Managed IT services is a way to outsource the day-to-day management of your information technology needs.
A Managed Service Provider (MSP) can supplement your in-house IT department or become your IT department, depending on your business goals, internal IT savvy, and budget.
A MSP is essentially your IT department. Managed IT Services proactively manages information technology assets on behalf of a customer. This differs from traditional IT which is a reactive service built around a break and fix model.
Managed service providers seek to prevent your IT infrastructure from breaking – providing your employees with continual access to the tools they need to do their jobs. Partnering with an MSP allows small and medium businesses to run their business on technology that would be beyond their budgets as a capital investment.
A great MSP will be a real partner for a business, helping to identify how IT can be used to best achieve a company’s overall goals. IT becomes a strategic asset, not a cost center.
There are various levels of service that an MSP can provide, from network monitoring and alerts that a company will then fix internally to full-fledged monitoring and problem resolution. Whether you have business offices in Las Vegas, San Diego or Southern California, here at AIS, our IT managed services come as an all-in-one bundle.
Of course, it is possible for companies to manage their own networks – sometimes even cost-effectively. Even so, there are opportunity costs from devoting resources into internal maintenance of a service that you could outsource (and thereby freeing budget to focus on more revenue-generating IT initiatives). Here are only a few common challenges of network management done in-house.
Common elements included in a managed network services partnership include:
The MSP Business Advantage
Yes, you’ll save money by moving from a break/fix model of addressing your IT infrastructure to a managed IT services arrangement. But there are advantages beyond simply saving money:
- Predictable budgeting – one set fee for services
- Access to leading network technologies and management expertise, without high capital expenditures or ongoing investments in upgrades, IT staffing, and maintenance resources
- One point of contact for vendor management simplifies trying to identify who is responsible for issues and vendor management
- Proactive management of the network allows preventative maintenance of equipment as well as immediate notification of fault
- Free your internal IT staff from network support so they can focus on strategic projects
- Service level agreements (SLAs) guarantee predictable response and resolution times for network problems and establish what is and isn’t covered in the relationship
Understanding whether or not you require an MSP is as simple as looking at your existing IT department or IT services provider and asking yourself the question, “Are my technology needs being met?” If you have a lot of unexpected costs, lots of downtime on your computers, or are unsure of whether or not you have the right IT systems in place, it's time to seek out a new partner.
We have offices in Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego that are ready to assist you.
