Signs That You Need Managed IT Services

There’s no question that outsourcing IT is where most businesses are going. For small businesses, having internal IT departments is too costly. For bigger companies, their internal IT teams are often dealing with too many day-to-day technical problems to be of use for larger technological strategies. It’s a hard game to balance, but when push comes to shove, many companies are leaning toward managed IT services.

At its most basic, managed IT is a flat-rate, outsourced service to help you manage the daily ebbs and flows of your workflow. Cabling, hardware, network setup, Wi-Fi, cybersecurity: Managed services takes your entire technical infrastructure and ensures it’s working correctly, efficiently and safely.

But the transfer of IT responsibility can often be a barrier to cross. When is the right time to outsource your business’s IT? There are several indicators to help you decide if managed services is right for you.

You have no ability to monitor use.

A common issue with businesses is the inability to monitor access to data. Part of this is often found in bad file sharing permissions and access-level problems. Your business relies on its data, but when that data is easily and openly accessible by anyone with your Wi-Fi password, you’re taking a huge risk.

A good MSP (managed services provider) will help you delineate roles and access levels based on job titles. Then, highly sophisticated tools will help you monitor and track activity 24/7.

This way, you always know what’s going on behind your network.

Your tech support is too slow.

The problem with most tech support is simply an issue of investment. For break/fix tech support, the longer they’re working on your technical issues, the more they get paid.

For an MSP, the better your system functions, the more of that flat, monthly rate they get to keep. It’s in the MSP’s best interest to give you 24/7 help desk support and proactive monitoring and maintenance.

You have no idea if your backups work.

Business continuity should be on every owner’s mind. Backups are crucial components: You don’t want to wait until it’s too late to find out if your backups work.

True backups need redundancies, whether on-premise, in the cloud, or both, and they need to be tested over and over again. Most business owners assume their backups work great – until they don’t.

You have frequent bouts of downtime.

Downtime can crush a business. When your network seems to shut down frequently, no matter what your current IT support has said they’ve done, you’re looking for answers. MSPs are the kings of uptime. Keeping your staff productive is the essence of managed IT services.

Did you know? “81% of enterprises say the cost of downtime exceeds $300K on average.” – ITIC

You have no cybersecurity procedures in place.

All data shows that cybercrime increases year over year, and there’s nothing slowing it down. Ransomware toolkits are getting easier to use, and small and medium businesses are taking the brunt of that.

Without a proper cybersecurity plan, many business owners know they are playing with fire. With an MSP, all that changes. You get a full plan with procedures, protocols and training for your staff.

No more making it easy for hackers.

You don’t know how to bring technology into your strategic planning.

Finally, you have big plans. But how do you align your technology with your long-term goals? MSPs bring the business acumen to the table, giving you C-level strategic thinking with technology expertise to help you achieve your desired results.

Learn more about managed IT support for business.