Are you aware that the advantages of managed IT services go beyond offloading your IT tasks and saving money?
These two benefits are significant when considering managed IT services. However, to succeed in the Bay Area marketplace, businesses like yours must implement an IT strategy that also provides a competitive advantage. Managed IT services can help your business achieve that goal by facilitating business growth. The following are five benefits of managed IT services that contribute to business growth:
Scalable IT Services
A challenge many Bay Area businesses face is scaling up technology systems to support growth. Implementing increasingly advanced tools and infrastructure while managing daily IT tasks requires resources and expertise that is a luxury for most organizations. Partnering with a managed IT services firm should allow you to expand your services as your business grows. When you partner with a managed IT services firm, you should work closely with them to develop a Service Level Agreement (SLA) that can be modified as your organization’s technology needs change. Managed IT services firms usually offer two basic service options: a full-service option and an a la carte option.
Full-Service Option
This comprehensive option allows you to delegate a large percentage of your IT services to a managed IT services firm.
A comprehensive option will typically include the following services:
- Network, infrastructure, and communication management
- Hardware and software maintenance
- Technical support
- Security and compliance
- Data analytics
If your business doesn’t yet have an IT strategy, the full-service option usually includes consulting that you could use to develop a strategic IT plan.
Related: Why You Need An IT Strategy
A La Carte Option
When your organization requires specific IT services, you can choose to hire a managed IT services team to handle the tasks you assign to them. You can also specify that they only address issues that occur or request a set number of hours for them to provide a set of services you choose.
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24-Hour Monitoring Capabilities
Time is critical in business. Downtime may see like a harmless side effect of doing business in a world that relies on technology to perform just about everything, but it can have a devastating effect on the growth of your business. When your systems aren’t active, that means that communication to and from your business is stifled. Employees may not be able to complete their tasks, which leads to customers not receiving their products and services as expected.
Minimizing downtime is achieved most often when organizations use a proactive approach that discovers problems before they cause downtime. This is particularly important to businesses that operate in industries that are heavily targeted by cyber criminals. The Verizon 2021 Data Breach Investigation Report states that targeted industries such as the financial sector were more successful at discovering data breaches when the task was performed by an external third-party using monitoring tools.
Organizations that provide managed IT services generally offer around-the-clock monitoring with proactive discovery tools. These organizations usually provide dedicated resources to remotely respond quickly to alerts about system problems.
Related: Mitigating Potential Threats with Sound Security Protocols
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Security and Compliance
According to the Cisco 2021 Security Outcomes Study, security practices such as responding quickly to incidents and accurately detecting threats help businesses keep pace with other businesses. However, the resources necessary to manage such activities is prohibitive for most businesses.
Managed IT services firms that offer security and compliance management typically provide the following tasks:
- Perform an assessment of your organization’s assets and determine a strategic risk mitigation plan.
- Catalog and monitor all assets within your organization.
- Continually monitor your organization’s network activity.
- Make sure your organization is compliant with applicable regulations.
- Educate employees about their contribution to your organization’s security.
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Access to Cutting-Edge Technology
Technology is constantly evolving. In the business domain, adopting the latest technologies enables organizations to extend the benefits of existing solutions and develop innovative ones. Remaining competitive in the marketplace is the bottom line. Organizations realize that accessing the latest technology will help push them further in the marketplace. However, there are costs and testing involved with adopting new technology. Managed IT services firms work with the latest tools and can pass the benefits of using the advanced technology to the Bay Area businesses they serve.
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Expert IT Services
Having access to the most advanced technology is useless unless you have an experienced IT team that has the knowledge and skills to effectively deploy and maintain those technologies. Your organization may employ a well-versed IT staff, but are they able to grow with your business? Unfortunately, the answer for most Bay Area businesses is “no”. If an IT team encompasses an array of skills, the organization is likely burdening a heavy financial cost to keep those resources on the payroll. Managed IT services specialize in technology. Since they often offer end-to-end IT services, they must be equipped to manage all areas of a business related to IT.
BACS as Your Bay Area Growth Partner
The really good news about adding managed IT services to your business strategy is that offers your Bay Area business multiple benefits. You can save money, remain competitive, and experience higher productivity—all of which contribute to business growth.
BACS is a team of IT experts that seeks to establish partnerships with Bay Area businesses to assist them with establishing or maintaining a long-term strategic IT plan for growth.
