Managed IT services can support your business by delivering significant cost savings and value. However, before contacting a company that provides managed IT services, it is important to determine if it’s beneficial for your business. Every solution has pros and cons.
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To help you answer this inquiry, we will provide an objective look at the pros and cons of managed IT services. But first, what are managed IT services?
What is Managed IT Service?
Managed IT service is a solution that outsources a company’s IT management and support functions to an expert third-party organization. This allows a business to focus on its core competencies while reducing costs and remaining in touch with innovative technology trends.
This service is executed by a managed service provider (MSP) specializing in managing and providing IT support and strategic technology guidance to businesses. Letting managed IT providers handle your technology operations allows you to have access to world-class technology capabilities and skills without having to hire, train, and manage an IT department. Additionally, unlike break/fix services, an MSP proactively monitors your systems to ensure business downtimes are minimized and IT problems are fixed immediately.
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Understanding Managed IT Service: Pros and Cons
Pros of Managed IT Service
1. Reduced Costs
Compared to hiring in-house IT personnel, managed IT service lets you save 45-70%* of your costs on salaries alone. Additionally, not having personnel physically in the office lets you save on equipment, office space, and more.
*Cost savings are based on the average US salaries of PC and Network/Server Engineers compared to Cyzerg’s managed IT service.
2. Proactive Management – Increased Uptimes and Quality of Service
As mentioned in the definition of MSP above, your managed IT provider proactively monitors your systems 24/7/365 to identify problems before they happen and minimize downtimes. Often, a one- or two-person in-house IT department is always firefighting technology problems and has no time to think, plan, and execute strategies. With proactive management, you can nearly eliminate the possibility of downtimes, which are costly and reputation-damaging. Additionally, the client is guaranteed consistent uptimes and quality of service through a legally binding service level agreement (SLA).
3. Dedicated and Specialized Personnel
With managed IT service, you have access to a team of technology engineers who are dedicated and specialized in specific IT fields and are continually training and learning the latest industry trends. This ensures your IT infrastructure is maintained using industry best practices and issues are fixed quickly.
To put it into perspective, an in-house IT team with one or two personnel likely has a limited scope of skills and IT specialization. They will also require constant training and education, which are added costs, to stay on top of emerging technologies, security measures, and compliance laws.
4. No Personnel Single Point of Failure
If a company has a limited IT budget, it can only hire one person. This creates a single point of failure when the IT engineer is preoccupied with a critical task. With managed IT service, a team of technology engineers is ready to help you with the cost of one in-house IT engineer. This eliminates the single point of failure of having one personnel at a lesser cost.
5. Reduced HR Challenges
HR challenges, such as recruitment and retention, are reduced with managed IT services or IT outsourcing. Since it outsources your IT operations to another entity, it transfers the HR responsibilities to the MSP, allowing you to focus on more important matters in the company.
Cons of Managed IT Service
1. Decreased Synergy Between Business and IT
Since an MSP handles multiple accounts and/or businesses, it may be unable to develop a deep understanding of your internal infrastructure and specific industry and business needs. This is a tradeoff that MSPs have to achieve economies of scale and lower managed IT service costs for businesses.
To alleviate this drawback, find an MSP specializing in accommodating businesses in your industry. This ensures your business and MSP are aligned in knowing your industry needs, which results in a more reliable IT service.
2. Less On-Site Availability
Since personnel for managed IT services are not physically in the office, they are less available to fix urgent issues. Furthermore, if the MSP has no local office, it cannot offer on-site support. To ease this disadvantage, ensure your MSP provides on-site services and is available to call for immediate support.
3. Reduced Knowledge Retention
Lastly, when outsourcing operations, the business reduces its ability to build its own processes and retain knowledge. This is a critical strategic resource when building companies since business processes ensure consistent results and make information transferrable. It is also a critical aspect of company valuations.
Summary
Managed IT services provide many advantages, especially if you are trying to reduce costs or be more efficient. Nevertheless, it is important to note their disadvantages and whether they can affect your business. Some of the cons can be alleviated while still reaping significant benefits. So, if the drawbacks are controllable, managed IT service is right for your company.
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