Business owners and IT professionals alike know better than anyone that as your company grows, one of the most important items for consideration is your IT infrastructure.
When companies are small, they often handle their IT needs themselves, but as they grow, so does the need for better and more reliable infrastructure. Likewise, as the business grows, so do the number of staff hours being spent unproductively trying to resolve computer and other IT related issues. This is one of the many causes for lost staff productivity, which costs businesses a fortune.
One study showed that for every $13,291 worth of salary, unproductive employees account for a $4,520 cost to their employer.
It’s vital for growing businesses to partner with a reliable and proactive IT managed service provider. Your MSP (Managed Service Provider) can not only remove the burden of day-to-day IT management, but generate and implement solutions and strategies that ensure the company is able to grow and operate more efficiently by leveraging new and existing technology.
What exactly is an IT Managed Service Provider?
An MSP is an outsourced company that takes ownership of a defined set of IT tasks or operations. You can think of a managed service provider as an extension of your business—your own dedicated IT team—without the significant cost associated with an in-house IT department.
Managed service providers are predominantly used by small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) who don’t have a dedicated IT team. For example, a medical office uses a number of computers for managing patient records, data and billing, as well as utilising computer systems in their medical practice. This may not require a full-time IT employee, but still requires immediate expert attention when an issue arises to fix the problem, as well as the management of infrastructure over time. This is where an MSP would be useful.
For example, at eStorm Australia, our managed services deliver:
- Day-to-day IT management and planning
- Both on-site and remote technical support
- The supplementing of existing IT staff
- Proactive monitoring of your environment 24×7
- 99% up-time on IT systems
- A local and friendly help desk
- Request responses within an hour
It’s important to note here that MSPs go by a long list of names. These include IT Support Provider, IT Managed Services Provider, Remote Monitoring and Management Provider as well as many others.
What to look for in the best Managed Service Providers
An Involved Partner
It goes without saying that all businesses are unique. Even within the same industry, each company differs on how it operates, the governing organisational values and culture, the people and what it’s aiming to achieve. That means a one-size-fits-all approach to managed services just doesn’t make sense.
The best managed service providers take the time to truly understand your business, your needs and what you’re trying to accomplish. Only when this is fully understood can an IT support provider suggest, design and implement strategies and technology that align with the goals of the business and help your business grow.
Proactive Monitoring and Support
Partnering with an MSP isn’t just about having a reliable expert in your corner when something goes wrong. A truly valuable managed service provider performs a number of proactive tasks in order to aid the prevention of future issues.
For example, at eStorm we proactively monitor your IT systems and environment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This allows us to identify and address any issues long before they cause interruptions, damage or financial loss.
Backups and Data Recovery
A vital service that should be provided by your managed service provider is robust and reliable backup and data recovery procedures. The true value of an IT provider isn’t shown until a catastrophic data failure takes place that ultimately requires data to be restored from backups.
Oftentimes if your managed service provider doesn’t have a way for your critical data to be securely and reliably backed up, it can mean they lack the necessary experience in this area, which could be disastrous in the event of data loss.
On-site and Remote Support
Having a fast, knowledgeable and responsive help desk that can deliver expert IT support remotely is the gold standard for an MSP. However, there are likely going to be times when a phone call or remote access aren’t going to be enough.
Partnering with a managed service provider that has the capacity to deliver on-site support, whether it be to remedy IT issues or manage on-site IT infrastructure, provides an additional layer of reassurance, reliability and growth potential.
Having a dedicated team of knowledgeable experts who are able to deliver remote and on-site support means, no matter what your current or future IT requirements may be, your MSP is equipped to handle all your IT needs.
Get in touch!
With over 15 years experience, we deliver an extensive range of IT services that help small to medium businesses, across a wide range of industries, achieve their goals and objectives.
At eStorm Australia, our managed service solutions have been designed with the core goal of reducing IT stress placed on businesses and staff, as well as increasing overall efficiencies and business growth.
Talk to one of our Solutions Architects about your IT needs today today.
