Top 9 benefits of outsourcing to Managed IT Service providers.

It is a rare find, an SMB that has the resources and funding for a fully-fledged in-house IT team to manage and monitor their digital assets. Fortunate then that managed service providers (MSPs) exist, cost-efficient alternatives to the headache and cost outlay of an internal IT team.

Managed IT services outsourcing enables businesses to focus their time and resources on core business functions. Managed service providers perform a broad range of critical IT functions including but not limited to:

• Cloud infrastructure support & management
• Content management system (CMS) support
• DevOps
• Remote server management
• Network engineering monitoring and support

According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the outsourced managed services market is expected to grow from US$ 223.0 billion in 2020 to US$ 329.1 billion by 2025, at an annual growth rate of 8.1%. The report cites a lack of skilled IT professionals, a need for cost reduction, and reducing IT budgets as key drivers for this growth.

Let’s discuss the key benefits of outsourcing to a managed IT services provider:

Setting up an IT function involves the hiring of IT professionals (tricky even before the ‘Great Resignation of 2021’), ongoing training, and management of those resources and infrastructure expenses. Utilising experience and existing resources, Managed Service Providers reduce front-loaded and ongoing costs.

The financial outlay of developing and maintaining IT assets in-house can quickly become unstable with unexpected costs. Providers of managed services, such as ESG, offer arrangements with fixed monthly costs. No nasty surprises.

Ever-changing laws and regulations that organisations are required to adhere to are, as you know too well, the bane of the business world and keeping track of them becomes especially difficult when offices are located in multiple territories with different regulatory bodies. Compliance with privacy and security regulations is not for the faint-hearted. Being in default can result in painful legal complications and heavy fines. Managed services providers ‘do this for a living’ and ensuring compliance is just part of the service.

Outsourcing managed services makes businesses more agile, affording scalability in infrastructure and personnel. Let the managed service provider worry about the expense of ramping up and down.

A managed services provider takes over your mundane, transactional IT maintenance and repair activities, letting your internal IT team focus on the opportunity costs of vital strategic business activities.

Managed services providers offer round-the-clock support, 24/7/365 so you don’t need to engage and manage an expensive roster of internal resources. A shared ‘bureau’ service provision reduces the cost burden even further.

The ever-changing technological landscape is an expensive one. New skillsets mean constant re-hiring and re-training. Dumping that burden onto a managed service provider seems eminently sensible.

Continuous availability and a wealth of experience mean that a managed service provider proactively monitors and maintains your systems remotely (RMM) rather than the more likely reactive nature of limited in-house support.

Small and mid-size enterprises do not have the same capacity for resource and risk as their larger counterparts. By outsourcing IT needs to a managed services provider then the same level of technical support and expertise is available to all. The playing field levels.