As a business owner, you might know that your business is facing online threats and it’s only a matter of time. It doesn’t matter how big or small your business is if you have an online presence, then there are risks associated with running a business.
One of the best ways to protect your business from malicious attacks is to have a managed service provider that can deal with any problems on a 24/7 basis. This will allow you to focus on your core competencies and spend on what’s important – running your business!
Single Provider
By sharing the burden of responsibility for managing, monitoring, and updating these resources, you can free up time to concentrate on other aspects of your business. This will give you peace of mind knowing someone else, an expert in these areas, is taking care of everything so you can focus on running your company.
The problem is, these resources can become complicated to manage and monitor without the proper expertise, and according to Prototype IT, that’s where a managed service provider comes in. The service not only provides both expertise and management of these functions but the service is managed 24/7 so that you can continue to run your business.
Continuous Monitoring
These providers will monitor your computer and network continuously and alert you to any potential problems, such as upgrades of software and hardware that can create security vulnerabilities that go unaddressed for too long. Using an MSP allows you to take advantage of the latest upgrades without fear of damaging the security of your business. By choosing to use a managed service provider, you will have peace of mind knowing that your system is being monitored by experts at all hours of the day and night.
In addition, these providers can provide training on new equipment so that you don’t have to take time away from other functions to get familiar with it. This allows you to continue running your company while allowing them to resolve the problem quickly and efficiently so everyone wins!
Remote support via phone or web portal
When you do need help, the experts at your managed service provider will be available to remote into your network and resolve any issues. They can also set up a web portal that allows you to grant temporary access to IT staff or other trusted individuals. This ensures that your business is never without technical support when it’s needed most.
The experts at your MSP can provide 24/7 support through phone, online chat, email, Twitter, Facebook, Yammer-whatever means of communication works for you!
New Technologies
The world’s technology is constantly changing as well as the threats to those technologies. New viruses and security risks are cropping up every day and these types of problems come from countless sources and each can have a devastating effect on your business. A well-managed service provider will be able to stay on top of those changes and provide real-time monitoring of those risks to counteract them before they become a problem for your company’s network and information systems.
These new technologies also allow companies to provide better service to customers. This includes using real-time information for sales, marketing, and customer service purposes. A well-managed service provider will be able to incorporate these technologies into your company’s business processes for greater impact.
The Need For Expertise
One of the biggest challenges small businesses face when it comes to keeping their technology systems updated is finding someone with expertise in those areas who can work with them to make sure the job gets done the right way. Other challenges include limited resources that oftentimes lead to incomplete updates or patches being installed on your network which provides an opportunity for hackers and other malicious individuals looking to take advantage of weaknesses in your system.
The most important thing is that these managed service providers are experts in this area, and they’re trained on how to protect businesses from hackers who are constantly trying to penetrate your network. This allows you to rest easy knowing they will do everything possible to keep your company’s information secure at all times.
Complexity of Resources
While the same basic networking infrastructure switches and routers that have been around for decades are still used -their use has changed drastically over recent years. These network infrastructure components are just one example of the specialized equipment your business may need but not have the capability or expertise to fully manage.
With there being so many different vendors of all these different technologies, it can be a nightmare to keep track of the differences and learn how they work. This is where a managed service provider comes in. The best ones will have experts on their staff who know each vendor’s technology inside and out. This knowledge allows the provider to provide the “best-fit” solutions for your company while ensuring that everything is working together properly.
Reduce Your Overhead Costs
Finally, many times, the biggest argument against outsourcing IT is that it will increase overhead costs. This simply isn’t true anymore. The technology exists today to outsource your entire IT infrastructure and help you reduce your overhead costs while increasing efficiency and results!
Why is this? For starters, a managed service provider has a lower overhead cost structure than most companies. Because they have the expertise and resources to offer a full range of IT solutions, it is much more efficient for them to manage multiple clients’ IT infrastructures as compared to an in-house department that only manages one company’s systems. This enables them to spread out their costs across all their customers-which means you pay less per customer!
In addition, since your business can be up and running from anywhere, many of your employees will work from home or remote locations. You’ll need centralized access to emails and files that can be provided with remote backup and storage technologies that allow you (and your team) access on any device. The absence of hardware and software also reduces your costs.
For any business, especially small businesses where budgets are often limited, managing your network is not only difficult but can put traps out for you that may cripple your business financially or worse permanently shut it down! The best thing you can do if you don’t want the headaches of running an IT department yourself without having the right knowledge is to hire a managed service provider.
