When was the last time your business evaluated its IT needs? Are your IT dollars being spent as effectively and efficiently as possible?
In a CompTIA survey of over 400 businesses that use a Managed Service Provider, they found that:
•46% of these companies reduced their IT budget by 25% or more by switching to an MSP
•13% cut IT spending by more than 50%
•50% said they have cut annual costs by anywhere from 1% to 24%
Is Having a Managed Service Provider the Right Fit for Your Company?
Making a major change to the inner-workings of a business is a large undertaking, and businesses rightfully have qualms and concerns about doing so – especially when it comes to IT. Businesses today rely heavily on their IT infrastructure, so any changes made to it need to be guaranteed to work. There’s also large concerns for businesses that must comply with specific compliance standards (PCI, HIPAA, NIST) as even a small data breach can come with large monetary penalties.
That means that when hiring an MSP, businesses need to feel assured that these changes won’t come back to haunt them.
I have worked with many organizations that have voiced these valid concerns which is why my company, Partnered Solutions IT, works hard to assuage them. For example, we were recently hired by a manufacturing client that had an annual IT budget of $64,000 per year. Within the first week of working with them, we were able to optimize their network and set them up to save one-third of their yearly IT budget.
As technology leaders, we have a comprehensive breadth of knowledge, and we maintain industry certifications through continued training to keep our partners compliant and secure. With our team of industry professionals, we are able to create action plans and mitigate problems before crucial system problems arise. Our approach has been proven to streamline your business’s IT and to save you money without compromising on performance or security.
Hiring an MSP Doesn’t Mean Firing Your Internal Staff
In a separate article, CompTIA found that businesses who hire an MSP in addition to their internal IT staff together were able to construct new advantages. For these companies, having an MSP allowed their internal IT staff to focus on more strategic projects and to elevate their IT infrastructure to a whole new level.
Using an MSP as a secondary line of support can result in saving money through compliance auditing, disaster recovery planning, and remote assistance. Many organizations have IT administrators that have multiple roles outside of maintaining their network. Having an MSP allows them to focus on higher-level problems.
Technology now plays a large role in how businesses communicate with their customers, share information, handle their finances, and monitor business metrics. Ensuring that this information is not lost due to error or vulnerability has become crucial.
When systems are not updated with firmware or monitored for traffic, it leaves a window of opportunity for data loss to occur. And we are all too aware of the potential disasters that stem from a data breach.
Take Target for example. They are still recovering from their 2013 data breach which resulted in thousands of customers’ credit card information being exposed – costing their company nearly $150 million. Shortly after the breach, Target adopted an alliance partnership to bring in additional expertise to complement their internal team.
The MSP model has proven itself to be an effective model for primary and secondary support to businesses. It streamlines processes and gives a high level of support while saving companies on their IT budgets.
So I ask again, when was the last time you looked at how your IT needs are being met? Contact Partnered Solutions IT if you’re in need of a MSP.
