Managed service providers (MSPs) are booming these days. Organizations of all sizes are seeing their potential, but small and medium-sized businesses are really starting to understand the importance of MSPs. In fact, the market for these products is expected to reach $257.84 billion by 2022, according to Business Wire. That’s a compound annual growth rate of 11.1 percent compared to 2017’s market size of $152.45 billion.
Clearly, MSPs are providing a valuable service to their customers. However, many smaller institutions are still wary of investing in one. They don’t fully understand what outsourcing these duties can accomplish, and simply see the initial price as a deterrent.
That said, paying an MSP can actually end up saving money in the end if you use the services properly. To that end, let’s take a look at the top 4 reasons you should invest in an MSP today.
1. Improved security
“Cybersecurity is one of the biggest issues facing IT departments.”
If you aren’t worried about the safety of your company’s data, then you aren’t paying attention. Cybersecurity is one of the biggest issues facing IT departments, and for good reason. According to the Information Systems Audit and Control Association, there will be a shortage of 2 million security professionals by 2019.
If you operate an SMB, there’s a good chance your IT department is already limited. What’s more, there’s an even greater likelihood that you don’t have a dedicated cybersecurity employee on your payroll. This is a perfect example of what MSPs can bring to small businesses.
Due to the nature of the MSP business model, data security is of the highest priority. A company that loses control of this information will most likely be blacklisted by any prospective clients, and MSP administrators know this. Therefore, the level of security these organizations can provide is so much greater than anything your employees could ever devise.
This isn’t to say that your workers aren’t talented individuals. Rather, they simply don’t have the expertise necessary to ward off sophisticated attacks. You could hire a trained professional to do the job, but these people are incredibly expensive to hire and, as the above study shows, they’re hard to find. You’re simply better off spending your money with and MSP that can provide you a host of services on top of excellent security.
2. More robust disaster recovery
Disasters, whether they be natural or man made, absolutely terrify company administrators. In fact, the Red Cross has found that 94 percent of small business owners think such a catastrophe could ruin their organization within the next two years.
A natural disaster can spell the end for a business.Clearly, a lot of institutions simply aren’t ready for the worst. While there are many reasons behind this, the most important is the lack of a solid disaster recovery solution. These plans basically document what to do in the event of an emergency, going so far as to backup data and ensure the use of vital applications.
Sadly, most companies are completely unprepared when it comes to their disaster recovery solution. A study conducted by the Disaster Recovery Preparedness Council found that nearly three-quarters of companies are not ready to handle a catastrophe. While that’s certainly scary enough, the truly frightening part of this study was the level of testing done on these plans. Almost a quarter of respondents stated that they never test their plans, and nearly two-thirds admitted that they couldn’t pass their own tests.
This is an issue that can be easily solved by investing in a disaster recovery solution through an MSP. These organizations have highly trained staff who have seen all kinds of emergencies, and they can use these skills to help ensure the security of your company. What’s more, investing in an MSP disaster recovery solution generally comes with a data backup service. One of the keys of a robust plan is to store copies of data offsite in the event that your entire office is destroyed, and an MSP can help you accomplish this goal.
3. Freeing up of internal resources
In a similar vein, not having to assign employees to aspects like cybersecurity and disaster recovery allows them to work on projects that can actually help further your business. This is probably the most enticing benefit for the average IT worker, as these people are generally overworked.
In fact, a study from Robert Half Technology found that 43 percent of respondents believed their IT departments to be deeply or somewhat understaffed. This is a major issue, because overworked people tend to make mistakes. Therefore, relying on in-house solutions for disaster recovery, security and other areas both ties up current resources while also decreasing the overall effectiveness of what’s produced.
The sole focus of your company should be to make money, which means that internal IT teams need to focus on ways in which to improve current operations. Partnering with an experienced MSP simply frees these employees to work on projects that can further your organization’s success.
4. Better uptime
In the modern world, uptime is everything. Companies live and die on their abilities to provide digital services to their customers, and any disruption of this can be incredibly dangerous to the organization’s bottom line. According to Gartner, the average cost of downtime is about $5.600 every minute. That adds up to over $300,000 per hour, which very clearly illustrates just how serious this issue is.
However, the money you lose is only the tip of the iceberg. The real problem when it comes to downtime is the damage it can do to your customer-facing image. People have come to expect a lot of consistency when it comes to digital services, and this expectation is tied up in their opinion of an organization. Even a minor amount of downtime can forever change how a consumer views your product or services, and you may actually lose a customer for life.
Again, this is yet another area that MSPs excel in. An MSPs entire job is dependent on its ability to avoid downtime, which means they have a host of highly-sophisticated systems to sidestep the possibility of your customers not getting what they paid for. In fact, downtime is often seen as a breach of contract with an MSP, so these companies have a very real reason to do what they can to avoid it.
While these are only some of the ben
efits you can receive from an MSP, it can be easy to get lost in the number of companies who provide these services. Thankfully, you can find a strong partner in ISG Technology. We have years of experience helping companies succeed, and we’d be happy to give you everything here and more. If you’d like to hear more about us or our products, make sure to contact an ISG Technology representative today!