According to a report published by MarketsandMarkets, the global managed services market is expected to grow by $180.5 billion in 2018 to over $282 billion by 2023. So, what is driving this growth and why is a managed IT service becoming so attractive to more and more businesses?
We will explore the benefits and reasons in more detail, but we know organisations continue to become more dependent on IT to boost levels of productivity, reduce cost and to ensure they remain competitive. Recruiting skilled IT professionals in the Channel Islands can also prove challenging.
To address these challenges many businesses are opting for an effective managed IT solution that can deliver benefits such as the following:
- Enhance security features and ensure compliance
- Free up the internal technology team to work on more strategic and growth-focused projects
- Improve the efficiency of IT operations
- Augment the in-house IT team with capabilities in specific functions when required
- Move capital expenses to operating expenses
- Ensure costs are manageable and monthly or annual pricing is predictable
- Offer high level support and up to date technology
- Reduce downtime, increase resilience, and reduce risk
Using a managed IT service enables your own team to focus on driving your business forward
Using a managed IT service enables your own team to focus on driving your business forward and when effectively executed is the equivalent of gaining the capacity and capability of an additional IT workforce to handle your daily operations.
Business are under significant pressure to meet performance, operational and security requirements whilst also keeping on top of rapidly evolving technology. A managed IT service can deliver this with predictable costs ensuring you have the right IT resources available to you when you need them.
An effective managed service evolves with both new technology and with changes in your business. The managed service provider will invest in the training and development of its staff and will build relationships with software/hardware partners, often with a focus on automation and optimisation to create efficiencies whenever possible. The managed service provider becomes an extension of your business, building a strong relationship with your own team to help achieve your business outcomes.
There is a wide spectrum of services that can be outsourced to a manged service provider from an infrastructure monitoring service, which proactively identifies system issues, right through to a comprehensive service that covers everything from event management and problem resolution.
Infrastructure Management
Every business carries a certain amount of risk. Keeping IT infrastructure running is critical, and this poses a major risk in many businesses. Infrastructure management services help mitigate that risk. They provide peace of mind, knowing that you have a team of dedicated resources keeping an eye on your infrastructure around the clock, making sure it is up to date, and taking action early so that issues are resolved so users don’t even know there was an issue. Managed service providers apply SLA’s to ensure any issues are reported and/or resolved within a specific timeframe.
IT systems can become vulnerable when the basic housekeeping tasks are neglected. For example, a patching service maintains your security posture and mitigates and lowers your risk profile. A managed patching service can be provided across firmware, operating system level and application layer.
Systems can become vulnerable when basic housekeeping tasks are neglected
Data recovery services can also be provided, making sure that in the event of a system failure, the recovery point and time objectives can be met and tested. Having backups is one thing, but it is important to consider how often these processes are tested.
These services provide availability and capacity management of your infrastructure, proactively monitoring and resolving events before they become a problem.
Service Desk
In the past many businesses followed a traditional 9-to-5 work schedule. However, with flexible working now becoming the new norm, there is an even greater need for systems to be available at any time. We have also recently seen the need to mobilise workforces which increases the need for IT support outside the traditional day. Using an outsourced Service Desk function will ensure IT support is available to users when they need it, around the clock or just after-hours providing resilience and ensuring productivity is maintained.
Support can be provided in most instances by remote access, taking control of a user’s computer or account without physically being at that location. This allows faster response time to diagnose and troubleshoot problems. Employees are unproductive when they are unable to work. This problem can be mitigated or avoided with outsourced Service Desk support.
Managed service support and outsourcing is an extension of your business services, not a replacement. It can improve uptime and enable you to focus on the strategic priorities that will drive your business forward, giving you a competitive edge.
Author: Mark McLachlan, Head of Managed Services, C5 Alliance
