6 Benefits to Using a Managed Service Provider

Hiring a Managed Service Provider (MSP) can bring around some much needed benefits to any office workspace. In case you're wondering, an MSP is a company (such as MicroAge), which proactively manages your IT needs within your organization. Don't worry IT managers, MSPs are not out there to replace you and take your job - we're really here to be your friend! We want to work with you. MSPs can act as a great backup to an already established IT department. Think of us as the Robin to your Batman, the Bonnie to your Clyde, and the Shaggy to your Scooby-Doo. Before I get carried away with a list of famous duos, here is a list of 6 benefits of an MSP.

1) Free Up Time for Internal IT

With the everyday problems that come with running an organization, also comes a myriad of technical issues. Everything from printer problems to network connectivity issues can occur. While your IT department is busy handling service tickets all day, they're not free to do more important things, like installing new server updates, installing new infrastructure, or rewiring that rats nest of cables. By hiring an MSP, you can have them spend their time troubleshooting staff problems all day, so your IT department can spend time on high level tasks.

2) Proactive Solutions

One of the most important jobs of an MSP is to stay ahead of the game. That is to say, to stay proactive. Instead of the break-fix style a lot of IT departments operate by, MSPs are there to prevent the problem before you even knew it existed. This usually involves a mix of manage patches, updates, and anti-virus to ensure your systems are always operating at top capacity.

3) Professional Access

In a normal internal IT department (depending on the size of your organization) you maybe only have access to 1-5 people at any given time. This can be very limiting if, say for example, you have 5 service calls come in at once. With an MSP, you have access to an entire company whose sole purpose in this life is to solve IT problems for you and your staff, freeing up your IT department.

4) Compliance

MSPs can also act as consultants for your organization, helping you to stay up-to-date with the latest laws and regulations which come into effect in your country and the countries in which you do business. Such as PCI, GDPR, to name a few.

5) Risk Reduction

Because of industry expertise, and highly knowledgeable employees, MSPs provide an excellent source for risk management/ reduction. The accumulation of proactive management, professionalism, compliance all add up to some serious advantages for your organization to reduce risk in ways otherwise unthinkable.

6) New Technology

With connections to many different vendors and suppliers, it is very easy for MSPs to have access to the latest technology, whether that is hardware or software. MSPs can also easily install or setup everything in a timely manner, as well as train your staff on how to use it.

It starts to become easy to see how an MSP can give you and your organization a huge added benefit. Even if you have your own IT department, an MSP can easily work in correlation with them, providing your staff with more time to do the work that matters. MSPs are industry experts, with many industry connections.

And won't you sleep a lot better knowing you're in good hands? Talk to me today to find out how MicroAge can work with you to be your new Managed Service Provider.