Only a few months into the year, it has been made abundantly clear that 2020 will be considered one of the tougher years for business in recent memory. With a pandemic leading many, many businesses to scale back drastically (if not shut down outright), there are many things that are bound to change. To give your own the best chance of survival, there is perhaps no more appropriate time to consider a change over to a managed approach to IT services.
How Managed Services Can Currently Assist Businesses
Unfortunately, current events have put many businesses in a tough spot, as orders are coming down from the government to close to protect the public health. This makes the prospect of making any major business adjustments an understandably uncomfortable idea. However, in situations like these, your business will assuredly see more value from an agreement with a managed service provider over repeatedly calling a break/fix provider.
Let’s consider a few of the difficulties that the COVID-19 pandemic is causing small businesses, and how managed services can help alleviate some of their impacts.
1. Businesses can’t carry out their operations without their staff coming in to work.
Many businesses have found their business continuity strained as employees are unable to come in for various reasons tied to the situation that we all find ourselves in today—especially those deemed to be essential. While an employee can hardly be blamed for trying to keep themselves healthy, this can quickly put the business in even more dire straits.
With an MSP’s support, a balance can be reached between these two interests, as secure remote work is much easier for businesses to implement. With the assistance of a trusted MSP, business processes can be followed from the home, with secure solutions and practices enforced. While this may not work for every business, the increased reliance on computing in general makes a managed service strategy the best option for those whose operations are compatible with remote work.
2. Technical support is more challenging for businesses to acquire.
In the same vein, should a business encounter an issue with their technology, it may not be so simple to secure the required support in a way that is safe for your employees, or for the technician you would be calling in.
Managed services can provide a more efficient and yes, safer option for your support needs. Rather than requiring a hands-on presence in your office, an MSP can utilize remote access tools to assist you in managing your technology at a distance, doing all that is possible without coming close to your team members. Furthermore, this technology also allows your remote team to easily receive the support they will need should they encounter an issue whilst working from their home.
It also must be considered that working with an MSP can reduce the need for technical support in the first place. Not only does an MSP correct the errors that a business’ technology experiences, an MSP will also work proactively to prevent such issues from happening at all with their monitoring solutions.
3. Support services are too expensive and unpredictable to consider in the current economy.
Traditional IT services are commonly billed based on a variety of factors, including time and materials. This approach results in a predictably unpredictable cost for the company retaining them. This is not ideal for a business in the best of times, let alone during some form of economic hardship like we are facing now.
When working with an MSP, businesses are given a more consistent alternative. Because they deliver a consistent and ongoing service to a business, a managed service provider like Data Net operates based on a comprehensive monthly fee. Barring any changes to their client’s IT or requirements that go beyond the set agreement, a business that retains an MSP’s services can confidently budget out their IT investments ahead of time.
Of course, with the business environment being the way it currently is, it can be hard to justify making any considerable changes to your approach. At Data Net, we understand this perfectly. Please, don’t hesitate to call us at (760) 466-1200 with any more questions, and please be sure to stay safe and healthy.
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