Managed IT and Your Day-to-Day Operations

There are so many moving parts to modern businesses, especially where technology is involved.

As the COO, bringing your daily operations in line with long-term business goals is your main focus.

Managed IT services can be an amazing way to streamline your daily operations, helping you to gain greater control and see the big picture of how your technology is supporting business functions.

Think about your current relationship to IT.

• Is it a burden, or a catalyst for growth and success?
• How can your IT strategy help your entire business to flourish?
• How would having a trusted partner change your perspective?

From cyber security and legal compliance to hosting and protecting high-volumes of data & complex workloads, things aren't getting any easier.

That's where a managed IT services provider (MSP) can bring incredible value and efficiency to help you achieve your business goals.

Let's start by understanding managed services. 

What's included?

• At their essence, managed services offer access to enterprise-level IT on a daily basis for predictable monthly costs.
• Managed services allow you to pick & choose which business functions remain in-house and which ones you 'outsource'. That means you can add in extra layers of security or continuous support while retaining on-site control of other things like private databases.
• An MSP offers management, monitoring & proactive support that goes beyond older styles of "troubleshooting" IT strategies.
• Managed services are inherently strategic: you gain both resources and insight to be sure that your IT investments will help - not hinder - your business growth.
• Managed services cover a wide range, including:
  • Managed Cloud - public, private and hybrid options
  • Managed AWS, Office 365, plus SysGroup's own cloud
  • Virtual Desktop
  • Managed Infrastructure
  • 24/7/365 support
• Managed IT Security - firewalls, endpoint device security, email security and more

Did you know?

79% of mid-market organisations identified strategic guidance from vendors' channel partners as critical or very important. (ESG)

So, what are the benefits of managed IT services?

1) High-availability

Research shows that 88% of organisations experienced improved business continuity in the cloud (Source).

MSPs promise access and continuous availability through industry-leading SLAs. You don't need to fear downtime any longer with services like backup and disaster recovery plus the option to mirror your entire IT infrastructure to a secondary site for quick recovery should any disruptions occur.

2) Strategic insight 

Your in-house IT employees are likely to be generalists, and sometimes strategic decisions about cloud computing and virtualisation require a depth of expertise you just don't have. That's where an MSP can really assist you with insight based on years of experience and familiarity with the process.

They can help you decide between public, private or hybrid cloud environments, plus help you think ahead to ensure that your IT is flexible and tailored to your needs.

3) Security and compliance 

Research by Hiscox revealed that 45% of organisations have experienced one or more cyber attacks in the previous 12 months. 

These attacks can range from phishing scams to Trojan horse malware and ransomware, and they're targeting SMEs at alarming rates. Managed IT services include proactive monitoring and access to industry-leading security tools to guard the perimeter of your network and catch threats before they develop.

4) Work with your budget 

MSPs offer a wealth of expertise at costs to fit any budget. They also allow you to scale your environment up or down whenever you need to, or even change directions entirely without significant financial losses from single-use hardware. Predictable monthly costs give you peace of mind.

5) Enhance your skills 

37% of mid market organisations say they lack the proper staff training to prevent cyber-attacks (Source). 

Similarly, depending on your industry, you may not have experts in Office 365 migration or virtual desktop configuration on your team. Thankfully, an MSP gives you access to the expertise and experience you need, at prices you can afford.