In an increasingly online world, the importance of IT cannot be understated for businesses.
Most companies (89%) expect their IT budgets to grow or stay steady in 2019, with the need to upgrade outdated IT infrastructure is the biggest driver of these budget increases (source).
However, balancing the upgrades and maintenance of your IT infrastructure, as well as the day-to-day IT needs of your employees and customers can become an overwhelming experience for your IT department.
Choosing a managed services provider can help to alleviate this problem – keeping your systems business as usual – allowing your IT department to focus on improving business efficiency and performance.
But, first…
What is a Managed Service Provider?
A managed service provider (MSP) is an organisation that remotely manages a customer’s IT network and infrastructure, as well as their on premise or cloud applications.
Providing extra IT support when you need it most, managed service providers acts as an extension of your IT team – ensuring that your business’ IT systems remains secure, robust, and operational.
Typically, MSPs operate under a subscription model, creating a scalable IT solution that allows you to choose the coverage that’s the best value for your organisation.
How do Managed Services work?
When outsourcing your IT to a managed service provider, you will have an initial consultation to assess your current IT environment. The infrastructure you have invested in, the systems you use, and your end-to-end applications will be reviewed to ensure that you receive the most suitable managed services support for your business.
As a leading managed service provider, we proactively review your security, infrastructure and system performance and let you know if there are any areas of concern, or network improvements. We also monitor and detect threats to your system in real time, taking immediate action when required, while keeping you informed to protect your business.
What Services can an MSP Offer?
Typically the services that a managed service provider can offer your business is tailored to your IT needs. Typically services provided include:
- IT Support– keeping your infrastructure operational and secure.
- Endpoint Protection– monitoring your applications and network to ensure all suspicious activity is detected and re-mediated.
- Compliance– ensuring you are GDPR compliant.
- Firewall Management– managing your firewall, making sure it’s always optimised and up-to-date to guard against the most recent advances in security threats.
- Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) – constantly monitoring the integrity of your entire IT system, and creates an alert if any potential weaknesses are detected.
Why Choose a Managed Service Provider?
There are many benefits to working with a managed service provider. Here’s why your business should consider working with an MSP:
- Cost Effective– by only paying for the cover your business needs, you can rest assured that your infrastructure is secure without needing to break the bank.
- Flexible– if you only require office-hours support, there’s an option for you, or if you need round the clock, 7 days a week support, you can have the option that gives you the level of managed IT support your business needs.
- Peace of Mind– enables you to focus on your business without having to worry about your IT.
- Expertise – working with a managed service provider allows your business to access a wide pool of knowledge that may not be otherwise available within your in-house IT team.
- Secure – proactively monitoring your IT systems and infrastructure ensures that your business is protected from evolving security threats.
How much do Managed Services Cost?
The cost of working with a managed services provider varies depending on the support your business needs.
At Axians C&C, our Cloud and cybersecurity support services are flexible, so you can choose the Service Desk coverage that’s the best value for your organisation. So, whether you need 8-5 support, or 24-7 assistance, we have a range of cloud and cybersecurity managed service packages to help ensure your business continues to operate at maximum efficiency. To learn more about what is a managed services provider, and how we can help keep your business, speak to one of our expert consultants today.