10 Reasons Why You Should Outsource Your Business IT

Operational efficiency is a priority for every business, irrespective of size. With technology constantly increasing in complexity, SMBs, with their limited in-house IT capability and resources, face greater challenges than larger enterprises do.

For many SMBs the solution is IT managed services, which allow you to outsource your IT infrastructure and operations to a third-party vendor, an IT managed services provider (MSP).

A service level agreement (SLAs) between your business and the MSP provides accountability and transparency, clarifying the range and level of services, support availability, and the responsibilities of each party as stipulated.

The Benefits of IT Managed Services

In brief, IT managed services provide the following benefits for your business.

1. Cost savings
Since an MSP manages all or as much of your IT infrastructure and operations as you prefer, you may not need to buy expensive servers and related equipment. Plus, outsourcing IT to an MSP is more cost effective than bringing comparable IT skills in-house. 

2. Convenience and reliability
Your MSP works off-site, limiting and reducing the number of IT staff you require at your business premises. Service continuity is guaranteed, and you never have to be concerned about IT staff productivity losses due to staff being indisposed, absent or unable to perform their tasks from home.

3. Access to expertise and the latest technology
By outsourcing internal IT, you hire a team of IT experts to install, managed and support complicated hardware and software solutions on your behalf. You also have access to the latest technology and solutions because the MSP stays abreast of emerging technology and best practices, helping you remain competitive.

4. Efficiency
You want to maximise uptime. With an MSP, problems are detected before they have a chance to emerge or escalate; they are anticipated and prevented. The MSP also keeps your software and hardware upgraded to prevent such issues in future, ensuring greater stability and a significant decrease in business interruptions.

5. Enhanced security
Your MSP remains up to date with, and prepared for, the latest security threats and the ever-changing security practices imposed by regulatory agencies. It will monitor and upgrade the security and protection software of your IT environment, continually assessing its vulnerabilities and pro-actively implementing defence measures.

6. Business continuity & disaster recovery
Your MSP provides solutions that maintain infrastructure up-time, such as disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity (BC) services. These solutions ensure your data is backed up and easily recoverable in the event of any number of scenarios.

7. Customised IT solutions
IT managed services are flexible and tailored according to your needs. Your MSP gets to know your business and works to customise a plan that suits your circumstances, requirements and plans for the future.

8. Scalability
With an MSP, your business can ‘pay as you grow’, which lessens budgeting uncertainties. Cloud-based infrastructure allows you to expand or downsize (scale up or down) your managed IT services according to your business growth and to integrate various technologies as required.

9. Flexible plans
In general, MSPs offer their services either through flexible plans where you pay only for what you use, or as a fixed, manageable monthly fee that doesn’t change during the life of the service contract.

10. Compliance
For your business to be operational, you must be compliant with tech-related rules and regulations set by various governing bodies. An MSP with compliance expertise can take care of this, from regulatory compliance certificates to licences with vendors.
Complete your technology projects

Final Words
Many SMBs encounter major problems with technology projects that require specialised skills. Their staff responsible for IT may also put infrastructure issues on the back burner while they attend to other critical day-to-day fixes. With an MSP, you have a dedicated team that can finish your IT project quickly and reliably.

With Foundation Partners you will benefit from a comprehensive approach to managing your company’s technology solutions. Contact us today on NZ +64 9 572 8800 AUS +61 2 8960 9408.