Who Needs Managed IT Services?

Organizations are being asked to adjust to ever-changing circumstances at lightning speed. How are you keeping up? If your technology is creating problems rather than solving them, you are already running behind.

Can you support your new, remote workforce? Do you have a unified IT strategy? Do you know where all your assets are? How are you identifying - and mitigating - your cybersecurity risks? As business IT continues to grow in scope and complexity (the options really do seem endless), more organizations are considering Managed IT Services to meet their needs. 

So What is Managed IT Services? 

Managed IT Services can mean different things to different organizations - but it generally means outsourcing part or all of your IT to a Managed Services Provider (MSP) who is responsible for monitoring, alerting, troubleshooting, and remediation of your IT at a contracted service level (within x amount of hours, for instance). Most MSPs include Virtual CIO services as a part of their offering, which can prove invaluable when it comes to creating a technology strategy and the associated budget. 

So Who Needs Managed IT Services?

Well… as the COO of a San Diego and Colorado Managed Services Provider, my stock answer is that most companies can benefit from the services of an MSP. More specifically, our new clients usually fall into one of the following categories:

1. Growing organizations with little to no internal IT expertise. If you are part of a small business that is positioning for revenue or headcount growth, chances are you could use a little help creating a strategy that can support it. A good MSP will consult on bandwidth and security issues, create a disaster recovery plan, and help you determine exactly which tool set will fit your needs - now, and five years down the road.
2. Organizations whose homegrown approach isn’t working. At Xceptional, we often support organizations that are transitioning from an internal IT department to the MSP model. While many organizations have healthy and productive internal IT departments, for those that are unable to keep up, to stay abreast of new (often cheaper) technologies, and the onslaught of security threats, the results can be rough. On a good day, bad IT can lead to frustration, lost productivity, and expense. On a bad day it can result in business-threatening security breaches or data loss. MSPs leverage their broad experience across industries and business sizes, as well as deep vendor relationships, to bring to the table cutting edge solutions and recommendations.
3. Organizations that need specialists. Even those “healthy and productive internal IT departments” that I referenced above sometimes need some help from an expert. Organizations with a bench of internal technicians often partner with MSPs for specialty escalations - an alternative that allows these organizations to save on FTE costs for PTE needs, while leveraging a bench of senior level resources to provide remote and onsite troubleshooting, remediation, and recommendations.

In recent years, the number of small- and medium-size companies choosing Managed IT Services has increased because of the cost savings and improved efficiencies that come with them. Over the next five years, this trend is expected to continue from $223 billion to $329.1 billion primarily due to a lack of skilled IT professionals, cost reductions, and IT budget cuts that will force organizations to seek help from managed service providers.

So, do you need Managed IT Services?

If you’re still on the fence, check out the checklist we’ve created for you. If you’re ready to talk to one of our experts about a solution that might work for you, feel free to contact us today.

By Danielle Carpenter

COO/CFO of Xceptional