Recently, the pace of technological change has been breath-taking, with the mass adoption of remote working and Cloud-based services that have enabled it to work. And it’s no surprise that so many SMBs feel overwhelmed, and even tech-headaches don’t stop them from operating, they’re certainly frustrating for staff and stop operations from reaching their full potential.
If they have in-house IT teams, those teams are stretched to the limit. If they don’t, the business risks being left behind in the race for greater efficiency, productivity and security.
That’s where a managed IT service comes in. Third party support can help by taking the majority of your IT headaches away, while helping to make your business more efficient, cost-effective and secure. Here are six key benefits of managed IT support.
….It’s cost-effective
“On average, our costs are 15% lower than our competitors’!”
In most cases it’s simply cheaper to contract out your IT support requirements than employ your own team. Mooncomputers’ expert team boasts decades of accumulated experience, meaning you get an entire team of engineers at your disposal from only £95 per user per year. And that’s a predictable monthly cost, making it easy to budget for.
Add to that the indirect savings that arise from freeing up staff time. Whether you have a dedicated in-house IT team or not, somebody is spending time monitoring and maintaining your systems, upgrading your software and so on (or at least, they really should be). Much of this heavy lifting can be passed to a managed IT service, giving your people the freedom to focus on more productive tasks.
It’s always available
“A good managed IT service will monitor your systems 24/7.”
If you have an IT team of two and they both take time off during the holiday season you’re essentially operating on 50% for much of the summer. The same is true at other times of the year, like Christmas. What if your network goes down or your Server fails?
With a managed IT provider, it’s our responsibility to ensure we have the manpower in place to meet our clients’ needs, whenever they need it. You’ll get the same high level of service from Mooncomputers in August as you would in February. That’s one more headache off your plate.
In addition, a good managed IT service won’t be a 9-5 operation. You can expect it to keep monitoring your systems 24/7, so if there’s an issue someone will be on it, whatever the time of night or day.
It’s Scalable
“A managed IT service will help you scale your IT Infrastructure to meet demand, adding or removing features as your need dictates.”
Growing businesses are often held back by a lack of IT know-how. Employing IT professionals is costly, and an in-house team can only do so much. The last thing you want is to miss out on a new opportunity because you don’t have the IT capacity to implement the relevant services.
Again, a managed IT service is your friend here. It can grow with you. Very small businesses might only require a basic security and maintenance service. As they grow, they might see a need for Hosting and Cloud management services. A managed IT service can help you scale your IT Infrastructure to meet demand, adding or removing features as your need dictates.
And having third party experts on hand is useful in another way. If you ever need advice on the best new technology to adopt for a specific purpose, or how to protect yourself against a new cyber threat, an informed specialist is only ever a phone call or email away. A good managed IT service should be your technology partner – almost an extension of your own in-house teams.
It’s quick to act
“On average our engineers take just nine minutes to solve an IT issue remotely.”
If your e-commerce store grinds to a halt, getting it up and running again in the quickest possible time is a business-critical issue. And if your communication system goes down, your remote workforce is left in the dark until it’s online again. A highly qualified managed service team can resolve issues far more quickly than stretched in-house resources. In fact, on average our vastly experienced engineers take just nine minutes to solve an IT issue remotely.
It helps you be secure
“Your data is your lifeblood, and a data breach can be catastrophic.”
Your data is your lifeblood, and a data breach can be catastrophic. The average mean cost of a cyber security breach for a small business in 2019 was £11,000. Remember, that’s just the average. Many businesses get hit a lot harder, and some never recover.
Then there’s reputational costs, which are harder to quantify but could be even more damaging to your future. When you lose a customer’s trust, you lose their business, most likely forever. And of course, word gets around.
At the same time, creating a truly secure business requires real time and effort. It’s about far more than simply installing an antivirus, even for the simplest micro business. Good managed IT support will advise you on the very best hardware and software to protect your operations, and then continually monitor your network for signs of unusual or criminal behaviour.
It will also keep on top of the latest emerging Cybersecurity threats (like those targeting remote workforces, for example), something most small businesses in particular don’t have the time or expertise to do.
It makes you more productive
“The better your IT Infrastructure is, the more efficient your business will be.”
At its core, your IT Infrastructure should help you operate more effectively, and help make your employees more productive. The better it is, the more efficient your business will be. And by “better”, we’re talking about effective tools and services, chosen to meet your specific needs, that are expertly managed and maintained. At Mooncomputers, that’s what we aim to provide for every client.
A professionally maintained and monitored IT Infrastructure is one that works hard to make your life easier. By reducing slowdowns and bottlenecks, securing data and optimising tools and systems, an outsourced IT partner can give you the solid platform from which to build a productive, efficient business. In 2021, everything starts with IT, so make it a secure foundation.
