Category: Managed IT

What Are The Benefits of Managed IT Services for Small Businesses?

Since 2015, over 64% of businesses—small ones included—have adopted the ongoing trend of using Managed IT Service Providers, or MSPs. Many of our Australian and International clients who leverage our Managed IT Services have seen that budget-wise, efficiency-wise and predictability-wise, MSPs cannot be beaten. They represent outer parties that provide maximum security, functionality, and uptime for any small business.

Having quality expertise to call on around the clock and a seamlessly running system are the leading perks of using managed IT support for all small businesses.

With that being said, finding the right provider for your small business can be tricky if you’re not sure what you are after.

To paint you a better picture, we’ve put together this article to clearly show you what the benefits of managed IT services are for your small business.

Defining Managed IT Services

Firstly, a quick rundown of what Managed IT Service providers (MSPs) actually are.

Essentially, MSPs have the responsibility of managing, maintaining and foreseeing a set of IT services on behalf of any small business in need.

Improving client productivity and enhancing the overall business operation are both considered some of the main priorities and goals of using MSPs.

In-house IT support can often come at a skyrocketing price—as technology evolves, small businesses can find the use of MSPs to be the perfect budget-friendly management alternative.

In essence, MSPs tackle various tasks on behalf of a small business—they manage training, backup data, offer tech support and ensure every business improves its daily operations intending to keep their clientele or end-users satisfied.

Now, selecting the right MSP can be tricky, but reputable experts like our Managed IT services team come more than prepared to tend to your small business—taking a major portion of the professional burden off your shoulders in the process.

The Benefits of Managed IT Services for Small Businesses

The Managed IT Service support industry is rapidly expanding.

In the face of existing tech perils, MSPs provide small businesses with several perks that keep their workflow, budget and security seamless. Such perks include:

Expertise

Managed IT support manages a small business’s networks, enforces its security protocols and optimises and improves its existing sources, thus providing a smooth-sailing business operation all-around.

MSPs often have access to a wide range of experts that allow small businesses to save up on resources and use the time otherwise spent on constant setbacks on coordinating their internal staff to keep up with the latest developments.

Security and Steadiness

Ask a small business if their cybersecurity is up to scratch and they’ll likely avoid the question. This is understandable, as low budgets can often result in low-security spending.  However, an open network makes a business vulnerable and puts it at risk

Cue MSPs.

Luckily, MSPs have both the expertise and manpower to monitor possible spammers or detect cyber-attacks and thus successfully prevent them from penetrating all layers of a small business.

Cost Savings

Having a controlled budget and investment-redirected finances, in our opinion, are a fast-track to business success. Instead of spending money on setting up infrastructures and staff training—let MSPs do the job.

With MSPs, a monthly fee pays for the comfort of well managed IT support.

The difference in cost may not be massively significant, but knowing the business is in good hands is invaluable and brings peace of mind to all small business owners. Having managed IT support makes room for greater flexibility in managing your expenses and monthly budget limits.

Productivity

Creating a stable and reliable working environment provides the opportunity for small businesses to expand. With the right managed IT services in your business’s corner, you can make purposeful adjustments to the business setting and kick your productivity up a few notches!

What to Look for in a Managed IT Services Provider When Talking Small Business

Picking the most suitable MSP for your small business is imperative—here are some quality criteria to look at:

• Responsiveness and fast service—managed IT support should be responsive in resolving any small business issue. The business cannot suffer and wait for the issues to be fixed, therefore, ask for guaranteed responsiveness.
• Availability—having 24-hour availability and assistance is crucial. Look for providers that offer remote and on-site support. Not every issue can be resolved remotely, so also find local providers that can offer on-site support.
• Expertise—small businesses need expert planning advice concerning annual budgets for IT stipulations. Choose an experienced MSP provider to protect your business interests.
• Security—ensuring your business receives the highest level of security to protect its data is mandatory. Choose a provider that offers the latest security technology.
• Maintenance and backups—IT support is a round-the-clock job so proactivity is a requirement. We’re talking regular backups and timely updates, just to name a few.

Managed IT Services for Small Business: The Verdict

Having 24/7 reliable expertise and fast solutions to problems is an advantage. Small businesses don’t have much time and resources to dedicate to IT issues. Every person and every cent counts.

To make sure that all the valuable time you’re dedicating towards building your small business is maximised in its efficiency, let a Managed IT service provider do all your IT and cybersecurity heavy lifting. It’ll save you time, money and a whole lot of stress in the short and long term.

Managed Services vs Outsourcing, What Are The Differences?

As your business expands, your IT sector could easily become overburdened, increasing the risk of your company’s data being hacked and exposed.

That overburden and risk can be easily avoided however through careful implementation of either managed IT solutions or outsourcing services.

But what makes the two different from one another and what solution will work the best for your business?

This is the million-dollar question.

If you’re looking for managed IT services Perth businesses rely on, then get on a free call with our experts at GPK. If you’d like to take a deeper dive into your outsourcing options and read how the two solutions compare, then this guide is for you.

Managed Services vs. Outsourcing

Outsourcing companies specialise in managing specific business operations or projects, typically on a smaller scale.

In layman’s terms, outsourcing involves hiring a third party to successfully run selected business operations, including help desk support, tailored IT solutions, staff coordination, file preparation, and data management.

Outsourcing, when done correctly is quite effective, as seen in the rising number of jobs being outsourced every year—around 300,000 jobs according to one study.

Managed services, in comparison, provide more systematic solutions to technical support with a spectrum of choices.

Here, you won’t have to search for specific third-party IT solutions, since managed services will offer almost everything—from starting and finishing a complex project to various types of technical support and services.

If a company, say, has an overburdened IT sector, managed services do a splendid job of coming and picking up the slack and then some, covering a business’s IT aspects.

An outstanding managed service has a broad staff of qualified IT specialists, all with a wide array of experience in different fields.

On a global scale, in 2021 alone, managed services were valued at around $161 billion, with a prediction that, by 2027, this value will double. The numbers speak for themselves—these services are extremely effective and valued.

Related: What are the benefits of Managed IT Support for small business?

Managed Services vs Outsourcing: The Differences

Generally speaking, outsourcing means that you’ll get more specific and not generic problem-solving from a third party, whereas with managed services, you will receive all-encompassing IT solutions within the company, or through a designated ERP system.

In our experience, we have found several larger differences between managed services and outsourcing. They are as follows:

Managed Services are a Long-Term Investment

It can be argued that if you opt for outsourcing, then you’re opting for a more short-term option. This typically indicates that you are doing so because you only need these services when a particular issue or business need arises.

Companies that are in favour of long-term and safe solutions, however, will usually resort to incorporating managed services since, here, IT specialists work interchangeably with your staff and ensure your business runs flawlessly day to day.

This is in stark contrast with outsourcing—a business will typically collaborate with a single IT specialist who only works on resolving or improving one particular issue.

Upfront Prices vs Paying After the Job is Done

The most significant distinction between outsourcing and managed services has to do with the payment method each uses.

Despite being a recurrent solution or service—with managed services you’ll often have a fixed amount to pay upfront, more along the lines of a retainer or subscription model.
Your managed services billing may also be customised to meet your predetermined selected services.

Paying for outsourcing, however, is rather different.

It is more likely you will agree on a fixed, one-off payment—sometimes held in escrow—that will be released once the job has been completed.

However, in outsourcing, the prices for the service can also include individual performance compensations or unforeseen costs that revolve around the task at hand.

Down the line, outsourcing can ultimately be a more expensive route. This is expected though, given their often short-term solutions.

Differing IT Service Models

With outsourcing or managed services, one is not always better than the other. This is because, from project to project, managed services and outsourcing can take many shapes and in some instances, overlap.

As a generalisation, however, if you have many IT aspects that need managing regularly, you’ll find managed services to be a more effective and affordable solution.

If you’re not a fan of overspending and are a smaller operation with only a few issues to fix, outsourcing could be a better solution for your business.

The Verdict

All in all, outsourcing services are neat for businesses that want to resolve a specific IT issue or project—whereas,  if you’re looking for IT services to serve your business in the long run, managed services will be the support system your business thrives off.

We’ll leave you with this—managed services have been known to ultimately reduce IT costs by 25% to 45% and improve IT operations’ efficiency by 50% to 60%.

If you’d like to know more about managed IT support, then give us a call!

What is Fully Managed IT Support and Why Do You Need It?

Fully managed IT support is the blood flow of almost every modern business. If your company has a website and an online presence, an IT support team is imperative for proper and seamless functioning.

To be constantly present and active online, one will need 24/7 monitoring of all computers a company has, whilst also ensuring the company operations are not exposing themselves to data exposure, cyberattacks and information leaks.

By finding the best fully managed IT support in Perth, your IT hassles will disappear faster than your phone’s battery.

Because proficient IT support teams also ensure your organisation’s safety, security, and seamless flow of operations, you’re likely to see a boost in profits and performance with these professionals in your corner.

So, What Does an IT Management Service Offer?

A fully managed IT support comes with a designated contract.

The contract could range from acquiring minimum help, all the way up to 24/7 monitoring and assistance.

Some contracts offer limited help desk assistance, whereas other more comprehensive protection involves proactive monitoring and routine maintenance.

In addition, a fully-managed IT support will include all the above-mentioned perks, plus resolve all day-to-day IT-connected issues. On top of that, the IT managed service provider will take care of the overall flow of the business software and operating systems, provide on-site and cyber security support, as well as standardised setups, installations, regular reporting, and more.

What separates GPK from the chaff is that our primary focus is on fostering lasting partnerships and looking to plan long term. When you partner with us, you’ll have regular structured IT meetings with your personal GPK Business Account Manager (BAM) and Technical Account Manager (TAM), as well as partner stakeholders.

This collaboration allows for holistic managed IT support and ensures we always meet goals and strategies that we have outlined on your behalf.

Last but not least, a fully managed IT service will take care of your company just like an internal IT department would.

What are the Upsides of Fully Managed IT Support?

There are more than a few pros of hiring a fully managed IT support team, with some overshadowing others.

Here’s what the perfect IT management can help you with:

• Simplifying organisational systems
• Enabling reliable IT support for predictable issues
• Improving company proficiency and effectiveness
• Decreasing employee time and stress spent on manual tasks
• Increasing overall security and safety
• Monitoring company expenses
• Using technology to remove barriers
• Achieve your organisational goals and targets leveraging IT systems and technology

Simplifying the Organisations’ Systems

With the significant development of technologies, IT systems have become much more complex and in-demand. The more complex an IT system is, the more monitoring and attention it requires.

Adding external support, however, allows easier monitoring of the systems and troubleshooting of any potential issues.

Enabling Reliable IT Support for Predictable Issues

More than a few IT issues arise from predictable circumstances that can be easily prevented when fully managed IT support is in place.

If you have planned routine checkups, or optimisation services and maintenance, you’ll rest easy knowing that the systems are taken care of and supervised at all times.

A fully managed IT support will also know which updates to install without wasting extra work hours.

Improving Efficiency

If you have an IT team working to stop any unnecessary disturbances during work hours, you increase your workers’ proficiency.

The maintenance and protection protocols include properly taking care of PCs, printers, and laptops and their regularly required cleanups.

Decreasing Wasted Time and Stress

With fully managed IT support, your business will function far better than before.

It will ensure no system is crashing, and that you don’t waste any extra time targeting an issue and resolving it thereafter.

On top of saving valuable resources, you will also save yourself the stress from having to monitor the company’s performance without apt IT support.

Increase Security Ten-Fold with the Essential 8 Model

Anti-viruses aren’t the only necessity for enjoying a secure IT system.

In fact, IT security goes far beyond firewall antivirus software and includes many more tactics that advanced IT professionals can implement to mitigate the frequency and damage of cyber security attacks.

Known within the industry as The Essential Eight, these mitigation strategies include but are not limited to:

• Application control
• Patch applications
• Configuration of Microsoft Office Macro settings
• User application hardening
• Restrictions on administrative privileges
• Patch operating systems
• Multi-factor authentication
• Regular backups and restorations

Our experts can install and implement these mitigation strategies to various ‘maturity levels’ depending on the exact needs of your business.

Monitor Expenses

By paying only a small monthly fee, you save yourself from maximum costs when something gets broken and needs quick fixing. With progressive monitoring and reporting on what your organisation lacks, you’ll be able to save yourself from a lot of extra costs.

The Verdict

A fully managed IT support system is more than a beneficial extension of your business.

And given that the growing popularity of online safety had 49% of all businesses outsourcing their IT functions and praising this approach for a myriad of reasons, the urgency to get fully managed IT support for your company is greater than ever before.

Speak to our team of IT support experts today.