Maybe you’ve overlooked managed services in the past because you weren’t ready… ready to pay someone to do what you felt you could… ready to outsource control of critical business functions… ready to trust anyone other than yourself to protect your business. But, now that you’re running full-steam ahead with your 2017 plans, you realize something’s gotta give. Here are four ways that outsourcing your IT services can help relieve your burden and free you up to focus on growth.
-
- Enhanced Security.We’re no longer just trying to protect our office computers and servers from breaches, we have to look at the bigger picture, including smartphones, laptops, tablets, and wearable tech. Your staff, like everyone else in the world, is hooked in all the time. All of it is capable of hooking into your system, and most of the time, your staff puts your data security at risk without even being aware of it. If your security was represented by the walls of a house, imagine all those access points as open windows. Hackers can quickly assess the easiest targets, and a small to mid-sized company with lax security protocols are ripe for the picking. Managed Service Providers (MSP) are experts in up-to-date security measures. It’s a full-time job learning about all the new threats on the horizon and then how to address them. Don’t make it your full time job. When it comes to data security, not only is DIY a risky approach, it could very well be catastrophic to your business.
- Proactive IT Management.
It’s not realistic for business owners to be constantly monitoring the state of their network, software, and hardware. When self-administering your infrastructure, you’ll find your time is spent putting out fires and addressing emergencies, like network crashes, equipment failures, and supply re-ordering. An MSP monitors your IT state 24/7/365. Security services can proactively build new defenses in advance of new attack strategies. Managed Print Providers (MPP) can remotely monitor your toner level and have the replacement installed before the old one runs out. If there’s a network slowdown, your MSP will detect it immediately and make the adjustments needed to improve your service without you ever being bothered with it. As your equipment performance starts to wane, your MSP will know what needs to be done, whether it’s a simple repair or if a replacement is needed. You’ll be able to plan for the expense of new equipment in advance, instead of emergency replacement. - Maximize Uptime. Now that we’ve enhanced security and are getting problems fixed before they even become problems, you stay online and your productivity increases. Every equipment or network failure slams the brakes on your team’s progress, and impacts your customer experience. Managed IT services eliminate those failures, and you help streamline everyone’s work flow. Your IT staff will be freed up to focus on growth issues, not emergencies as well. It is estimated that 1 in 4 help desk calls are printer-related. They would have 25% more time to use towards improving the business.
- Modern Technology Updates. If you are fortunate enough to have in-house IT staff, they may be great at what they do but likely spend most of their time responding to issues instead of getting ahead of them. Are they proficient in the newest technologies available? An MSP provides knowledgeable and current expertise in addition to being able to repair and maintain your current environment. Your staff and your clients will reap the benefits of applying new technology, like cloud computing, Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD), and disaster recovery.
There are so many critical IT services that can now be outsourced. Great Lakes Computer has been offering a wide-range of managed services for the last 30 years, and we continue to offer new ones as the IT environment has evolved. Whether it be cloud computing, server monitoring, managed print, cybersecurity, or hardware service, we can make sure your data is flowing safely and freely and free you up to grow your business.
