Four Signs Your Company Needs an IT Managed Services Provider

Whether they are just opening their doors for business or have been in business for years and are trying to cut costs, many companies understandably try to handle IT needs in house to avoid the expense of outsourcing. While outsourcing IT is generally most cost effective than creating viable IT capacity onsite -- especially in terms of upfront expense -- delegating IT tasks to employees who are already on the payroll is more cost effective still, at least in the short run.

Over time, however, a company's IT needs can increase in scope and technology to the point that outsourcing is indeed the best option in terms of minimizing IT costs and accurately predicting them. Has your company reached this point in the IT game? If its IT environment is characterized by any of the factors listed below, the answer is probably a resounding yes.

 

1. Employees Work Outside of Their IT Knowledge

Due to the proliferation of IT throughout the business world, many employees gradually acquire IT skills that allow them to handle low-level IT issues without much trouble. However, these workers are typically non-adept at addressing IT problems that can have a negative, cascading effect on the IT network if they are addressed improperly. Having untrained employees handle these types of problems often costs more than outsourcing when cost of rework is factored in.  

 

2. Network Downtime Often Requires Hours to Fix

If your company's IT network is critical to business functions, you can ill-afford for resolving network downtime to take several hours. While situations do arise that take hours to fix -- particularly when replacement hardware implementation and configuration are needed -- as long as the proper hardware is used, these events should be few and far between. If they happen frequently, they can cost your company more than outsourcing in terms of lost productivity. 

 

3. Needed Services Are Avoided Due to Expense

If your company literally needs an IT service and avoids delegating the need to a managed services provider due to expense, the need is only likely to become more apparent the longer it is unaddressed. If an IT service is obviously overpriced, that may be reason enough to avoid it until you can find a provider whose services are more economical. However, if you avoid implementing a service simply because it has a price tag, you could thwart business growth.

 

4. After Hours IT Issues Are Found the Next Day

For companies whose IT networks are critical to business functions, discovering a hard to fix IT problem at the start of the next business day instead of shortly after it occurs is one of the worst network situations that can happen, as some business functions may be brought to a halt until the issue is resolved. The easiest way to prevent such a problem and avoid the revenue loss it can precipitate is to receive 24/7 IT network monitoring from a managed services provider. 

 

Summary

There are several possible signs that a company needs the assistance of a managed IT services provider, four of the most obvious of which are: employees who work outside of their IT knowledge, network downtime that frequently requires hours to resolve, needed services that are avoided due to cost, and after hours IT problems that are discovered the next day. If your company experiences these predicaments, contact an IT managed services provider today. 

Source : articlesbase.com