An overarching theme for many small businesses in 2022 and beyond is the concept of being ‘always open.’ This means you’re always available for queries, your website is never down, and your servers are always tweaked for peak capacity. The need for a managed IT service provider for small business is a foregone conclusion in today’s hotly contested marketplace.
This is why a growing number of small businesses are outsourcing their IT infrastructure needs to a managed service provider (MSP). From medical clinics and law firms to accounting businesses and construction companies – every industry faces an uphill battle when it comes to IT security threats, higher costs of managing IT infrastructure, and pointless downtimes (that could have been avoided).
This market for the MSP for small businesses is growing at an unprecedented rate exceeding 13.3% and is poised to reach $116.2 billion by 2025. So why are so many small businesses outsourcing their IT needs? We’ve rounded up five reasons that are worth exploring.
Reduces the Cost of Doing Business
An average business with on-premise infrastructure and teams can spend up to 7.5 percent of its total revenue on IT. That is a huge chunk of change that can be redirected to the core operations of the business by simply outsourcing to a managed IT service provider for small business.
So why is IT infrastructure so expensive? Below is a cursory look at some of the several moving parts involved in IT:
- Business software applications
- Hardware equipment (ongoing maintenance costs)
- Network (firewall, security, providers, and various components that permit network operations)
You can cut down your IT infrastructure costs by removing most of these components out of the equation and simply switching to cheaper alternatives on the cloud. In addition, the MSP will add services that are of use to you and remove tools that are irrelevant to your technology stack. This saves your IT costs while keeping efficiency at an all-time high.
Moreover, a pay-as-you-go business model can save a big portion of your IT spending because you only pay for services that you actually need. Nothing goes to waste.
Simplification of IT Infrastructure
Managing the IT infrastructure all by yourself is a monumental task – there are far too many devices and business applications involved. Not only do you need a bunch of operations in place, but you also need to provide funds on an ongoing basis to maintain quality.
Managed service providers can help you offload some of your expenses and the majority of your infrastructure responsibilities, which can lead to even more cost savings.
The biggest upside of hiring a managed IT service provider for small business is the ability to become more agile. You get access to round-the-clock infrastructure management services that keep your business running on the cloud without any interruptions. It’s also much easier to scan for security problems and keep your infrastructure running without a hitch. Compliance with local laws and regulations becomes easy too.
IT Disaster Recovery Plan
Businesses that have their IT hardware on-premise run the risk of a major server failure that can devastate their everyday operations. They can permanently lose vital data that is a precursor to business processes and growth. Of course, they can run data recovery applications throughout the year – but that will require a continuous injection of funds that can eat into the bottom line.
By contrast, hiring a managed service provider can save you from the risk of downtime. Even if something catastrophic happens, it won’t take your business down. You’ll experience low to no downtime, which is always a big plus, considering that just one hour of downtime can cost a small business anywhere from $8,000 to $700,000.
Cloud IT services have redundancy plans that allow your business services to stay operational. The risk of hardware failure is almost completely eliminated since everything is on a virtual platform.
Timely Upgrades and Updates
Cloud services are still uncharted territory, and with an ever-evolving landscape, there’s always a new trend or tool around the corner that can make your business blazingly fast and efficient.
But can you adopt the latest and greatest tools without sacrificing the backend of your IT infrastructure and running into compatibility issues? Can you make the small tweaks and adjustments necessary to fully optimize your business for maximum growth? Upgrades to on-premise servers can be prohibitively expensive, not to mention the security and maintenance costs that come with them.
A managed service provider provides you with the scalability and flexibility to add new tools to your technology stack, make rapid customizations – all without disrupting your daily processes.
Don’t like the new tool? Undoing changes to your IT infrastructure is as simple as rolling back to a previous configuration that you liked. A managed service provider gives you free roam with endless experimentation and customization opportunities that are simply not possible with on-premises hardware.
Faster Response Time
If you run into any problems, which is rare, you will find your managed service provider to be extremely responsive to your needs. This is important if you want to minimize downtime and prevent a technological disaster that could spell huge losses. A reliable MSP will provide you with round-the-clock support and address your needs with a quick turnaround time.
Managed IT service providers also provide ongoing monitoring to detect problems that could otherwise pose compliance threats and security issues. Everything is fully aligned with your business policies and strategies so that your organization is firmly headed for growth.
Wrapping Up - Making the Jump to a Reliable Managed Service Provider
The best MSP will provide you with ongoing support, technical support, and guidance to make the most out of your cloud IT infrastructure and achieve your goals. If you have more questions or would like to make the shift towards managed IT services, get in touch with Microsys today.
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