Cutting IT costs
Small to medium-size businesses (SMBs) often find themselves in a quandary in terms of their IT infrastructure. A stable, secure and reliable network with 24/7 availability is a must for any SMB. However, for that security, many companies have to pay a high price. In a competitive business world, SMB executives are cutting back on overheads, including IT management and maintenance, simply to survive in a cutthroat economy. While a company may see short-term benefits from this, it’s likely that spending less on your IT means your systems are vulnerable to data loss and failure, neither of which you can afford.
Employees and IT outage
Most SMBs are unable to employ an IT team to support their in-house needs; smaller companies may even find it difficult to employ a single IT ‘guy’. Those having an IT guy on the payroll are often not much better off than SMBs not having any onsite IT engineers. A lone IT professional is frequently overworked, being burdened with countless mundane troubleshooting tasks, day in and day out. A tired individual is a threat to the IT infrastructure of any business. In itself, human error can be as damaging as broken technology.
Gartner Inc., an IT research and advisory firm based in Connecticut, recently confirmed that people, not machines, are responsible for about 80% of technology failures in business. This statistic is supported by a statement in the IT Process Institutes Visible Ops Handbook detailing that 80% of unexpected outages result from inadequately managed IT by administrators, developers and engineers.
The downside of no in-house IT support
The outlook for SMBs that don’t possess at least one IT professional is far from ideal. These are the companies caught in the trap of break/fix mentality and are of the opinion that ‘it’ll never happen to us.’ It can. The break/fix model may lessen the immediate strain on an SMBs fragile budget. However, in the long run, it is a recipe for disaster. SMB owners and executives subscribing to break/fix need to realise how susceptible their business is to technology failure and the consequences thereof. Moreover, they should understand the causal link between a robust IT infrastructure and profitability.
On-call IT is expensive
The break/fix paradigm is reactive. Companies that apply this model have no proactive strategy in place to manage and monitor their precious network. When things go awry, these SMBs are completely at the mercy of offsite IT ‘specialists’, who are called upon in the style of a 999 emergency.
On-call IT consultants will have a minimum hourly rate of £80, not including travel time, the costs of hardware repairs or software updates and upgrades. Also, using on-call does not equate to a quick fix. The consultant will first need to assess and audit your systems and then decide on the best solution for disaster recovery. Here’s some food for thought: a major network repair will then take at least 24 hours and most on-call specialists will take at least 24 hours to show up. This protracted affair means extended downtime and greater loss in productivity. All the while, you’ll be watching your profits dwindle.
Before moving on to the good news, ask yourself this: Do these IT consultants have the best interests of your SMB in mind? Truth be told, they make money out of your technology misery. Taking this one step further: Bearing in mind their possible mercenary nature, are these specialists motivated to ensure the optimal operation of your network?
Enter managed services
Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are undoubtedly a cost-effective and logical IT solution for SMBs, even those with in-house tech support. Your local MSP will provide a streamlined and bespoke solution for your IT conundrum at fixed and affordable monthly rate. Your MSP can also support your IT staff by removing or diluting the troubleshooting load. If necessary, an MSP will assume full responsibility for the management and maintenance of your IT infrastructure and network.
Research confirms that companies using managed services save at least 30% on IT expenditure, while a lucky few may see a 50% benefit. Besides the financial advantage, you’ll also be free of stressing over technology and can focus on the fundamentals necessary to grow and expand your business. You will also have the benefit of knowing that your IT infrastructure is in the hands of a team of expert IT specialists, with proven experience, unprecedented knowledge and access to the latest technologies.
Managed services benefits
While the list of benefits for a company partnering with an MSP is long, take a quick look at some of the factors that will have an almost immediate impact on your core business: freed up resources, a reliable IT partner and best IT practice.
Freed up resources
The majority of costly hardware repairs and sky-high IT disaster recovery stems from inconsistent network monitoring and maintenance. These seemingly standard activities are nonetheless critical to your day-to-day business operations; by extension, your productivity and profit margins depend on them. That said, the tasks are also monotonous and repetitive and could easily be construed as a ‘time kill’ for your in-house IT employees. Without question, you and your IT engineers would feel much more fulfilled focusing on revenue-generating projects such as project development or devising innovative services and applications. In fact, this is the very reason why your internal IT support team may neglect routine monitoring and maintenance of your IT infrastructure thus making it vulnerable to failure and costly downtime.
An MSP is sometimes seen as a ‘threat’ by IT employees, who consider managed services a menace putting their job security at risk. This notion is unfounded; MSPs will attenuate the dullness of routine network operations maintenance by taking on these tasks and your staff can then concentrate on meaningful work for the betterment of your business. Moreover, the MSP will monitor server operation, routinely analyse your storage infrastructure and provide a network operations centre (NOC) and 24/7 help desk.
A reliable IT partner
When you outsource to an MSP, you will be establishing a true partnership, sharing risks and responsibilities while benefitting from the rewards of excellent IT management. Unlike on-call engineers who want to profit from your tech disasters, an MSP will deliver on all contracted services. Working in tandem with your in-house IT, the MSP will measure, report, analyse and optimise IT operations. The MSP will ensure that your technology is working as it should. The MSP is a disrupting catalyst, underpinning the growth and expansion of your SMB. An MSP is a reliable business partner that you can trust and who will assume leadership roles to enhance productivity. With a wealth of experience at their fingertips, the MSP will mitigate IT risks. They will also influence your office culture and dynamics by applying new technologies and processes to your internal IT framework.
Best IT practice
Through your MSP, you’ll be accessing the best IT practices and world-class tools and technologies. Bear in mind that the MSP will have worked with numerous businesses and organisations from all sectors and will have the insight and expertise to hone in on your specific IT requirements. Every client, whether a 500 employee enterprise or a 5 person start-up, has a unique set of business and technology needs. An experienced MSP knows this and will develop and implement customised business continuity (BC) and disaster recovery (DR) plans matching your IT specifications and SMB budget. Above all, it should be clear that the MSP will add value to your business.
To coin a cliché, leading the pack is critical in business today. A sound MSP will keep your business relevant and competitive through the use of evolving technology, consistent support and promoting productivity. With a secure and state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, you can’t go wrong.
Your 24/7 IT department
Imagine the luxury of possessing a fully staffed, full-time IT department that is operational around the clock. When you team up with your local MSP, that’s what you’ll have. Better still, it won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Gone will be the days of reactive IT management. Instead, you’ll be accessing on-demand expertise and have proactive technology monitoring and maintenance in place.
To sum up, the MSP will provide you, your executives and your strained IT employees flexible, affordable and continuous tech support. This includes, but is not limited to, computer, other hardware and server maintenance, software updates and patching, remote monitoring of critical network components such as firewalls, data backup and disaster recovery, and technology evaluation and planning.
With the aid of an MSP, your SMB will be free from expensive computer problems, cybersecurity threats such as hacking, ransomware, spyware and phishing, and prolonged downtime. What are you waiting for? Forget exploitative on-call engineers. Get your MSP on board and watch your profits grow.
With our unique zero minute response, direct-to-engineer support model we have had a 99.9% client retention rate since 2006.
With face to face strategy and account management, we are a trusted extension of your business. We remove the blame-shifting culture, by dealing with third-party providers on your behalf and provide simplified jargon-free solutions at predictable rates with our flat free unlimited support and services model.
Some of our clients include Edmond De Rothschild, Smart Meter GB and FMB.
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