Any business owner in today’s tech-driven world should know what the term “IT” means. However, not everyone is aware of the differences between basic IT and managed IT services. What is managed IT services, how do they differ from having your own IT team, and how do you know if your business really needs them? Keep reading to learn more about this specific time of service and how to determine if you need IT managed services in Orlando.
What are Managed IT Services?
Managed IT service is a broad term that refers to a range of IT needs. The companies that provide these services, including our team here at Millennium Technology Group, are referred to as managed service providers, or MSPs. The services you receive from an MSP can vary widely depending on your exact needs. Most MSPs will offer various contract options and service packages to meet the different needs of various businesses, both large and small, and in a wide range of different industries.
Your contract with an MSP is known as a service level agreement or SLA. Your SLA can include services like technical support, help desk operations, disaster recovery, data backups, network security, and more. The key factor here is that SLAs with a managed service provider should be customizable to your business’s unique needs and adaptable enough to be updated to grow with your business.
How Does It Differ from Regular IT?
The typical structure for business IT usually involves an in-house IT team. Depending on the size of your business, this can range from a single IT professional to dozens of team members. While an in-house IT team can often meet all of a business’s IT needs, they don’t typically offer the flexibility and scalability of managed IT services. There are also often knowledge gaps, as you are limited to the experience of only those on your IT team.
A growing business will place more demands on its IT staff regarding help desk and repair needs, preventing them from effectively managing your network’s security and efficiency. This often leads to increased downtimes, makes you more susceptible to cyberattacks, and may cause important maintenance tasks like data backups to get overlooked. Due to these issues, in-house IT teams can often need more proactive IT management.
What are the Benefits of an MSP?
Receiving managed IT services from an MSP has many benefits as compared to an in-house IT team. These benefits include the following:
- Filling the knowledge gap – As we stated above, having a few in-house IT experts means that you only have the knowledge and experience of a few people to draw on. When you work with an MSP, you gain access to the knowledge and experience of many more professionals, ensuring that you have the professional support and insight you need to manage your business’s network effectively.
- Saving money – Working with an MSP can save most businesses on their IT costs. Most SLAs for managed IT services are a fixed monthly charge, so you can more predictably budget for your IT expenses each month. Additionally, you don’t have to worry about paying IT team members for periods when there is less demand on their time and they don’t have IT work to do.
- More reliable network – Because MSPs are able to take a more proactive approach to manage your network and systems, you’ll reap the benefit of having a more reliable network. That means less downtime and a lower risk of data loss to cyberattacks or simple accidental deletion of files.
- Refocus your in-house IT – Of course, you don’t have to choose between in-house IT and an MSP. The two can actually work quite well in conjunction with one another. By employing an MSP to manage your network, handle security, and deal with help desk tickets, you can refocus your in-house IT team on projects that help your company grow, such as improving your client management system and other workflow upgrades.
How Do You Know If You Need It?
When it comes down to it, the best way to know if you need managed IT services is to assess whether or not your IT needs are currently being met. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I experience frequent outages in my business network?
- Have I lost data recently?
- Am I concerned about my current network security?
- Is my in-house IT team overworked and falling behind?
- Do my employees express frustration with unreliable systems?
- Are variable IT costs impacting my business budget?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you could benefit from working with one of the top managed service providers in Orlando. Contact Millennium Technology Group today to learn more about our SLAs and how we can help your business.