If you spend any amount of time searching the Internet or reading blogs then you’ll no doubt start to see, or at least notice more articles and adverts about Managed IT Services, and there’s a good reason for it too! There will always be those who will think that, they can do it by themselves, as well as a never-ending advancement in the world of technologies so, it’s not a topic that will go away anytime soon, in fact, you are probably witnessing the start of something much greater;
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What should you expect?
The myriad of different service providers might be a little overbearing but it’s important to look at the similarities, and the differences in terms of both cost and service. Although they may all look the same at a glance, each managed service provider will offer something a little different however, having the same core services tells us that those particular areas are pretty essential, must-haves. Whereas, the differences between the companies’ offerings normally tell us what their edge is and what they can do to help you over and above the norm.
Ideal services
In an ideal world, here are the services that you should expect to see and benefit from when paying an outside source for IT support;
Managed IT Support
Most companies will differ slightly in what they offer and will use different software to achieve results. You should be able to receive 24/7 IT monitoring and solution-finding support services from the top firms.
Tech Support
How often do you see your IT guy looking like he’s filled with joy? Probably not often and that’s because nearly all IT teams are thinly spread in terms of what manpower they have vs time spent on tasks that prevent them from doing their primary job and could be taken care of elsewhere.
Business Phone Systems Support
Unless you’ve already made a switch of phone systems then the chances are that those same phones have been sitting on those desks, and several others for anything between 10 – 20 years. The phone systems that your company uses can make all the difference, especially if you need or would like things like call recording.
Network Cabling
Having enough bandwidth is one of the most important aspects of your hardware infrastructure, and something that could get overlooked or, was suitable last time it was last checked but, things in the IT world evolve fast, you may have even purchased a piece of equipment but aren’t getting the most out of it because updating internal cabling is needed at your data service source.
Cybersecurity – IT Security Services
Virtual danger is all around us and what makes it worse than a physical attack is that you can’t see it! Unless you have grade A security solutions installed, updated, and monitored on a regular basis then it isn’t an if but more of a, when will be the next victim of cyber theft.
Collaboration
One of the biggest worries for a business owner, over and above the safety of their business is that they will lose employees or have to let some go when taking on a new service provider. It may be the case for some scenarios but, if you don’t need to, then you should look for a company that is happy to collaborate and to work with your existing team.
