Business is complicated, and you need every competitive advantage you can find. One of the best—and most cost effective—advantages small and mid-sized businesses can harness is the use of IT Managed Service Providers (MSPs). There are many benefits, not the least of which is you’ll be saving money when you look at the opportunity costs afforded to you by having your team focus on their core competencies rather than having to address IT problems. An MSP allows an entire team of IT professionals to be focused on your business so you can expect enhanced productivity, increased efficiency, and more predictable financial expenditures. Ultimately an MSP will benefit your business in ways that you don’t expect.
What are the benefits of using an MSP for small and mid-sized businesses?
1) Proactive Service: One of the keys to any technological problem is to catch it before it gets worse. Usually, your employees will be too busy on their daily assignments to proactively consider and plan for IT. But with an MSP, their entire focus is on your network and computer systems, guarding against security breaches and watching for problems before they get worse.
2) Expertise: Many of the best IT experts work for an MSP. As a small business, it is likely too costly to hire an IT specialist, or staff a department with the experience you deserve to protect your projects. However, by hiring an MSP, you’ll be able to hire the most experienced team you can find at a price that is affordable. Moreover, you will receive the benefit of a the MSP’s full team, comprised of a range of IT specialists, able to assist you with all aspects of managing your network, special projects or needs that arise.
3) Data Compliance: Privacy and data reporting rules can be complicated, and an inexperienced IT team may not be able to ensure you are compliant. As specialists in IT, an MSP has the knowledge of compliance requirements, ability to help you conform to them, with no distractions to ensure that you stay on track.
4) Avoiding Sunk Costs: Having an in-house IT team means dealing with the sunk costs of salary, benefits, insurance, and office space. One of the advantages of being a small to mid-size business is agility. You can pivot quickly as your industry changes, so you always have a competitive advantage. By lowering your sunk costs through the use of a managed IT services, you can ensure that you have the capital to maneuver when a new opportunity presents itself.
5) Cyber Security: Cybercriminals are getting more and more advanced, and it is tough to keep up with the tricks they use to steal your data and cause harm to your business. You hear about larger companies experiencing cyber attacks every day, but in fact small businesses comprise a large number of cyberattack victims because they often do not have proper protection in place. By hiring an MSP, you will always have a team of experienced professionals watching for incursions and ready to stop them.
6) Predictable Spending: You are hiring an MSP for a flat fee. You know precisely what you’re spending every month, allowing you to allocate funding where it’s needed. While unexpected hardware or software failures can occur, a managed IT services firm helps monitor the health of your systems as well as assist you in planning for upgrades, replacements, etc. The approach is proactive and also enables you to control your costs and allocate funds over time so that your team is supported by current, functioning systems and software.
7) Vendor Selection, Vetting and Oversight: It can be challenging keeping track of all your software and hardware vendors, selecting the right ones, and making sure they are performing what has been promised. Your MSP can help you with your vendors, saving you time and money.
8) Less Risk: With an MSP overseeing your IT infrastructure, they safeguard you from the risk of any problem that might come down the line. Having someone, you can rely on to manage risk might be worth the price all on its own.
How can Solace IT Solutions help?
Solace IT solutions can manage your IT systems for you, and enable you to focus on your business with confidence. If you’d like to learn more about our services for small and mid-sized businesses, click here. Or, if you’d like to receive a free IT assessment, click here.