Businesses in Connecticut and around the world will be planning out their IT budget for 2021 over the next several days. For many companies that still rely on a work from home setup, ensuring the security, connectivity, and productivity of their employees is a top priority. With new technological innovations coming in 2021, businesses need to adjust quickly to remain competitive.
However, bringing in tech experts to manage new IT can be beyond the limited budget of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and start-ups. If this is your case, outsourcing your IT needs to a trusted managed services provider (MSP) like Charles IT can be beneficial.
What Is a Managed Services Provider?
A managed services provider is a third-party organization that manages all aspects of your company's IT infrastructure, including maintenance, security, monitoring, and upgrades. An MSP helps businesses without a dedicated IT staff prevent IT problems to improve their daily operations.
Benefits of Partnering With a Managed Services Provider
For SMBs and other companies that don't have the resources for an in-house IT team, partnering with the right MSP can provide a wide range of benefits such as:
- Cost savings
This is the biggest benefit of working with an MSP. SMBs have limited resources and maintaining their infrastructure entails buying equipment and hiring experts — all of which costs a lot of money. Most MSPs provide IT services for a flat fee, which means you get support and protection for a predictable monthly cost.
- Expertise and experience
An in-house IT staff needs funding to attend training seminars or they risk becoming less efficient as new technology emerges. MSP personnel, on the other hand, are constantly exposed to a wide array of technologies and environments and stay up to date with the latest technological innovations. If you decide to work with an MSP, you’ll have access to a pool of IT experts with the experience and skill sets specific to your industry.
- Backup and recovery
Disasters and unexpected events can cause data loss and downtime, which in turn can lead to serious financial losses. An MSP is a vital part of your business continuity plan because it can implement backup and recovery processes that can keep your systems running during a disaster, or allow you to recover quickly after one.
- Cloud hosting
The COVID-19 pandemic forced many businesses to switch to a remote work setup to ensure continued operations. Staying connected with colleagues and customers became a top priority, which is why many organizations migrated to a public and private cloud. MSPs often offer cloud hosting and other cloud services, like Desktop-as-a-Service, that allow remote workers to access company resources, collaborate, and provide customer support. In fact, according to the Cisco Global Cloud Index, by 2021:
- Cloud data centers will be responsible for processing 94% of business workloads, while only 6% will be done using traditional data centers.
- The global IP traffic of cloud data centers will reach approximately 19.5 zettabytes.
- Software-as-a-Service workloads will make up 75% of total cloud workloads.
- Cloud data center traffic will constitute around 95% of global data center traffic.
- Cybersecurity
Whether your staff is working from home or at the office, cybersecurity is a critical part of your business. According to the World Economic Forum, business leaders see cyberattacks as the second top global risk to companies next to fiscal crises. The COVID-19 pandemic saw an alarming increase in cyberattacks, as cybercriminals took advantage of the chaos and fear to target unsuspecting businesses and individuals.
The fact is, cyberattacks are here to stay. New technological innovations provide cybercriminals with new tools and methods to exploit network vulnerabilities. An MSP will proactively monitor your network for any suspicious activity and protect it from various cyberthreats.
- Round-the-clock support
When your business operations rely heavily on technology, you know that technical issues and downtime can result in lost revenue and reputation damage. Partnering with an MSP gives you access to 24/7/365 proactive support services to ensure your network is running optimally at all times. By monitoring your system round the clock, an MSP can catch and fix any issue before it turns into a bigger problem.
- Scalability
The technological needs of your business will evolve and change over time depending on your business goals. As such, you may need to scale your infrastructure up or down to ensure you reach those goals. An MSP can respond to changes in your IT demands in real time to avoid costly downtime.
If your business is struggling to maintain, safeguard, and update its IT infrastructure, you should partner with a dependable MSP like Charles IT. Our seasoned IT experts will provide you with proactive IT support services to ensure less downtime and peace of mind. Call us today to learn more!
