In the fast-paced business environment today, enterprises have realized that there is a growing need for state-of-the-art managed IT services and systems for their daily operations. It’s extremely rare for an enterprise today to not have several mission-critical digital-based systems.
Managed IT services makes using these systems easier by outsourcing the monitoring, configuration, and maintenance to third-party specialists. We understand that not every enterprise is in the privileged position to take advantage of managed IT services, which is mainly because some still feel they don’t need them.
With every enterprise now shifting towards the adoption of managed services, you must get up-to-date with all that is happening in this industry. This short guide is based on clearing those doubts and show how enterprises are using managed IT services, trends, and everything else that will give your business an advantage.
What Are Managed IT Services?
The term ‘Managed Services’ is used to cover a multitude of services. It essentially refers to a third-party IT provider or Managed Services Provider (MSP) that manages some or all of the IT needs of an enterprise. As with most business solutions, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach towards managed services.
A business may outsource to a managed IT service provider for Security as a Service, or they may want to outsource all their IT needs with managed packages that will be designed specifically for their business operations. Managed services include the management of technologies like the data center, telephony, and core network, along with IT maintenance responsibilities such as break/fix and patch management.
How Do Managed IT Services Work?
IT services have become commonplace today and are even considered a necessity for most businesses for their business operations. Even small-sized companies and startups may interact with and need several different online and digital integrated systems. The use of Managed IT services is based on the process of hiring dedicated specialists to configure, manage, and maintain these systems for the enterprise and get a significant advantage over their competition.
Enterprises must pay a monthly fee to the Managed Service Provider (MSP) that will cover the entire service and the maintenance package. The service provider is going to be the one that handles everything from hardware hosting to monitoring, support, and licensing. This helps to replace but not eliminate the in-house IT staff of the enterprise.
The Model
Under previous software or hardware supply models, you would need to reach out to a vendor and choose the product or products that you need. After that, you’ll be given a quote for the licensing, and that is when your in-house IT team will deploy, configure, update, secure, and maintain these systems.
The managed services model is different from this. Instead of paying a one-off licensing fee, you will be paying the managed service provider a monthly subscription fee based on the number of seats needed. It will include both the operation and maintenance of the software and its licensing.
The Growth of Managed IT Services
Managed IT Service providers are growing by leaps and bounds on a yearly basis, and a Gartner report states that in 2017, the managed services industry grew by 3%. Markets and Markets have even predicted that the managed IT sector will grow to a whopping $258 Billion by 2022.
The consistent growth in demand for managed IT services and solutions has meant that managed service providers are investing heavily in their infrastructure so that they can deliver high-quality services and state-of-the-art technologies to enterprises.
The Benefits of Managed IT Services
Migrating any business to using managed IT services for its software may appear to be a daunting prospect, but it comes with several great benefits that make the switch worth it. One of the biggest benefits that most enterprises notice right away is the better forecasting ability and reduced costs.
Benefiting from the skills and expertise of the specialists from your Managed Service Provider ensures that you don’t hire expensive in-house staff for the dedicated monitoring and support role. The fixed monthly subscription model of managed service providers allows businesses to predict expenses for the enterprise accurately.
Managed service providers are also better equipped to implement new technologies at a faster rate compared to self-operated models. This gives you the additional advantage of a more secure and reliable infrastructure.
Trends for Managed IT Services
The rapid growth and adoption of managed IT services and providers have resulted in the development of several new trends in the industry. It has benefitted enterprises massively, and the first major trend was the movement towards cloud computing services for the provisioning and delivery of these services. This allowed managed service providers to better monitor for issues and deliver excellent services.
Another major trend is the increasing use of automation in regular business operations, which has seen common tasks replaced with automated services through the cloud and managed service providers. The last current trend making waves is a shift from standard uptime-based service agreements for managed service providers. It has resulted in a move towards agreements that are more focused on delivering superior quality customer services.
Conclusion
Managed IT services has shown massive growth in the IT industry. Enterprises today want to get their hands on the best possible solutions that will allow them to operate their businesses efficiently, effectively, and at the lowest cost possible. Managed IT services fulfill these criteria in a manner that wasn’t thought possible before.
Acquiring the services of a managed IT service provider will give your enterprise the best of both worlds, as you can take advantage of efficient, cutting-edge, and reliable business systems at a more affordable and forecast-able price point. We have our own suite of solutions for you to consider for your organization. I would be happy to discuss further with you how we can assist. Feel free to contact me anytime.
by Bobby J Davidson
We love our company and we love what we do. Check out the ‘Why Percento‘ page to learn more: Love of Technology and Business! As the President of Percento Technologies International, I provide day-to-day leadership to the company’s senior management and I am personally involved in the strategy, business development and sales activities of the firm.
The company was founded in 1999 with the purpose of providing a one call source for organizations in need of Enterprise IT Consulting and Management. We also provide a line of products in the boutique Cloud Server space with a touch of high-end website strategy consulting and design services. We personalizes the IT Service experience with a team approach, working with clients from diverse sectors of industry, including energy services, financial, legal, entertainment, healthcare, hospitality, retail and general and/or corporate business. percentotech.com/contact