“Don’t fix what isn’t broke” only really works when you’re not breaking it in the first place. Sadly, for many small-to-medium-sized businesses, it’s easier to break something than it is to put it back together.
Not only that, but in the pursuit of “optimizing” and “streamlining tech stacks,” it’s all too common to get looped into over-expensive contracts, complicated workflows, and incompatible devices. The irony is that all the tech was supposed to make your life easier!
Managed Services is the business of putting your tech strategies into the hands of experts. Whether it’s contract management, fishing for new tech opportunities, or troubleshooting your hardware in-person or remotely, a managed service provider is an entire Ocean’s 11 team of experts here to take your hands off of the digital wheel confidently.
“Getting you back to running your business” is a phrase you’ll hear a lot in the managed services industry, but what does that really mean? It’s more than a catchphrase—we promise. In today’s blog, we’ll show you what these services typically provide for business owners, how they work, and why you should consider outsourcing your business tech to professionals.
In the Workplace
The primary function of a Managed Services team is to reduce your operational costs. While you have been learning more about your niche and training the right talent, the tech industry has exploded with cloud integration, AI services, and digital safety tools.
While the field of new business technology is undoubtedly powerful, it can quickly overwhelm both your budget and your pipeline. By leaving your tech stack in the hands of professionals who have devoted their careers to understanding and leveraging emerging technologies, you are saving time, effort, and, most importantly, money.
Separately, your technologies require a complicated string of password management, inefficient file transfers, and a frustrating user experience. Harmonized, however, they form a seamless environment where your team can accomplish their mission-critical tasks safely and efficiently.
A few examples of how Managed Services can help your company:
Review existing technology contracts for savings opportunities.
Harmonize your technology under a single platform.
Increase cybersecurity without interrupting workflows. (Password management, 2FA, etc.)
Procure and optimize new technology in line with your goals.
Align your current technology to better suit the dynamic needs of your business.
Providing 24/7 coverage of your sensitive data.
Help breeze you through insurance audits in the case of disaster.
Just someone to call up. We get lonely, too, you know.
Why You Need Managed Service
Being agile in the market means being nimble on your homefront. Bringing together cutting-edge tech with common business sense should be a partnership, not you hauling it all around. To put it bluntly, you have better things to do than sit around for updates and support tickets.
The process is simple—you meet with a managed service provider of your choosing and get a sense of the fit. You will be asked about how your business operates, your goals, and if there are any roadblocks currently holding you back. The next step is to review your current practices through an onboarding, wherein a preliminary few suggestions might be pitched. If you like where things are headed, you hand over the keys and let your managed service provider do the steering. Need a split-second course correction? Don’t worry—your managed service provider is just a phone call away.
Managed service providers allow you to do things you’ve never thought possible, all the while making sure your procedures today are as streamlined and cost-effective as possible. If you’re trying to compete as an SMB, the question becomes how you could afford not to outsource?
While this blog hopefully answered some of your questions, there is much more to say on managed services providers and how they can transform your business practices.
To see it in action, why not give us a call? We’ll sit down with you and go over our strategies to ensure our clients stay competitive without sacrificing their budgets. In fact, many of our clients end up spending less per year with our services through competitive audits and contract negotiations!
Please visit our services page or contact us for a free consultation to learn more about what we do.
