Managed IT services have been on the rise as of late, with more and more companies adopting the change to this managed-services business model and for a good reason. Hiring an expert third party to act as a technical account manager for your company who offers remote support, monitoring, maintenance, and reporting across your entire IT infrastructure has numerous benefits. Managed IT provides your business with flexibility, substantial cost savings, and more time to focus on your business’s core. There are so many benefits of managed IT that we thought it prudent to share this article outlining some of the primary benefits of managed IT that are sure to make your company more agile and more profitable.
Managed IT Benefit #1: More Efficiency
In many ways, every company is in the IT business. Think about it—if your network or internet access went down tomorrow, what would it cost your company in productivity? Unplanned downtime costs organizations big time. Recent studies have shown that network and server outages cost Fortune 1000 companies as much as $1 to $2 billion annually in lost work hours. By employing a managed IT provider, you will help mitigate many issues before they end up wasting valuable uptime and improve your organization’s overall efficiency.
Managed IT Benefit #2: Frees Up Internal IT Staff for Projects
The more time your internal IT staff spends fixing things, the less time they have for other productive IT projects such as optimizing networks, programming new applications, or testing new technology. With managed IT support, you can leave the more mundane tasks of installing and configuring hardware, software systems, networks, printers, and scanners to your managed IT provider. Additionally, your managed IT staff should be able to provide technical support across the company, leaving your internal IT staff more productive and inventive.
Managed IT Benefit #3: Improved Scalability
With managed IT support in place, your company will improve its overall scalability. With a dedicated resource that can methodically order and install new hardware and software and set up accounts for new users, you can improve your whole employee onboarding process. By decreasing your onboarding time, you can quickly hire new people for significant projects.
Managed IT Benefit #4: Lower Capital Expenditures
When you enroll in a managed IT program, providers often allow you to purchase hardware and software right away and then spread payments over your contract’s life. This managed IT feature eliminates the need to spend thousands of dollars immediately, but instead pay for it monthly over time. From an accounting standpoint, your IT hardware and software purchased are not a capital expenditure but a simple operating cost.
Managed IT Benefit #5: Improved Security
For the unprotected organization, doing business online can be a dangerous place. Every month, countless new IT threats emerge, from DDoS attacks to phishing schemes to malware, ransomware, and SQL injections, just to name a few. Managed IT providers typically employ at least one security expert to mitigate existing and new IT security risks. Because managed IT providers service numerous different accounts, they are often better educated on the current security threats that could bring your entire business to a halt.
Managed IT Benefit #6: Control IT Costs
Every company has a unique set of IT requirements from the software and productivity software suites they employ to hardware and server specifications. While server time and IT payroll may fluctuate, your managed IT services will be a predictable, fixed monthly cost, giving you complete control over how much your organization spends on IT. The power to budget and forget allows business owners and managers to focus on other variable expenditures.
Managed IT Benefit #7: Avoid the War for Talent
The skills, knowledge, and experience of IT support staff are in extremely high demand. This demand shows no signs of abating, either—a federal employment data report by CompTIA identified as many as 918,000 unfilled IT jobs just last year. The lack of individuals with a computer science degree and experience in the IT field makes those who do extremely valuable. The more in-demand IT careers can command annual salaries of $100,000 or more. By signing a managed IT support contract, you avoid spending enormous amounts of time searching for and interviewing candidates that could have 4 or 5 competing offers.
Managed IT Benefit #8: Higher Experience
With the war for IT talent aside, hiring an experienced IT manager or IT staff is extremely difficult. The difficulty arises from the differences in technical environments from company to company. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who just happens to have five or more years of experience with every factor of your IT systems. This IT skills gap means that if you hire an in-house IT employee, they will inevitably need ramp-up time or training. Alternatively, managed IT companies must stay abreast of many different platforms and software to remain competitive. The average managed IT provider will have many clients, all with different IT set-ups, giving you the peace of mind that they will be able to hit the ground running with your IT.
Managed IT Benefit #9: Get Many IT Staff for Less
Not only do you avoid the hassle of technical recruitment and training of an internal employee with managed IT support, but you also have access to everyone in the organization for a fraction of what your company would pay for just one in-house IT staff. This “brain share” can help your organization solve tough technical problems or respond to emergencies drastically faster. It also increases the chances of fixing things without seeking outside assistance, which will inevitably cost more.
Managed IT Benefit #10: Ensure Compliance
Depending on your industry, compliance can be simple or so complex that it gives you migraines and keeps you up at night. Managed IT companies can help you sleep better by being familiar with modern IT compliance issues such as firewalls updates, PCI compliance, HIPAA compliance, and DMZ installations.
Managed IT Benefit #11: Enhanced ROI
Bottom line: Managed IT will increase your bottom line. As mentioned previously, you will know exactly how much you will spend on your IT expenses, giving you a measurable metric to track your overall ROI. The benefits of managed IT services, from less time spent on recruitment, hiring, and training to improved efficiency and enhanced focus, align to help save your company money.
Managed IT in Tennessee If you are ready to start saving your company money and operating at a higher level of efficiency, it’s time to seek out a Tennessee Managed IT provider. Elemental Technology Solutions handles all facets of your IT infrastructure, including IT support, voice solutions, network security, and compliance. ETS serves a wide range of industries, including banks and financial institutions and healthcare-related organizations. Contact our Nashville or Knoxville TN Managed IT offices today to find out how to improve your company’s bottom line, free yourself of recruitment hassles, and increase the agility of your business. Reach us online or by calling (888) 499-5898.
