You might be considering managed IT services because you’re worried about your IT security, you don’t have any in-house IT staff, or technology has become complicated with more remote employees. This is the case for many businesses– they need help with certain parts of IT that aren’t working well for their business OR all their day-to-day technology needs. 

A managed IT services provider helps with specific issues to meet short-term IT goals, but a good MSP partner can also revolutionize IT strategy and tailor it to meet bigger, long-term goals. Whether it’s long-term IT goals or the company’s future business plan in general, bringing in managed IT services can make these goals a reality. 

In the short-term

The most obvious benefits of managed IT services are short-term, tangible deliverables that make life a lot easier right away. When an MSP partners with a business, the day-to-day operations that require time and energy from in-house employees are suddenly off their plate. If you have in-house IT staff, they can focus on special IT projects or bigger picture IT strategy. 

Some of the shorter-term tasks that managed IT services offer include security or data loss prevention, continuous tech support, regular maintenance and monitoring, and access to vendors & the best technology. 

• Security & data loss prevention

One of the most important components of any company’s IT strategy should be protecting their network and company data. This is one of the most common reasons people seek out managed IT services, because gaps in security can lead to the biggest company losses. 

• 24/7 Support 

When employees are working remotely or continually relying on the network and specific software to do their jobs, they need constant access to IT support for technical difficulties in case things don’t go as planned. Managed IT services provide this support, reducing headaches and downtime. 

• Maintenance & monitoring 

Hardware maintenance and software updates are another necessity in today’s digital world. Managed IT services take care of the routine maintenance to keep things running smoothly. MSPs also monitor the network, watching for potential issues and seeing where traffic or hold ups happen. 

• Access to vendors & the best technology 

MSPs have relationships with vendors and knowledge about the best technology. By bringing in managed IT services, your business will be able to get access to the most innovative technology for your needs and industry, while partnering with someone who can get you the right package with vendors. 

This is a sample of some of the benefits of partnering with managed IT services that solve short-term problems. Efficiency in these different day-to-day tasks is a vital part of good IT strategy, but great IT strategy includes bigger, long-term IT goals that assist with overall company goals. Managed IT services can help make these happen, too. 

In the long-term 

Since IT has a hand in almost all business operations, long-term goals for improving your business’ IT capabilities will make your business more profitable in the long run. One of the first things an MSP does is run tests and evaluate your network infrastructure and the way it’s functioning. This and many other services provided by a managed IT services provider determine your IT’s current efficiency and see if it can be improved. 

Through consistent data gathering, an MSP can figure out key performance indicators (KPIs). This includes things like lead time, cycle time, and open and close rates relating to your technology’s support for these processes. A good MSP will also determine mean time for recovery– coming back from any failure or outage, for repair–getting a system repaired as well as tested, and for between failures–measuring the time between failures or outages. 

With data like this in hand, business leadership and the managed IT services provider work collaboratively to devise goals for improving a company’s capability in many areas. These include software workflows and integration, communication, data center and storage, key infrastructure components, risk management, and autonomy in troubleshooting.

• Software workflows and integration 

It is likely that your company uses a host of different software services that all need to work together efficiently. Using KPIs that shed light on this area of your network infrastructure, your MSP can establish goals for improvement. 

• Communication 

Business communication, collaboration, and workflow all depend on your network’s ability to support your essential software. Business operations are all touched by this part of your IT capability, so improving it over time is imperative. Managed IT services evaluate these tools and performance, helping to create goals for improving this part of your business’ network. 

• Data center and storage

MSPs focus heavily on data: Where is data kept? What type of data center does your business have? How can it become more secure and efficient? Should you migrate to the cloud? Monitoring, protecting, and migrating data are long-term projects that managed IT services offer, making recommendations for improvement based on their evaluations.

• Infrastructure 

Hardware and software are the core components of your network infrastructure. Through data gathering of KPIs, evaluating the network’s overall performance, and knowing the cost of upgrading or replacing any part of the network infrastructure, MSPs create long term goals for improvement. 

• Risk management 

Having managed IT services will include experts who focus on risk mitigation and management. While they provide this service, security experts also seek out ways to improve risk management, using KPIs and evaluations on the threats to your business, determining long term goals for improving risk management. 

• Autonomy, or helping yourself

As efficient as MSPs are in providing tech support, there are many times that employees can troubleshoot simple IT issues themselves. In these cases, it’s not efficient for employees to always seek out IT help. If there are tech issues in your business where employees consistently ask for IT help with a similar problem or if the same issue constantly arises, an MSP can create a long-term goal to assist.

Aligning with overall goals 

Whether it’s cutting operational costs or increasing profit margins, meeting sales targets, reaching or gaining new potential clients or customers, securing new partnership opportunities, or more, managed IT services help companies meet major organizational goals through quality and efficient IT. MSPs offer the IT strategy that allows your company to meet large and small goals, from consistent uptime to flawless collaboration tools.

Call us 

Our professionals at Royal Network IT Solutions, Inc. have over 50 years of experience providing technical support to businesses in the Tustin and Eastvale areas of California. As technology has evolved and challenged a company’s need for technology support, we have expanded our ability to provide a range of managed IT services to our clients.

If you’re considering hiring a managed service provider, we can discuss what services might work the best for you. Call or email us today for a consultation at (949) 236-7700 or services@rnitsolutions.com.