The Managed Service industry is experiencing a major growth trend. More and more, SMBs are realizing that in order to stay competitive with the big guys, they may need to outsource some of their functions to experts, so they can focus on their own expertise. Here are 5 good reasons to consider Managed Services, from MSPblog:

1. 1. Increased efficiency/reliability of IT operationsOften, SMBs have over-burdened IT staff with employees who may lack the skills and training for certain tasks or can’t handle the whole of the company’s network on their own. These companies recognize the value of working with an outside technical support team. According to CompTIA’s report, “60 percent of end users describe their managed services engagement as a collaborative arrangement with their internal IT department, suggesting that certain IT areas fall into the MSP bucket, while others remain in house.” Notice how the reason provided is to improve the abilities of the in house team, not to do away with these IT employees altogether.
   2. Enhanced security/compliance
      
      Laptops, desktops, smartphones, applications, tablets, servers, operating systems, browsers, wearable technology and the like all store and transmit data and thus require the strictest security measures. Networks require around-the-clock monitoring, as well as up-to-date knowledge of threats and solutions; which most SMBs can’t afford to staff with a full-time position. MSPs are experts at prevention, detection, and remediation of threats.
   3. Proactive approach to maintenance
      
      Business owners don’t want to have to think about their daily IT operations. They don’t want to have to second-guess the reliability and speediness of their network connection. Similarly, they don’t want to have to worry about what the state their IT environment will be when they commute in to work each morning. They choose to work with an MSP because they can provide 24/7/365 coverage.
   4. ROI/cost savings
      
      One of the biggest business values of managed services is greater cost savings. IT budgets consist of many items: hardware costs, software and network infrastructure costs and maintenance costs, to name a few. With the managed services business model, customers are able to more easily predict their IT costs on a month-to-month basis. Freeing up more staff time to devote to higher value projects they’re properly equipped to manage increases productivity overall.
   5. Free IT staff to work on strategic projects
      
      IT employees can increase productivity by concentrating on those projects and assignments they’re the best suited to tackle. It doesn’t make sense to pay a full-time employee with little-to-no experience to migrate their on-premise Exchange servers to Microsoft Office 365 when they could outsource the same task to an IT support technician with the appropriate level of skill and experience, at a fraction of the cost. Managed services will help them maximize employee productivity and satisfaction.

If you’re looking to free up your staff to focus on business growth opportunities by partnering with a Managed Service Provider, contact Great Lakes Computer. We offer a host of managed service options for every size business.