Guide to managed IT services

Your guide to managed IT services

In this digital age, your business needs to be connected and running efficiently at all times. But IT issues can be unpredictable and costly in both time and money.

Having a smooth-running IT system is essential for your business to stay relevant. Investing in managed IT services is well worth the price; a recent study found that 70% of businesses that outsourced to managed IT services did so for the cost reduction benefits.

Outsourcing your IT needs to a managed IT service provider will have numerous short and long-term benefits to your business. It’s time to take a closer look at what managed services can do for you.

What are managed IT services?

Managed IT services is all about outsourcing the maintenance and operational aspects of your IT infrastructure to a third-party business. They provide technical support and services for their customers, as well as proactive IT solutions, remote monitoring, maintenance, and management of networks.

A managed IT service provider (MSP) will customise its services to meet your business needs. This could be anything from cloud migration and management, or advanced network security. Whatever you require can be talked through with your chosen MSP.

Once the details are decided, you enter into a service-level agreement that outlines the terms and conditions with the MSP. You’ll pay a monthly fee for these services and your MSP will endeavour to keep your IT systems and servers running and up-to-date at all times.

What services do MSPs offer?

The term “managed services” covers a range of operations and functions that are designed to improve your daily operations and reduce your expenses. An MSP’s goal is to proactively identify problematic areas in your IT system and swiftly resolve them before they evolve into bigger problems.

Common services offered by MSPs:

IT Support

an IT team will provide round-the-clock system monitoring and maintenance.

IT consulting

an IT consultant will advise you on your business’ IT strategy, assess your current situation, and recommend solutions.

Cybersecurity

your MSP will provide protection for your business’ digital assets and data.

Cloud services

MSPs will help you migrate to the cloud, manage your cloud infrastructure, and support your cloud database needs.

Managed IT services

your MSP will maintain your hardware and software equipment, and take care of all your technology needs.

Services offered by MSPs

Other services offered by MSPs:

Microsoft 365 suite

a Microsoft-partnered MSP will be able to offer you the full Microsoft 365 suite at reduced prices, along with full maintenance and updates.

<a href="https://www.steadfastsolutions.com.au/managed-it-services/endpoint-management/" data-wpil-monitor-id="94">Endpoint management</a>

the most vulnerable network points to cyber-attack. An MSP will provide protection for your data across all your business endpoints.

Network management

MSPs will install, configure, support, and <a href="https://www.steadfastsolutions.com.au/managed-it-services/managed-network/" data-wpil-monitor-id="158">manage your networks</a> to ensure you’re connected and running smoothly at all times.

<a href="https://www.steadfastsolutions.com.au/managed-it-services/unified-communications/" data-wpil-monitor-id="184">Unified communications</a>

voice, video conferencing, messaging, chatbot, and other communication management services.

The services on offer differ from provider to provider. A good MSP will want to understand your business from the inside out so that they can offer you a customised IT service package, detailed to your business model.

For example, you may want to take advantage of a Microsoft 365 offering, but not the full 30-plus application suite. Or you might be looking into migrating your data to the cloud, but don’t require the ongoing monitoring.

Managed IT service providers will work with you to understand exactly what your business and employees need to streamline day-to-day tasks and function more efficiently.

Why should I outsource my IT needs?

Outsourcing your IT needs to a managed service provider will guarantee you time returned, reduced costs, and peace of mind.

Running a business is difficult enough without the hassle of maintaining your IT infrastructure. Keeping a full, in-house IT team, expensive infrastructure, software updates and patches – all of it adds up quickly.

An MSP will respond to any network discrepancies at any time of the day or night before they become a problem. With round-the-clock support, you can rest easy knowing that when you turn the lights off at the end of the day, your networks are still being closely monitored.

Why spend your time worrying about your IT when you can turn those problems – and costs – over to a team of IT experts? MSPs house experts in every IT field you could need, and once you partner up, you’ll gain the full benefits of their knowledge and experience.

It’s time to ask for the best

You need to focus on growing your business and providing top-quality customer service to your clients. Turning your IT management and maintenance over to an MSP will free up your time so you can focus on increasing your business efficiency and productivity.

Outsourcing will help you stay on track, keep up with the competition, and streamline your day-to-day operations. If you’re ready to partner with the best managed IT service provider in the business, contact the IT experts at Steadfast Solutions and find out what they can do for you.