When budgets are limited, especially in the current challenging economic climate, effective IT services often fall by the wayside as a result. This has the unfortunate side effect of making businesses less efficient and productive, negatively impacting their profitability.
It also opens them up to risks including cybercrime. However, managed services, in particular remotely delivered managed services, may be the ideal solution to these multiple challenges.
There are many IT services that form the foundation of the modern business, from storage to email, networking to applications, and even backup and disaster recovery. In a digital world, data is key. However, data in itself does not generate money, and the technology platforms that support business are not what most businesses are competent at.
Knowing what data you have, protecting and using it to generate revenue, is where the true value of data lies. To keep up with the pace of IT change, it is essential to have the right skills in place, otherwise downtime, or even data loss, can cause serious interruptions to business functionality.
Basically, all businesses need IT. However, this does not mean that they need to worry about it. Having a person or people on-site as permanent employees is not cost-effective for most businesses, and neither is it necessary.
Finding the right partner to manage and maintain the IT environment can be a business lifesaver. Trusted, specialised providers are able to easily deliver practically everything as a service, removing this administrative headache and ultimately saving businesses money.
Outsourced IT is no new concept, but it remains relevant. Today, the real benefits come from managed services, especially those that can be delivered remotely. Not only is this less risk for the business, since they are paying for a service and not an employee, it is also more efficient. The service provider agrees to provide the service at the required quality levels, and the business can focus on its core skills.
Remote managed services also ensure a more proactive IT environment since the solutions are monitored 24/7 so that any issues or vulnerabilities can be immediately detected and remedied. Using the services of a trusted remote managed services provider, businesses should be able to see increases in productivity up to 70% as a result of more efficient systems and reduced downtime, as seen by services providers.
In addition, there is a significant decrease of up to 80% in issues with data backups and recovery, since these are proactively monitored, managed and corrected if issues occur.
In an uncertain climate, agility and flexibility are critical. Faster resolution of issues and shorter response times mean more effective IT services. Remote managed services are also unaffected by external issues like load shedding and the potential third wave of Covid. With a trusted remote managed services provider, businesses need no longer concern themselves with managing and maintaining their IT.
They can have confidence in their ability to focus on tasks that add value and make money, with the peace of mind that their IT will support them every step of the way, no matter what.
