Managed IT Service

The Tipping Point for IT Outsourcing

January 14
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The case for IT outsourcing is not a difficult one to justify in today’s ever-changing business landscape. Enterprises have more technology needs than ever before and attempting to manage them all in-house often proves inefficient and expensive.

Outsourcing some of your information technology to partners who specialize in specific areas will allow you to maintain operations seamlessly without having to be bogged down in the day-to-day. Even with an in-house team, you clear their roster of the routine maintenance and support tasks, which enables them to focus on other value-adding business initiatives.

 

Managed Service Provider (MSP) Watch-Outs

Choosing the right managed service provider (MSPs) for your business is a lot like hiring the right employee. Oftentimes, if your MSP is not the right fit, it could be due to the following reasons:

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Not Enough Experience

Every MSP should have a team of expert technicians, engineers, and coordinators to fulfill the requirements of your Service Level Agreement. Ideally, you want to upgrade an MSP who can serve as a one-stop shop for all IT-related needs and queries. If you notice some gaps in the expertise of a current MSP, it may be time to switch.

Lack of Strategic Thinking

An MSP may be operating off a service level agreement (SLA) without ever having the big-picture view and long-term vision of the company in mind. Before taking on an integrated MSP, verify that they have the requisite experience in all ICT areas – telecoms, IT, network, cloud, and internet, among others. Apart from technical know-how, your partner should bring strategic ideas to the table to help keep your company ahead of the curve.

Stuck in the Past

In the past, companies would invest heavily in IT infrastructure and would be stuck with it until a new capital budget was approved. One of the advantages of having your IT services managed for you is that your operations should always be running on the latest and greatest technology. From feature upgrades to security protocols, your managed IT provider is there to keep you current, compliant, and competitive, no matter what.

 

Vetting Your MSP

Most MSPs continually seek to enhance and improve upon their service offerings in order to provide more value to their clients. This is an advantage for companies who do not wish to manage multiple vendor relationships and who would rather expand their scope of work with an existing trusted partner. After all, they’re familiar with your company and IT needs and, hopefully, have demonstrated their expertise and service delivery over time.

So how do you get to this ideal state? Through proper vetting and careful consideration. Ask yourself:

  1. Does this MSP offer all the services that my organization needs today and will need as we grow?

  2. Will they bring us strategic recommendations for newer technologies and processes that align to our business goals?

  3. Do they have customers who are leveraging more advanced technology than ours and will these customers be willing to recommend their services?

  4. Do they abide by industry-accepted standards in cybersecurity and stay on top of emerging compliance regulations?

  5. Is there a team robust enough with wide-ranging expertise that can augment the skills of my current staff?

  6. Will we be backed by the assurance of a service level agreement that outlines standard response times and expectations?

For each of these questions, your MSP should be able to explain, with examples, how they have served clients with more complex IT needs than your own. This should give you an idea of what a working relationship may look like with your business, over time.

 

IT + Telecom Integration is Top of Mind

Relying on a single provider for all your IT, networking, and communications needs is possible. IT and telecom integration is actually listed among the top five data analytics predictions for 2022 as companies move increasingly away from fragmented solutions, services, and partners.

IT Voice offers integrated voice and technology solutions for companies of all sizes. Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for you.

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