How businesses view IT support has changed dramatically over the years. For many business owners, it was believed that IT support was the small group that keeps the internet functional and fixed the occasional printer.
However, that environment has shifted and many businesses realize that IT support is now critical for their business and can play a role in the survival of the business.
Without a doubt, small and large businesses need IT support today if they want to be relevant, competitive, and continue to grow. The question now becomes, what is the best way to get this support?
Two Options: Internal Or External
Regardless of business, there are two options for businesses to answer for their IT department. The first option is hiring the team internally. While this is a typical route for many businesses, there are several limitations to doing that – which are addressed below.
The second option is to hire a managed service provider – or MSP. These are third-party companies that will function as an IT support for businesses.
Regardless of the decision, business leaders today need to be strategic about these options. In fact, many business leaders fail to realize there is a third option: a hybrid of the two options above. The key is to understand when these options can be appropriate.
Having an MSP working within a business – at any capacity – would be worthwhile. Here are some key reasons why.
MSPs Simplify The Complexity
Businesses have a lot of tasks on their plates and business owners are working hard to put out the fires so to speak. Attempting to take on everything from IT support to creating IT roadmaps would be disastrous.
Even the greatest business leaders in the world can’t keep up with every little detail.
Partnering with an MSP will allow business owners time to focus on what they do best while an MSP handles all of the background tasks.
Makes For Clear KPIs
MSPs are key to businesses today and any MSP who recognizes this will begin with clear articulate goals and expectations. They’ll even provide KPIs to reinforce that. These accomplish several things:
- First, key performance indicators define them so that businesses can put together better plans
- Second, it allows business leaders to measure results accurately from before an MSP gets involved and when it is involved
- Third, it makes it clear what businesses can expect from their MSP
Better Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is a growing concern for businesses now more than ever. It’s estimated now that even a single successful data breach causes 48% of businesses to close their doors for good.
The big issue with cybersecurity is that the climate of cybercrimes is changing too much and too quickly. It’s at a point now where it changes daily and businesses aren’t able to keep up with the latest scams and schemes.
MSPs however are there to be doing that for businesses. As a result, MSPs will be taking a proactive approach to cybersecurity protection and will do everything they can to ensure a data breach doesn’t happen and that businesses stay afloat.
Better Efficiency & Performance
Technology can be difficult to adopt for various reasons or it’s difficult to deal with. There are learning curves and if things ever go wrong, staff must spend time doing DIY troubleshooting. This is on top of setting up new technology too.
In the end, this may take a few precious minutes here and there, but these things all add up eventually. As a result, businesses may spend several hours per year out of their workday fixing or trying to work through programs or technology.
Those hours can easily be saved with having an MSP on board. MSPs also aim to work out all the issues before they have a chance to affect any work. In the end, less time fixing problems means creating solutions for the company and growing profits.
Consultations
Another reason for having MSPs in businesses’ strategic IT support is they’re willing to have consultations and make plans with business leaders. MSPs work to streamline the various processes amongst other things.
Ultimately, MSPs can help businesses map out their entire IT development for the next several years, accounting for the growth goals of the business, what obstacles that could be faced, and the various technologies that can be adopted.
Better Control Over Costs
The final reason is that businesses will have more control over costs when hiring an MSP. One of the big limitations with hiring an IT team internally is the number of costs associated to them. There is hiring, training, compensation, and equipment upgrading that needs to happen to make an IT support group viable.
For MSPs, they take all those costs and meld them all together, offering cost savings. Furthermore, MSPs often consist of larger teams of IT specialists while still charging a flat rate. Those recurring costs are fixed, making it easier for businesses to better manage their spending and budget accordingly.
Overall, the various benefits that MSPs offer is substantial and well worth the investment.
Mtek Digital Managed Business Service
Mtek Digital provides help with virtually any business technology requirement. From IT services to Web and Video Marketing, we’re capable of servicing the tech industry throughout Canada. Contact us today.