The IT department is always a complex mechanism, the success of which depends on the well-coordinated interaction of various specialists, be they technicians, sysadmin, project managers, and others. This is extremely important if you want to get a top-notch software product or digitalize your workflows by moving on-prem to cloud. However, finding highly qualified IT specialists today is extremely difficult for two reasons:
- There are very few of them (which increases the demand for each specialist).
- Their salary is extremely high.
However, there is a way out of this situation, and the name is MSPs, a IT managed services. Analysts firmly state that the niche of these services will reach $300 billion by 2025, which directly shows the demand for such services.
In this article, we will talk about what IT managed services are, what they include and what benefits they can bring to a business. So, without further ado, let’s get started.
What are IT Managed Services? What Are They All About?
Before diving into the benefits, it’s worth focusing on the basics. The main idea of IT managed services is to provide customers with affordable services for working with network and server equipment and deployment and management of cloud systems.
Simply put, these managed IT provider removes a certain headache from your employees and allow you to focus on more important business tasks, while your architecture will be in the reliable hands of specialists.
However, in addition to working with existing structures, managed IT companies can help your business discover the difference between on-premise and cloud structure, and transfer the entire business from one to another.
Main Types of IT Managed Services
To get the most out of these services, you need to understand what specific operations you can transfer to the vendor that provides managed IT services.
Data Backups
One of the key cybersecurity rules that can save your valuable data from loss is regular backups of all your business data. Vendors of IT managed services can set up a system from scratch that will automatically back up data on a given schedule and move copies of data to remote devices or to the cloud.
Consulting
If you are a young company that is deciding between cloud and on-premise structures, you may still doubt the feasibility of moving from one to another. And this is not surprising since the standard architecture is much more familiar. However, the cloud structure has several undeniable advantages that make it better than on-premise:
- Significantly reduces the number of structure management tasks.
In addition, since the management of a cloud structure in most cases lies with the vendor who provides you with this cloud service, your charges will be exempt from most of the operations that are usually accompanied by the management of an on-premise structure. - Change of expenses type.
Cloud storage frees you from spending associated with equipment, its maintenance, and other expenses since all this is done on the managed IT provider side. All you need is to pay the indicated subscription price on time for the ability to use the cloud structure. This is the biggest difference between on-premise and cloud structures. - Flexible pricing policy.
Managed IT companies that provide cloud services are extremely loyal to businesses and allow more flexibility in setting the final price for cloud capacities, adjusting to a specific business case, its size, and so on. In addition to this, businesses can choose certain packages of managed IT that also have different prices, which will allow them to choose the ideal package for the current financial capabilities of the company. - Scaling to your needs. As we said above, the cloud structures that managed IT provide are differentiated by different packages that include different services. This approach allows you to adapt the structure to different business conditions. For example, your business has expanded, and you need larger cloud storage. Just upgrade your monthly plan to a more expensive one, and you can get more storage for your valuable data.
If you need more serious advice on on-premises vs cloud topic, the managed IT services company can conduct an in-depth analysis of the architecture of your business and advise on all issues of the transition from an on-premise structure to a cloud so that you can safely make a decision.
CI/CD Tweaking
Continuous integration / continuous delivery is an extremely important aspect of software delivery. This is a kind of continuous chain that allows developers to create new versions of software easier and faster without the need for manual testing because there is a CI/CD made for this.
Cloud Infrastructure Security
Another big difference between private cloud and on-premise is that the first option is many times more secure, but this does not mean that you do not need to work on security. Simple business migration to the cloud is not enough for a full-fledged start of work. It is very important to take care of the security of your data and your entire business. And this process can be entrusted to a vendor who provides managed IT services. Its main task will be to adapt the technical solutions of cybersecurity already available in the cloud to the needs of your business and to build an impenetrable wall between your data and attackers.
Benefits of IT Managed Services
This type of managed IT service would hardly have gained such popularity if it did not bring significant benefits to businesses. Here are just a few of them that you definitely need to know about.
Accessibility of Talents
Finding a dedicated specialist for your business is a rather difficult task that will take a lot of your time and effort. Moreover, you will have to face a shortage of qualified personnel and competition for decent ones. Meanwhile, outsourcing companies are always staffed with the right IT specialists. You just need to contact them, and they will provide you with the necessary specialists for a certain time.
Focus on Vital Tasks
If your team does not have a dedicated DevOps specialist, this means that his work will need to be performed by other employees who also have their own tasks that require close attention. By entrusting all technical operations to the vendor for managed IT services, you can focus on more important tasks while your infrastructure is in the good hands of specialists.
Transparent Cost
Turning to the vendor for help, you can be sure that you will know where your every cent is going. At the stage of getting to know your business and collecting requirements, the vendor draws up an estimate that will list all the services, the time for their implementation, and the price for the managed IT services. In addition, you can count on a payment schedule convenient for you.
Faster Release
The more vendor talent you hire, the more time you save on cloud application development or going to the cloud. This approach allows you to quickly enter the market or upgrade the internal processes of the company.
Scalability
Outsourcing teams are flexible solutions as you can increase or decrease your team at the first request. If you see that you are unable to complete some tasks, you can request additional specialists. After the list of main tasks is completed and the release approaches the planned deadline, you can gradually reduce the team of dedicated specialists.
How to choose the right IT Managed Service?
In order to acquire managed IT services right, you must prepare and complete these three vital steps. So let’s take a closer look at them.
Analyze Whether It’s Worth The Money
Before looking for a vendor for managed IT services and picking between cloud or on-premise, you should understand whether it will be profitable specifically in your case. It may be more profitable for you to hire an in-house specialist. To do this, you need to calculate all the costs for such a specialist, namely hiring, arrangement of a workplace, salary, sick leave, and so on.
If you have a small project with fairly simple architecture, it may be more profitable than hiring a vendor. However, if you have an extremely large and complex architecture that requires an immediate transition to the cloud and ongoing IT management, you might be better off considering hiring a managed IT vendor who can provide an entire team at a snap of your fingers. The vendor will provide the additional tools you’d need to acquire yourself, such as monitoring tools, incident management software, and changelog tools to ensure all the changes to your IT projects and infrastructure are cataloged properly.
Make a List of Managed IT Services Companies
To find a managed IT service, it is best to use specialized sites like Clutch, GoodFirms. These websites are aggregators of information about various companies providing IT services. You will be able to get acquainted in detail with the companies as well as the reviews of previous clients that will help you make the final choice.
Don’t feel like spending hours looking for a provider? You can find below a list of trusted managed IT partners using V2 Cloud:
- Flextrac (Newark, Delawre, USA)
- eKEPLER (Austin, Texas, USA)
- J. Knutson & Associates (St. Paul, Minnesota, USA)
- CSSP (Kensington, South Australia, Australia)
- Project Flow (Eaglemont, Victoria, Australia)
- Damar Software (Olathe, Kansas, USA)
- SLICE Plus (Maineville, Ohio, USA)
- EM Data Consultants (Mississauga, Ontario, Canada)
- CiiRUS (Celebration, Florida, USA)
- SCANLINK (Moorestown, New Jersey, USA)
- PC Dynamix (Beverly, Massachusetts, USA)
- AEROsoft (Plantation, Florida, USA)
- The Digital Solution (Atascadero, California, USA)
- AppSmart (Raleigh, North Carolina, USA)
- Sigma Support (Waterloo, London, United Kingdom)
- Castle Computing (Huntersville, North Carolina, USA)
- Visual Club Mate (Newark, Delaware, USA)
- Value Management Resources (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
- IT Edge (West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA)
- TRUsupport (Raleigh, North Carolina, USA)
- Fivenines (Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom)
- Omega Magnus (Fountain Valley, California, USA)
- VistaBizHub (Way Chelsea, Massachusetts, USA)
- XVR software (Orange County, California, USA)
- KONSEPT-IT (Slemmestad, Norway, Europe)
- TeamLogicIT (North brunswick, NJ, USA)
- SecureFLO (Burlington, Massachusetts, USA)
- All Saints Insurance (Slidell, Louisiana, USA)
- cetusdata (New York, USA)
- PIETERS-IT (West Brandhoek, Vlamertinge, Belgium)
- Blue Mogul (Houston, Texas, USA)
- Advantage Attorney (Upland, California, USA)
- Beta Brain (Hallandale, Florida, USA)
- Choice Technology (White Marsh, Maryland, USA)
- Involve IT (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)
- 2NetSolutions (Tacoma, Washington, USA)
- Layered IT (Sacramento, California, USA)
- CITS (Clarksburg, Maryland, USA)
- Logic Wing (Northport, New York, USA)
- Xtechs (Roseville, California, USA)
- RBHALL (Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, USA)
- NetWiz (Placentia, California, USA)
- ConEst (Manchester, New Hampshire, USA)
- OneStop Solutions (Spanaway, Washington, USA)
- OpenSky (Denver, Colorado, USA)
- Tier One (Wodonga, Victoria, Australia)
- mPowered IT (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)
- Flowing Through Connections (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
- whichtech (Upton Park, London, UK)
- Tim Beard Computer Support (Tyler, Texas USA)
- Ideal Technologies, Inc. (Appomattox, Virginia, USA)
- Cloud Administrator (Sydney, South Australia, Australia)
- Delaware Micro-Computer (Dover, Delaware, USA)
- Meade's PC (Oakwood, Virginia, USA)
- JANIT (Watthana, Bangkok, Thailand)
- SOLEX Technology Group (St. Charles, Missouri, USA)
- Kuhn Computer Solutions (Stow, Ohio, USA)
- CyberHive Security (Greensboro, North Carolina, USA)
- Centrend (Sturbridge, Massachusetts, USA)
- Michoice Technology (Houston, Texas, USA)
- River's Edge (Kilauea, Hawaii, USA)
- Corporate Niche (Bozeman, Montana, USA)
- Adashi Systems (Baltimore, Maryland, USA)
- gSystemsIT (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia)
- My IT Company (Oswego, Illinois, USA)
- UCX Cloud Exchange (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
- A.J. Deliz & Co. (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
- Aquilon Software (Mississauga, Ontario, USA)
- Integrity Software (Birmingham, UK)
- eKepler (Santiago de Querétaro, Qro, Mexico)
- Aquilon Software (North Vancouver, BC, Canada)
- AIC Triad Consulting (Wayne, New Jersey, USA)
- Daemen ICT (De Waterman 54891 TL Rijsbergen, Netherlands)
- Exceed Technology Group (250 N Wymore Rd, Suite B, Winter Park, Florida 32789)
- Ascendant Technologies, Inc. (1 Executive Dr - Suite 210, Somerset, New Jersey 08873 United States)
- Desktop Advisers (1216 W. Northwest Highway Palatine, IL 60067)
- Pamiken (360 E Evelyn Ave #332, Sunnyvale, CA 94086)
- ICS (227 South St, Waukesha, WI 53186)
- 1Smart.Space (Melbourne, Docklands Office, 207B/757 Bourke Street)
Pick a Managed IT Service Provider
Once you have a list of potential managed IT vendors to partner with, you should contact each one to discuss your project. Listen to what they can offer you and the pricing policy of each vendor for your case. After that, make the final decision and sign a cooperation contract.
Wrapping Up
Managed IT services are a critical tool for upgrading your business from on-prem to cloud or improving your software development process. That is why you should take a responsible approach to the choice of a vendor and study the cases of the agencies you consider to be potential partners. In the future, such a thoughtful approach will pay off in excellent cooperation with a professional vendor who can be entrusted with solving your technical problems.
In addition, by using a desktop virtualization solution (like V2 Cloud), you can get fixed pricing on their IT bill and move to a fully integrated solution.
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