If you’re looking to streamline your business and prioritize growth, managed services should be part of your IT strategy.

Put simply, managed services enable you to outsource the parts of your operation that aren’t performing well within your organization or that take up too many resources. This can prove vital if your aim is to grow rapidly while conserving time and money — but it can help businesses of all sizes.

In this post, we’ll share more about what managed services can handle — and how it can simplify and empower your IT department.

What can managed services handle?

When it comes to your IT operations, there’s not much managed services can’t handle. If you wanted to, you could outsource your entire IT department. That said, there are IT functions that are outsourced to a managed services provider more often than others. Here are some of them:

Managed IT support

Managed IT support is the most popular service as the cost of implementing a support team within a small business can be prohibitive. When you outsource this function, you gain access to a team of experts who can help you with any IT issues as they arise. They can provide ad hoc support to your employees, as well as troubleshoot problems that arise with your technology. This type of support can be invaluable as your business grows.

IT monitoring

While IT support tends to be a reactive service, it’s also possible to outsource the proactive monitoring of your hardware, software, and networks. This means your managed services provider can discover problems before they cause disruption to your business.

Managed IT security

According to a 2019 security intelligence report, the average data breach costs $3.92 million. In addition, such breaches can go undetected for months, and their impact on the organization will soon mount up.

Managed IT security helps combat the rise in cybercrime in two ways:

It minimizes the risk to your business by implementing an effective IT security strategy.
It identifies potential breaches before the associated costs escalate.

IT strategy and consulting

What’s your wider IT strategy, and how can it support the growth of your business?

If you don’t have a team of IT experts on hand within your business, it can be hard to know where to start. Managed service providers can provide consulting to help ensure your IT strategy supports your wider business strategy. Your IT function should only ever enhance your growth, not restrict it.

What are the benefits of managed services to your IT?

By now, we imagine that you already see the benefits of using managed IT services within your organization. But here are some of the specific ways they can improve your IT function:

Access to leading expertise

When you outsource your IT function to a managed services provider, you don’t just get an off-the-shelf product. You’re getting a service from a team of IT experts who partake in regular training to stay ahead of industry trends.

Take advantage of new technologies

New technologies are emerging constantly — and businesses who take them up earlier get a head start on their competitors. According to the 2020 State of IT report, two in three businesses intend to deploy 5G technology by 2021. Are you going to be one of those who do or one that gets left behind?

Simplify your IT processes

An IT function, by its nature, can be incredibly complex. Outsourcing simplifies this by removing the need to employ staff and ensure their training is kept up to date. Put together, along with a potential reduction in costs, outsourcing your IT can empower your business to achieve more — while doing less.