I am often asked about the future of managed services.  The simple answer is that it is only going to expand, as companies see the value in outsourcing their non-core, IT Service functions for its cost benefits.

As the damage from the 2008 recession begins to be alleviated, companies learned valuable lessons.  They streamlined operations and began to refocus on doing whatever it takes to make a profit.

Despite market variances, the Managed Service industry is expected to only grow.  It is expected that India will emerge from the recession faster than most nations, and much of the outsourced IT Services will go there.  The IT Service Industries of Eastern Europe and South East Asia are also expected to grow.

Today’s business climate is tough, and financial resources are at a premium.  It pays to be prudent and frugal in how you choose to allocate your resources.  One smart decision that many companies are deciding to make is to outsource non-core functions, like I.T. support to a so-called “Managed Services” company.  This has several benefits.  Among these benefits are getting a technological “edge” over your competition, potentially reduced costs, and easy access to expertise.

Enhanced Agility in Dealing with Technology Issues

NetworkElites will help you utilize the latest technologies to help you gain an edge over your competition.  One exciting, new product our clients are very happy about is Microsoft 365.  Microsoft 365 is a suite of cloud applications, from Microsoft, that allows businesses of all sizes to easily collaborate, and communicate from anywhere.  We are a certified Microsoft Partner, and have the expertise in installing, and supporting these products.

Costs Savings Arising From Your Technology

Not only can our services reduce overhead costs, we can also implement systems that result in direct, tangible cost savings.  For example, we have the expertise to implement virtualized, cloud solutions for your business.  We often find that our clients prefer Citrix.  This solution results in a reduction in the amount of hardware (typically servers), and a lowered need for the highest performance PCs, as the bulk of processing is carried over to the server.

Easy Access to Expertise in a Variety of Technological Fields

With the rapid changes occurring in technology, it can be difficult for in-house I.T. staff to stay up to date and to gain expertise in all the types of technology that may benefit your business.  This is another area where a Managed Services company can be very helpful.  With a large staff, we have expertise in a variety of key areas.  Some of our engineers are Network Engineers with several certifications.  Others are more geared towards hardware repair, others towards software and database development, and yet others in other areas that many businesses need.

Conclusion

Outsourcing your non-core business functions, in particular Information Technology to a Managed Services company can be a boon for your business.  A better ability to fix, and avoid technological problems, savings in costs, and access to greater technological expertise are but a few benefits.  In this extremely competitive business climate, it behooves companies to get the technological edge that Network Elites can provide.

As of the time of this writing, Google cloud is experiencing issues.  Specifically with their cloud-based calendar product.  The current error message reads as follows:

“We’re experiencing an issue affecting less than 0.125% of the Google Calendar user base. The affected users are able to access Google Calendar, but are seeing error messages and/or other unexpected behavior.

We will provide an update by February 23, 2011 12:52:00 PM UTC+1 detailing when we expect to resolve the problem.

Please note that this resolution time is an estimate and may change.

Affected users may be missing entries in their calendars.”

This begs the question of course, when your cloud solutions provider experiences problems, who can respond to the issue in a more speedy manner?  A beheomith such as Google, withs its millions of users, or a locally based IT company that managers your private cloud?

Deciding if whether or not to hire a full time IT person (or persons) or to outsource your IT support to a managed services company poses a few challenges.  Monetarily, access-wise, knowledge-wise and other; the decision can have far reaching implications for your business.  Let’s look as a few pros and cons.

Outsourcing  IT vs Hiring In-House IT personnel comparison

Pros of outsourcing (Cons of hiring fulltime IT personnel)

1.      Reduced costs (It will cost more, generally to hire just one full time IT person)

2.      24/7 Support Ability (A full time guy still needs to sleep )

3.      Potentially greater consulting expertise (A managed services, IT support company can draw on more experience and expertise)

4.      Full utilization of resources (Often, in-house staff will have lots of downtime, and their complete abilities may not be fully used).

The primary con, of course, is that a managed service company will find it more difficult to give you an exact personalized response.  But, if the company is large enough, it can often assign certain staff top certain accounts, thus providing a more personalized response.  If a certain IT engineer that you prefer isn’t available, at least you can still have access to other knowledge staff, even at odd hours of the day.

The larger your company, the more sense it makes to go with a managed services company, rather than hiring  in-house IT support personnel.   With each employee, you have to factor in benefits, vacation time, as well as scheduling.  The costs can add up quickly.

As a side note, we often do find that many companies still like to have a semi-technical liaison that coordinates with us.  They can often handle very simple issues, and keep communication between the company and a managed service provider smooth.

This article really only touches the surface of this very important question for businesses.  If you’d like to get more detailed information on how managed services can benefit your business, please give us a call at 877.635.4837.

Generally speaking, you only want to work with firms that offer contracts, unless you have only very small jobs for them to accomplish. Keep in mind, that often contracts have various “tiers”. Often emulating Olympic medals. Lower tiers may only include limited on-site support, with higher, more expensive tiers providing nearly unlimited access. Generally, the smaller your organization, the more simple your infrastructure; Thus, you can probably get away with a lower cost plan. However, for large companies, with critical operations, and complex infrastructure, the need may arise for on-site support, and lots of after hours support. In these cases a higher tiered plan would be appropriate. You can shoot me an email here if you have questions:

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In the current economic climate no one wants to waste money.  It is a big reason so many companies outsource their non-core activities, like Managed Services and IT Support, in the first place.  But how is a business owner to know if his or her IT Support is doing the best job it can?

Responsiveness

Probably most important is how quickly your outsourced IT Support can respond to issues that arise.  Things like viruses, servers going down, etc can crop up for a variety of reasons and interrupt the work flow of your company.  Does your IT Solution have the ability to react instantly to these situations?  Are they proactive, meaning they are even able to anticipate serious problems before they arise?  A good IT Support solution has proactive monitoring that alerts them of potential issues before they come to a head.  And when serious issues do arise, they can respond on multiple tiers.  Tier 1, immediate phone support and the ability to remotely connect to affect a solution.  Higher tiers would incorporate more in-depth analysis, and if needed, an on site visit ASAP.

Technological Savvy

Simple put, does your Managed Services IT Support team know what they are doing? Do they have any certifications?  How long have they been in business and can they provide recommendations from satisfied clients?  Do they promise they can do things that they have consistently failed to do, or do they deliver?  Don’t be satisfied with excuses.  They are there to ease your burden, not add to it.  They may be the nicest group of guys in the world, but if they are not up to date on the latest, pro-active, technologies, and are unable to quickly diagnose and repair issues, then you should move on.

Personable

I include this because it is important that your employee base know they can contact tech support, and not be condescended, or chided, but treated with respect.  If your employees do not feel comfortable bringing up a situation that occurs, that helps absolutely no one, and potentially will cost you money.

To summarize, I think these are the base line factors you need to consider when evaluating your Managed Services and IT Support solution. In my next post I will speak more about specific items to look for when choosing on a solution.  Until then, see ya later!