The provision of managed services has become a growth industry with a variety of companies offering a range of services. Some providers are very specialized, focusing on particular products or services, while others cover everything connected to IT. For a business that is trying to decide how best to manage its IT systems, choosing the elements that can be managed by others can be difficult. Small, to medium-sized businesses may want to put everything out to a third party so they can concentrate on their core activities, while larger firms may be looking for help in specialist areas. Either way, it is important to choose a provider that can handle your needs.

Helping Businesses

The essential aim of a managed services provider is to help businesses get the best out of their IT systems. These systems are there to enable companies to operate more efficiently so getting the maximum benefit from the systems will ensure that these objectives are met.

Managed services are concerned with supporting a company’s IT hardware and software. In order to do this, the supplier will have available a number of IT professionals who have the necessary skills and experience to provide the required support. Companies who use their services will therefore have access to this expertise, and to up-to-the-minute knowledge that they may be unable to gain from their own staff.

On the hardware side, service providers can undertake full maintenance of a company’s equipment or particular elements of it. They may, for example, look after an IT network, either within a certain location, connections to branch offices or remote workers, or a global network using a company intranet.

The scope of hardware maintenance needs to be defined, both in terms of what is covered and how it is to be maintained. The service should be proactive so that problems are identified before they occur and breakdowns are prevented rather than fixed.

Latest Versions

Managing a company’s software is another major part of a service provider’s offering. They can handle all licensing issues, with software upgrades and patches being downloaded, tested and deployed as they become available. This ensures that all users have the latest versions of software.

Applicable to both hardware and software are security issues, with service providers able to identify strengths and weaknesses in systems and advise where improvements are needed. All security issues can be handled, with virus protection kept up-to-date and firewalls being maintained correctly.

Managed service providers can also offer services that supplement a company’s normal resources at times of particular need. These may occur when offices are being relocated or a system is being expanded or upgraded to include other locations.

Diverse Systems

The acquisition of another company can be a particularly demanding time, with two often very diverse systems having to be integrated. Managed service providers usually have the resources and experience to handle this integration and can provide expertise just when it is needed. This avoids the need to take on full-time staff to handle temporary problems.

As well as providing various types of services, companies often deliver them in different ways. They may simply manage the services on a client’s own equipment or may offer a hosted service using their own machines, saving capital expenditure and associated costs for the client. This offers the choice of a fully hosted service or only certain elements, such as remote backup, disaster recovery availability and connection to remote networks.

Users of managed services can choose not only the type of service they require but also the permanence of that service and how it is provided. This offers great flexibility in the range of services they choose and how it is delivered. The crucial question is: ‘Will it help my business to function better?’. If the answer is ‘yes’, the business case is made.

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