IT services
What Are Managed IT Services?
Managed IT services enable organizations to outsource IT tasks to a vendor as contracted or subscription services. These services can be used to lighten the workload of in-house teams, supplement teams that are unable to meet IT demand, or to replace in-house teams. Managed service providers (MSPs) can be useful for ensuring 24/7/365 coverage of IT duties and can contribute specialty knowledge or expertise that may not otherwise be available.
What services are most commonly used?
Managed IT services can encompass many responsibilities but typically include:
- Remote monitoring and management of hardware and infrastructure.
- Security services, including monitoring, penetration testing, threat hunting, or incident response.
- Configuration, monitoring, and management of cloud services.
- Communications support, including IP telephony services.
Managed IT Service Benefits
There are numerous benefits that organizations can gain from the right managed IT service provider. These benefits often include:
Contractual terms
Managed services enable you to set contractual terms for IT tasks that include service level agreements (SLAs). This means you don’t have to spend time recruiting, hiring, or training IT staff. This enables you to pay only for the coverage or services you need and avoids the associated costs that come with maintaining full-time employees.
Efficiency
Outsourcing IT tasks to managed services can free your teams to focus on revenue-generating tasks. These providers can also often provide guidance or recommendations to help you optimize the performance of your infrastructure. This can lead to increases in productivity and improved ROI.
Better management of uptime
Managed IT service providers are not tied to the same schedule as your other employees. This means providers are often able to perform system updates and maintenance during off-hours. When MSPs have flexible schedules to work around your own, you see greater uptime and fewer workflow disruptions.