What is a Managed Service Provider?
Many people wonder what the meaning of Managed Services is.
Small, medium, and large-scale businesses can all benefit from using a Managed IT Services Provider. Given how crucial IT is to the running of your business, any malfunctions can rapidly result in disruption of operations, leading to losses in revenue, time and more.
A managed service provider offers services, such as network, infrastructure, back-ups, and security, via ongoing and regular support. It’s a way to offload general tasks to an expert, enabling you to focus on tasks specific to your business.
Scary Statistics
- Only 34% of companies test their backups and, of those who do, 77% have found failures.
- Over ½ of critical corporate data resides on unprotected PC desktops and laptops.
- Only 25% of users frequently back up their files, yet 85% of those say they are concerned about losing important data.
- More than 22% said backing up their PCs was on their to-do list, but they seldom do it.
- 30% of companies report that they still do not have a disaster recovery program in place, and 2 out of 3 feel their data backup have significant vulnerabilities.
- Today’s hard drives store 500 times the data than a decade ago. This amplifies the impact of data loss, making back ups critical.
- You have a 30% chance of having a corrupted file within a one-year time frame.
What specific areas does a Managed Service Provider (MSP) cover?
Managed IT Service Providers will offer full or tailored IT support services to their clients. Using physical and virtual servers, data hosting and online backups, they can monitor your business as a whole.
360 degree network security including malware and antivirus is also a huge advantage of having an MSP at your disposal. They can offer products new to the market with the newest and best technology, providing your business with the best security possible.
A good quality Managed IT Service Provider can also offer Hardware and Software Solutions. Such offerings include Desktops, Laptops & Printers, VOIP Setup and Services, Networking and Internet Services all with the help of expert IT engineers and technicians.
Fully trained IT professionals are generally available on call for support needs. 24/7 PC monitoring is a must, so you know that your business is protected.
During troubleshooting, consultants are either onsite or use remote desktop access. This way, they can investigate and provide walk-through fixes and demonstrations fast – helping you get back on track quickly and effortlessly.
They can also do Windows updates and patch automations, preventative maintenance and cleaning and provide monthly reporting!
Service Level Agreements
If you are looking for a good quality Managed Service Provider, check out their service level agreements, (SLA’s). These will cover the response time that they will get to and resolve your issue, and by what means.
For example they may have a 4 hour response time via phone or email and a 6 hour response time for onsite resolution. Ensuring that you find a Managed IT Service Provider that can and will stick to their Service Level Agreements, will give you the best possible outcome when things go wrong.
