What is managed IT service and is it something I need for my business?

Every new and established business needs information technology. Without IT infrastructure, businesses lose the capability to monitor cyber threats, communicate, and operate. Tekscape offers managed IT service and is considered a managed service provider. A managed service provider is a third-party company that remotely manages their client’s information technology. These services may include but are not limited to cybersecurity, UCaaS (unified communications as a service), cloud computing, infrastructure, server builds, and more.

Industries that extensively use managed service providers include manufacturers, educational institutions, law firms, and financial firms. Small businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies hire managed service providers as well. Managed service providers manage IT on a twenty-four-hour basis so the business that hired them can concentrate on their own services and operations. Managed service providers began evolving in the 1990s. Over time they have increased the scope of their services to differentiate themselves from other types of providers.

Should I hire a managed service provider or an in-house IT person?

Making this decision should be based on the number of employees within your business that utilize computers. If your company has fewer than ten computer users, it may be better to oversee things in house. Any amount above that could be more easily handled by a managed service provider. Having an in-house IT professional in the same building is convenient but there are times when an in-house IT person cannot provide the support needed. This is a truly relevant problem right now because of an IT labor shortage.

Though not in the same building, a managed service provider can offer remote support 24/7/365 days a year with a ticket system. In comparison, an in-house IT department may understand your company’s process better. They may even know your current infrastructure system inside and out but that does not trump the fact that a managed service provider will work to completely understand your company’s IT process before they begin their service agreement. They may also suggest improvement and upgrades that the internal team may have not noticed before.

Managed IT VS. In house IT costs

The costs for information technology can differ depending on the industry. It depends on how secure, efficient, and stable you want your IT infrastructure to be. It may also depend on whether the current technology of your business is outdated and needs to remodel. Many managed service providers require their clients to have certain technology requirements in order to create a reliable and secure IT ecosystem.

The costs of updating this equipment may seem like a lot at first but these improvements can save on the cost of technological disasters. Having legacy equipment, even when managed by an in-house IT department can increase the chance of network breaches, ransomware attacks, and data loss. Depending on your industry, these problems can lead to long company downtime and legal and financial penalties. Even if problems do occur, a managed service provider will deploy a swift recovery because they back the company data up to cloud storage.

The long-term costs of a managed service provider are often cheaper than having a full in-house IT department. Most managed service providers charge a flat rate monthly fee that includes all their services. This amount is usually based on the number of endpoints and computers. In addition to the cost of labor, in house IT employees must also be provided with paid benefits such as health, dental, and vision insurance. When working with a managed service provider, these costs are eliminated and there is no gap in service from employee absences.

What do managed service providers do that is better than in house IT?

One of the greatest reasons to hire managed service providers is that you have access to 24/7 support. If there is a major problem that appears on the weekend, managed service providers can help right away. There is no waiting time if IT employees are off for the weekend. Internal IT employees are often bogged down by support tickets and spend most of their day resolving problems caused by lack of maintenance and security.

Managed service providers continuously practice initiative-taking management and maintenance of IT systems. This prevents problems caused by inadequate maintenance. Many managed service providers also offer in house employee training so there is less of a chance of employee related cybersecurity problems. In house IT managers rarely have the time to do this training for other employees.

Cyberthreats are increasing in numbers every day. Every type of organization needs protection against these threats. There are tools available to fight these threats that are available to in house IT administrators, but they are often very costly, and this may make them inaccessible to small and medium sized businesses. Managed service providers already have the technologies in place to monitor and secure their client’s systems against these threats. They are also continuously kept up to date on the latest network protocols, hardware configurations, and industry related cyberthreats.

If you sign on with Tekscape as a managed service provider, you can enjoy these cyberthreat mitigation benefits.

• Firewall management and monitoring

• Scheduled network security and IT vulnerability assessments

• Cyber awareness training

• Endpoint security software management

• Anti-spam management

• Cloud based web security and protection

• Threat detection and remediation

• DRaaS (disaster recovery as a service)

Besides offering extensive cybersecurity service options, Tekscape also offers collaboration, network and wireless management, cloud migration, compliance, unified communication, and virtual desktop infrastructure. When making the decision as to whether you want to hire a managed service provider, consider Tekscape as we have been one of the top managed service providers in the United States since 2007. Though we are based in New York City, we service several national clients because we can work remotely. If you would like to learn more about any of our services, please contact us at (855) 720-0630 or sales@tekscape.com.