4 Reasons Businesses Use a Managed Services Provider

The evolution of the I.T. services industry is an interesting one. In the 1980s and early 1990s, nearly all IT was done by an in-house team. However, as technology began to rapidly change and expand in the mid-to-late 1990s, businesses began to look for external help for more complex projects. As technology has become an integral part of doing business today, by the 2000s organizations were looking to outsource their IT completely to a managed services provider, as it was no longer something they wanted to manage internally. They wanted to put 100% focus on running a successful business for their employees, clients, and shareholders.

Additionally, with the shift to remote work over the past year, businesses are realizing how essential technology and technology management is to functioning effectively.

Want to learn about this year’s predictions for technology? Watch our 2021 Technology Outlook Webinar here. 

There are a variety of benefits that come with using a managed services provider (MSP). Having access to the depth of expertise available when utilizing an MSP opens up a variety of opportunities to advance your business.

What are the reasons organizations just like yours use managed services? In the 2020 IT Services Executive Report survey, we asked 100+ executives their rationale for partnering with an MSP (among many other topics). 

Top 4 Reasons Organizations Use a Managed Services Provider

1. Critical to business needs and growth 

The number one reason those surveyed engage a managed services provider is because technology simply cannot be ignored in today’s business world. Having effective, efficient technology allows employees to be productive and customers to be served well. In turn, this allows for your business to continually expand. And, in an era where workplace operations are hybrid in that many employees work remote, if your technology does not function properly, it can be a huge roadblock.

Strategic technology guidance is difficult to maintain in-house when your staff is constantly dealing with reactive end user issues and one or two additional projects that consume their time. Dedicated strategic guidance can be provided by your MSP, as they have dedicated staff to do just that. Their only job is to review your technology stack, understand your business goals, and align the technology you have or propose improved technologies to best support your business.

Typically, a good MSP will involve the executive and leadership teams in your organization to create a comprehensive Quarterly Business Review that allows you to see what’s going well and what can be improve in your business technology. This allows you to continually improve your technology infrastructure to will support your business goals.

2. Enable focus on core business

A common challenge expressed by many executives when it comes to technology is that there is so much to manage, from day-to-day operations to long-term technological planning, that it feels like they are running a technology business rather than their actual business. A managed services provider takes the burden of technology management off the executive team’s shoulders, so that you can get back to running your business the way you intended to. 

3. Enhances service quality

In any business, day-to-day technological problems like forgotten passwords, printer issues, and more arise, in addition to more complicated problems and maintenance. If you have an internal IT team of only a few individuals, those many different tasks are a lot to juggle. It can create a backlog of end user issues to resolve, as well as larger problems that need to be fixed. Managed services providers allow your business to have access to a large help desk for end user issues, as well as dedicated engineers for things like server maintenance, security, and more. This prevents things like extended downtime or lower end user productivity due to a technology issue, without overwhelming your IT staff.  

4. Access to intellectual capital 

We’ve discussed previously the benefits of managed IT services, one of which being the access to expertise that your organization has when using an MSP. NetGain itself has over 100 engineers with 300+ technical certifications. Hiring and employing that many engineers is simply not feasible for a small to medium sized business, let alone keeping up with the cost and time of that many certifications. Since an MSP is a separate entity entirely dedicated to technology, they can maintain this level of expertise and provide the benefits to your business without the astronomical cost.  

The above reasons are why great businesses, from banks to manufacturing plants to healthcare providers, partner with a managed service provider today. There are a variety of business challenges managed services can solve, from allowing you to focus on your business needs, to growth due to increased productivity, all thanks to the large team you inherit when you utilize an MSP.  

Editor’s Note: This blog was originally published in 2020 and has since been updated for relevance and clarity.