Outsourcing is a major trend that has greatly defined doing business in the 21st century. Nowadays, it’s very rare to find a company that independently runs its entire operations. In order to meet the demands of the market, organizations outsource parts of their operations. In fact, the global outsourcing market amounted to USD 92.5 billion in 2019.
Enlisting third-party companies has become pretty common in today’s business. Outsource providers cover a broad spectrum of services that range from IT to energy to facility maintenance. Regardless of the service specialization, third-party providers aim to increase efficiency, productivity and ultimately boost revenues.
What is Managed IT Services?
Managed IT Services is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the outsourcing industry. By 2025, the global managed IT services market is expected to be at around USD 329.1 billion, with a growth rate of 8.1%. This trend is driven by the lack of skilled tech professionals, lower IT budgets, and cost reduction measures of companies.
As society shifts to cyberspace, the IT department has become an essential and necessary component of any organization to keep abreast of the rapidly evolving IT real. However, not all businesses have adequate resources to hire and maintain an organic technical department. Meanwhile, some other organizations might want to infuse expertise and advanced technology into their in-house team. This is particularly evident among small- and medium-sized businesses.
Managed IT services enable companies to meet their technical needs and stay competitive despite limited resources. They offer a wide variety of services that range from IT consulting, cybersecurity needs, data backup, and more.
An IT specialist at Firewall Technical emphasized that organizations face a wide range of IT challenges and problems. Likewise, managed IT service providers cover a broad umbrella of various types of managed services. Identifying your specific needs and knowing the service options offered by an MSP is important to maximize managed IT services.
Types of Managed IT Services
Here’s a quick look at the common managed IT services by service type.
Data protection services
Data protection, data backup and disaster recovery ensure that your business data are protected and safe from accidental loss, corruption, or breach. The MSP ensures that in case your data is lost or erased due to unwanted incidents, they can restore and get your files back.
This service is critical, as data loss can cause significant disruption or downtime in your operations. Typically, MSPs use a data backup solution alongside cloud storage services for maximum data protection. Managed IT services make you impervious to malicious attacks (such as viruses and malware), as data can be recovered.
Setting up a decent data loss and recovery plan can be a major challenge to organizations, because it involves a hefty investment. Enlisting MSPs is a cost-effective strategy to safeguard your data.
Enterprise software development services
The use of enterprise software is key to boosting productivity and efficiency of an organization, particularly with performing crucial tasks like customer relationship management, accounting, invoicing, etc.
Companies can tap MSPs to develop and deploy enterprise software for both web applications and computer software. With this service, businesses can gain the expertise of seasoned developers at a fraction of the cost.
IT administration
Majority of small businesses that rely upon technology for their operations don’t have the resources to hire experienced IT staff. Managed IT administration services cover the functions that an organic IT department would normally do, such as deal with hardware problems, troubleshooting problems, and setting up networks. This is a hands-on service that gives small businesses access to a third-party IT department.
IT administration is done on-site, especially for hardware management needs; although it can also be delivered remotely using screen-sharing solutions.
Cloud Computing Services
Businesses continue to leverage the power of cloud computing in their services. In fact, managed cloud services are one of the most common types of MSP availed by organizations.
Managed cloud service providers oversee the deployment and management of cloud-based platforms or solutions used by a company. Initially, the MSP set up the cloud-based application, ensuring compliance and security. Then, it trains the company for use or migration to the cloud.
They also offer continuous cloud services management, such as maintenance, management, upgrades, troubleshooting, and ongoing training. With MSP, organizations can off-load all the burden of maintaining and managing their cloud infrastructure to a third-party provider.
24/7 Management
Basically, this type of managed IT service covers day-to-day IT management. This option usually includes a help desk that provides assistance at any time should unforeseen incidents arise. They ensure that there are no technical glitches and immediately troubleshoots issues as they are monitored or reported. Depending on the service level agreement, 24/7 management may include implementing patches, managing backup systems, monitoring for intrusions.
By delegating routine maintenance and troubleshooting tasks to an MSP, the internal IT department can focus on crucial tasks, innovation and growth. This makes day-to-day operations much easier as disruptions and emergencies are handled timely.
Network security
Network security remains a major concern of many organizations, hence this service option is commonplace. This type of managed IT service covers the implementation of network software, hardware, and security policies; network intrusion prevention and detection; email security; device management, monitoring and troubleshooting; data breach protection; and other network security processes.
It requires the close coordination between the client and the service provider to delineate the roles and responsibilities of each party. It offers relief for organizations that may not be equipped with resources and expertise to ensure comprehensive network security.
On-site staff
This type of managed IT service offers an additional set of hands, as well as expertise, to an existing IT team. If a company needs extra staff for periods of growth, transition or high demand, the organization can tap on the MSP which provides the needed on-site IT manpower. Many companies use this service to consult with IT specialists for their important business decisions.
In most cases, hiring additional, permanent manpower is not feasible and recommended, especially for meeting temporary needs. On-site staffing provides on-demand resources that organizations can tap on the initiation of the project and stop once it is completed.
Conclusion
In today’s business landscape, IT is a necessity. This is true not just to major businesses but also to small- and mid-sized enterprises. Regardless of business size, you’ll need some level of IT support to ensure that the network stays up-to-date and responsive. However, due to a variety of limitations, IT support might not be easy to attain.
Fortunately, there are plenty of managed IT service providers that offer all the vital services and processes to maintain your IT system. They offer wide range and flexible options, so you can choose the specific service that meets your needs.
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