With small and mediums sized businesses (SME’s) competing to succeed in a fast-paced and competitive environment, it’s now essential to have a reliable yet innovative IT strategy in order to guarantee success. With various constraints affecting SMEs such as price, time, and lack of support, many turn to a Managed Service Provider (MSP) to assist them with their various strategic IT needs. An MSP, such as Fitzrovia IT, is an outsourced third-party that manages technological support, advice, and solutions for their clients.

As explained by Gartner, “a managed service provider delivers services, such as network, application, infrastructure, and security, via on-going and regular support and active administration on customers’ premises, in their MSP’s data centre (hosting), or a third-party data centre.” Your MSP is a one-stop-shop for all things IT, providing ongoing support and maintenance. If your business is struggling with IT issues or wants to implement innovative tech solutions that currently feel out of reach, then an MSP partner is likely the solution to your problems.

1: YOU DON’T HAVE A DEDICATED IT SUPPORT TEAM.

If you don’t currently operate a dedicated IT support team within your business, then it’s essential for you to engage the services of an MSP. Without the support of any dedicated IT experts, your business is left vulnerable to attack, and to system or device faults. More often than not, SMEs rely on a couple of tech-savvy employees to keep on top of their IT policy - instead of hiring a dedicated professional. This comes at the detriment of the employees whose attention is drawn away from business while they work to solve reoccurring IT issues. It also keeps your IT systems at a base level of development, with no specialist advise on innovative and novel solutions that would help grow your SME.

2: YOU’RE EXPERIENCING FREQUENT BUSINESS DOWNTIME.

If you don’t have an in-house team, or your IT experts are being swamped with tickets, then it’s likely that you may be experiencing frustrating IT downtime. Not only is downtime infuriating for employees who struggle to get on with their jobs, it’s also incredibly frustrating for any clients who may be struggling to get in touch during periods of IT blackout. Downtime can prove extremely expensive for businesses both in terms of revenue loss, and the cost of an IT fix. With the help of your MSP partner, your business can remove the threat of IT downtime. Having a knowledgeable and responsive IT team a call or message away ensures your colleagues and staff can get on with business, and you can avoid the threat of costly downtime.

3: YOU WANT TO IMPLEMENT INNOVATIVE IT SOLUTIONS.

A premium benefit of employing the services of an MSP is the possibility of implementing innovative IT solutions as they come to market. Far too often businesses are operating with outdated software and systems, making them vulnerable to attack and functioning below optimal efficiency. Upgrading to more advanced systems and Cloud solutions can be challenging, and is best done by a team of professionals, in order to avoid improper transitions and costly mistakes. MSPs are in the business of remaining abreast of tech solutions and releases, and can ensure the best fitting IT systems are in place for your business.

4: YOU HAVE WORRIES ABOUT YOUR SECURITY INFRASTRUCTURE.

In a fast-paced tech industry, it can be hard to ensure that optimal security solutions are in place to protect your business’ infrastructure and data. With more attacks occurring now than ever before, SMEs must work round-the-clock to protect client and business data. The benefit of using an MSP is that they can design a custom, and cost-efficient cybersecurity package to cater to your business’ security needs. Following a thorough security audit, an MSP such as Fitzrovia IT can identify potential weaknesses in your infrastructure, remediating them with tailored solutions. With the help of your trusted MSP, you won’t have to worry about data compliance or network security, ensuring peace of mind for employees and clients alike.

5: YOU WANT TO SAVE ON YOUR IT SPENDING.

The primary benefit of employing the services of a trusted IT partner is the potential for making major savings on your IT spending. Employing a full-time in-house IT team can be expensive and produce less development and stability than if you were to work in tandem with an MSP. With the guaranteed maintenance and innovation of your MSP, your IT systems will stay up and running 24/7. As highlighted, innovative solutions will undoubtably expedite and smooth your business procedures - meaning happy staff, and ever-evolving and adaptive processes. Consequently, the significant improvement in your business’ security infrastructure and IT systems will prevent the massive costs the massive costs associated with a potential cyber-attack or business blackout. Investing in your IT policy is a savvy business move, and one that will undoubtably save you significant sums in the long-term.

PARTNERING WITH AN MSP

Thus, there are numerous advantages for SMEs in partnering with an IT support partner; 24/7 access to MSP services, support, expert advice, regular maintenance, and the implementation of secure and monitored systems all at an affordable price point make this an appealing option. In summary, an MSP can vastly in increase a business’s efficiency and innovation, all while cutting costs.

If you want to discuss the possibility of partnering with Fitzrovia IT for all your managed IT needs, contact our expert team today.