Managed Services monitor your IT with an expert eye
IT staff regularly find that a lack of time or financial resources are the biggest barriers to productivity that they face. This is according to a new survey carried out by JDL Technologies; the study found that in response to these issues, 36% of those asked have employed the skills of a Managed Service Provider (MSP), and it appears that during 2014, that number will to continue to rise, eventually reaching the 40% mark.
So why are more and more businesses deciding to explore the possibilities of outsourcing their IT? Here are the top 4 reasons:
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- LOWER TCO: Most sited reason was the reduction in downtime, coupled with the ability to reduce their IT costs.
- STAFFING: Of those asked by JDL, 73% reported a drop in the need for extra IT workers when an MSP steps in. This was mentioned as the overriding gain.
- PRODUCTIVITY: 68% also explained that the MSP allowed their permanent IT staff to become more active, freeing them up from day-to-day computer maintenance and housekeeping chores.
- INNOVATION: A further 61% said that MSPs brought the promise of advanced technological solutions, enabling their businesses to make use of more specialist knowledge than they could have hoped for previously.
Choosing the right MSP
When it comes to choosing the right MSP for their organization, companies were fairly unified in their response: An overwhelming 86% claimed that the reputation, as well as the price, of a provider was top of their list. They also carefully considered the references given by previous clients, the service level agreement terms, and how reliable the MSP was.
The MSP Alliance, an international body that represents the sector, explains the importance of their members as: “The operative distinction that sets apart a Managed Services Provider is the proactive delivery of service, as compared to reactive IT services, which have been around for decades.”
