISO 27001 certification, through third-party certification bodies such as ISACA (International Society for Accreditation Qualifications).
With a managed IT service provider, organizations can be sure that their IT systems comply with all relevant government regulations. This can save organizations a lot of time and money and help avoid penalties for non-compliance.
6. Increased customer satisfaction
Managed IT services can positively impact an organization’s customer satisfaction levels. This is because managed IT services help keep all of an organizations IT needs in check, as well as helping to resolve any issues that may arise. This ensures that customers can always receive the service they expect and deserve.
7. Better monitoring and risk management
All organizations face some risk, whether it’s reduced service quality, corporate espionage, or malicious attacks intent on disrupting operations.
With managed IT services, organizations have access to a team of experts who can consistently and comprehensively scan the multiple threat vectors to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities. This team can also help to implement security measures to protect the organization’s data and systems.
8. Fewer service downtimes
Managed IT service providers proactively monitor their clients’ IT infrastructure and systems for issues. They can then fix any problems before they disrupt your business, helping it run smoothly and minimizing the impact of any IT problems.
For instance, if your network goes down due to hardware failure or software malfunctioning, you could be losing productivity while waiting for repairs—a situation that could have been prevented by having an experienced managed IT services provider on call 24/7 with its experts ready at any moment’s notice.
Get The Help You Need To Better Your Organization
The benefits of managed IT services are numerous and varied, but they all ultimately improve your organization’s bottom line. Tech is an essential cog in all business, and any organization cannot afford to neglect it.
Offload the burden of managing your IT infrastructure to a team of experts, and enable your staff to focus on more strategic tasks.
Work with a team of skilled, experienced, and trusted experts! Reach out for more information.
