EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MANAGED SERVICESA complete guide for Small to medium-sized businesses

In this guide, we’ll be looking at how managed services offer a way to have well-resourced IT infrastructure at low cost

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What are managed services?

You may have heard IT companies refer to themselves using the term ‘managed service provider’ (MSP). But what does that actually mean? It may sound like techie jargon, but in a nutshell, organisations can outsource some or all of their IT platform to an MSP, in order to make sure it is proactively managed, with potential issues spotted and eliminated before they turn into problems for the end user.

MSPs are popular, with *30% of executives outsourcing management of their organisation’s infrastructure. This figure is expected to rise to 41% over the next five years.

• Control IT spend

• Reduce staff costs

• A greater wealth of skills to draw on

• Quickly implement new technology

• Allow you to stay focused on your core business

• Keep up-to-date with compliance and security legislation

• Gain a competitive advantage

• No worries of IT staff being sick or on holiday

• Increase efficiency and competitiveness

*According to the 2017 IDC Application Services Survey

Key benefits:

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Why opt for managed services?

With technology growing in complexity at an incredible rate, small internal IT departments can struggle to keep up, even when making the best of limited resources. The ability to access external talent and resources is a massive draw for businesses, who would struggle to fulfill all of their needs by recruitment.

Saving money Not only does working with an MSP reduce the wage bill, but it helps control your IT spend, too. By paying a set monthly amount for your IT to be looked after, you don’t need to shoulder the worry of a hefty repair bill should you face a major, unexpected problem.

Make the most of your ITDo you need an MSP to manage all of your IT systems? Do you need them to work alongside your IT manager to deliver larger projects? A good managed service provider should work right alongside you as an extension of your business, so make sure you lay out your expectations from the beginning to ensure you’re on the same page.

Cyber securityWith an ever-changing landscape of security advice and legislation in response to the rapidly developing technology scene, good MSPs are resourced enough to make sure they keep on top of what’s going on, and that their customers are compliant with any legislation, and that their systems are protected by the required security measures.

Gain the competitive advantageSmall-medium sized organisations often don’t have the budget to match the in-house support services of larger companies. Outsourcing allows these smaller companies to have access to similar levels of technology and expertise, helping to level their industry playing field.

Quickly implement technology

Quality IT companies will have the resources required to plan and implement a project in a short time scale, bringing years of experience - ultimately saving the time and money involved in handling the same project in-house.

Allows you to focus on your core businessBusinesses have limited resources, which trickles down to managers who may have to budget their time and attention to certain tasks. Outsourcing to an expert MSP can help you focus on your important tasks, without having to waste time on making stressful and complex IT decisions without the knowledge.

Build a relationship By working with an IT company on an ongoing basis, you can build a relationship with them. This means they’ll have the opportunity to get to know you, your IT systems and setup. In the event of a problem, having this knowledge means it’s likely to be fixed much faster.

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Different managed services

Managed IT Support

Monitoring

It’s been mentioned previously, but managed IT support isn’t just about fixing problems. Remote monitoring allows any issues to be found and actioned before they start impacting business operations, which means minimal downtime and disruptions, and maximum productivity and effiiency. Knowing someone is in the background looking after your IT gives you the ultimate peace of mind.

Management

There’s a lot to managing your system, based on your organisation’s individual needs. Depending on your chosen MSP, your package could include implementing a Disaster Recovery plan, managing your backup solution, or managing third party services on your behalf.

Maintenance

It’s important to keep your systems in good health, and having managed IT support involves your chosen MSP performing regular updates, and patch management to keep everything working in ship shape and securely.

Security is an important part of maintenance, protecting your company data from cyber threats. Good MSPs will work with their customers to make sure that they’ve got an IT security setup suited to their individual needs, with the right configuration of antivirus, web filtering, email security and network security appliances.

There are three ‘M’s to managed IT support, and it’s how all good IT companies will go about managing your IT.

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Managed VoIPIn today’s business environment, communication is especially important.

Cloud based phone systems, or VoIP are a cost-effective alternative to traditional phone systems, providing flexibility and business-level features without the associated costs. Read our blog 5 ways to reduce your small business phonebill with VoIP to learn more about this.

MSPs who provide this service can look after your phone systems for you. This means setting up the system in a way that’s completely tailored to your business, choosing for external calls to ring certain chosen people in sequence, adding user profiles and so on and so forth.

Profiles can also be added easily, which means a new member of staff can be added to the system swiftly by your MSP, which saves you time and means they can start working straight away, rather than costing you time in dealing with third party telephone providers.

A well-managed telephone system means smooth communications, no unnecessary time wasted, and customer satisfaction when their phonecalls are answered efficiently by the right people.

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Managed HardwareYou might also hear Managed Hardware referred to as Hardware as a Service (HaaS).

Outdated IT equipment can be costly to a small-midsized organisation, as it can lead to lower rates of productivity due to slow machines, lower revenue as a result of reduced productivity, and the potential for lost data. Managed hardware is similar to leasing hardware equipment like servers or desktop computers which your business would likely have to purchase at considerable expense. However, as well as the equipment itself you also get a maintenance contract alongside it which can alleviate lots of headaches and provide big benefits.

• Reduced capital expense Managed Hardware is nearly always financed via a monthly contract. By alleviating a large capital expense and replacing it with a regular payment, it becomes a more manageable operating expense. Not only can this help cash flow, it can also make technology expenses easily budgetable, removing the unpredictability of replacement and upkeep.

• Improved scalability The technology needs of your business adapt and change as your organisation grows. Managed Hardware supports this, allowing you to add any number of new devices without the associated costs, depending on your business needs.

• Better security Having your IT proactively managed, also means that any security updates - including software updates containing security patches - will be carried out for you, so you know that any vulnerabilities will be addressed before they’re able to potentially cause you and your organisation problems.

• Regular maintenance Often new hardware is purchased, and then neglected due to ongoing costs, causing running issues. With Managed Hardware, your MSP will follow maintenance best practices, keeping everything up to date, so you don’t need to worry about things like the implications of a system crash after an expired warranty. Another benefit, is that updates are considered before being applied, which means you won’t have to deal with a pesky update causing more problems than it fixes!

• Always have up-to-date hardware You may have heard of Moore’s law, which is often used to talk about the speedy advancement of technology - this states that computer chip processing power doubles yearly. With this in mind, Managed Hardware is an excellent way to make sure your business can keep up with the technology you need to thrive.

Hardware doesn’t just mean PCs and laptops!

It can also include servers, switches, routers, firewalls, Wi-Fi access points and so much more!

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Pricing models for MSPsWith the popularity of managed services rising rapidly for small-midsized organisations there are quite a few differing ways of pricing managed services, and MSPs use this in order to make them stand out from the crowd. Here are some of the most popular ways.

Tiered pricing

One of the most popular models, tiered pricing, involves different packages. The more you spend on a service package, the more services you get. This allows MSPs to cater for businesses of all sizes, whilst still providing an excellent level of business service.

Per-device pricing

Businesses are billed a fee for monitoring certain devices. For example desktops might cost one fee, whilst laptops cost another. This allows businesses to know exactly how much adding a new device will cost, but the downside for larger businesses especially, is that this can get expensive quite quickly.

Per-user pricing

This means a flat fee is billed per end user on a monthly basis, and can cover support for all of the devices used by each user.

Want to know more?

If you’d like to know more about managed services and what’s involved, please feel free to get in touch with us. You can visit the contact page on our

website, prodigyitsolutions.com/contact

or call us on 01258 442888

Managed services could save you money and time, as well as eliminating the need for you to keep on top of your own IT systems.

www.prodigyitsolutions.com

info@prodigyitsolutions.com

01258 442 888

Everley, Iwerne StepletonDorsetDT11 8PT