5 Best Managed IT Services to Outsource

by | Jun 3, 2014 | IT outsourcing, Managed IT Services, Managed Services

IT supportShould you do it yourself, or should you let a managed network services provider do it? It’s a tough call, and a lot of the decision depends on the budget and IT needs your business has.

Here are some of the top services you should consider in general, regardless of your business:

    1. Data Security: Data security is simply not something to play around with. If you have any doubts whatsoever that your company cannot protect itself from threats like Heartbleed, then think strongly about hiring a managed services provider to do the job for you.
    2. Physical Infrastructure: This can save millions of dollars, speaking in terms of maintenance and labor costs. It’s also very expensive to design and implement your own physical infrastructure. To make sure you save money, you have to negotiate the contract carefully. Make sure you know exactly what you get for what you pay, and your business can save capital which can be diverted to other business tasks.
    3. Moving Your Equipment: If you’ve found a new location for your IT equipment, that can be another good reason to outsource to a managed IT services provider. Moves don’t sound like much. But once you think of all the steps involved with a move, like planning when it will happen, how much power and cooling you’ll need, how many man hours it takes, and what your downtime will be, you can see how complex it gets. Then, multiply that complexity by the amount of IT equipment you have, and you can see why moves are worth outsourcing. This goes doubly if you’ve never done one before.
    4. Printing Process & Printer Maintenance: Most of the cost of printing comes after you purchase the printer. Ink is generally the main culprit of the additional costs. Paper and maintenance can both increases costs substantially too. At Great Lakes, we’ve also found printer issues account for the most help desk calls (even more than laptops and personal computers).
    5. Server Storage Devices & Storage Maintenance: This tip is similar to the data security tip. Again, if you don’t have the skills to maintain your storage devices, then outsource it to someone else. You need to have that backup available if disaster strikes at your business.

You can outsource any and all aspects of your IT department. But, those are some of the main aspects you should consider outsourcing.

Learn more about the author Bob Martin