Why Do People Sign Up For Managed IT Services?

If you have a company, you may have at some time received a proposal for Managed IT Services. This has become a much more common service people have signed up for over the last 15 to 20 years. It used to be that each company would have their own IT professionals, and they would take care of the network. Now companies tend to opt for a Managed IT Service provider, but why?

In December 2022, we will have reached 30 years of providing Managed IT Services. We have been in this industry since the beginning, and been at the forefront of important parts of this industry’s growth (like building out the processes many IT companies around the country use today.)

In this article we cover why people are signing up for Managed IT Services, and if you haven’t, why you might want to consider it. We will also cover who may not be the best fit for a traditional Managed IT Services agreement.

Why Outsource IT When I Can Just Hire My Own Help?

This is the first big question. Why bother? There are a few main reasons people prefer a managed IT company vs having their own internal IT staff. Let’s look at some of the reasons we have heard from our clients for why they decided to hire a Managed IT Services company.

• Diversity of Skills – When you hire a Managed IT company, you get a whole team of experts, not just a single expert. With Novatech, for example, there are hundreds of people, all with different skills, certifications and passions. When you hire a single person or small team, the knowledge is limited, no matter how smart and accomplished the person is. Having a team helps cover all the areas of technology you care about.
• Coverage –  When people go on vacation, if there are only one or two people in the department, it is a huge burden to your company. When there are dozens on the team, coverage is planned for, and there isn’t any reduction in coverage when a team member goes on vacation. The fact you always have people you can call because someone else is on vacation is nice.
• Staffing –  If you are not an IT expert, how do you even know who to hire to help you with your IT? One of the biggest issues is finding quality staff and dealing with the employment laws and obligations of having staff. When you work with a Managed IT Services company, that problem goes away, as it is another company’s responsibility.
• Cost – For most companies, the cost of a Managed IT Services agreement will be lower than the cost of finding, training and maintaining an IT staff that can do the same quality of work.
• Security –  When you work with a Managed IT Services company, you get enterprise-level protection, even if you are not as big as a Fortune 500 company. These tools are required for the Managed IT Services company to maintain their clients, and you get the very best tools for the money, as they are already a part of the the provider’s tech stack.

What About Break-Fix IT Support?

Very few companies go the break-fix route these days. The break-fix model is more of a reactive, fix-the-problem-after-it-happens scenario. Managed IT Services is all about proactive support. The goal with Managed IT Services is to not have the issues or problems in the first place. Break-fix looks to address concerns as they come up.

For some smaller companies who aren’t as worried about data retention and computer security, this can work, especially if they don’t need a help desk to support users who are having computer problems. We find this is much more common with companies who have five or few employees. The small companies often only utilize cloud services, and if a computer breaks, they can simply buy another. The owner helps team members with their IT, or they have a trusted person who doubles as the technology specialist within the company.

Of course, we would not recommend this as a long-term strategy, but when starting a company or maintaining a small operation, the costs of Managed IT Services are just too high, and the user help desk experience is unneeded. So there could be a time and place where you would want to find a solid IT pro who could support a break-fix agreement.

We Can Help!

You have choices when it comes to IT support.  We have been in business nearly 30 years, and that is a huge benefit of working with Novatech.

The most important questions you will need to answer before you hire your IT Services company:

• Will they keep my computers running?
• Will they keep my computers safe?
• Will my data be protected?
• Will this company I am hiring last for the long term?
• Will this agreement make the lives of my staff easier or harder?

We would love to chat with you about why you might want to consider Managed IT Services for your company!