At first glance, the monthly cost of a top-notch managed IT service provider may seem high. You may ask, why do so many successful companies use them? The reason is simple; they provide a high return on investment. What I have for you below, are a few ways a managed IT service provider can improve the profitability of company over having in-house IT staff or using pay-as-you go IT service.
IT issues can be frustrating and irritating for most people, but can you imagine a company’s frustration with IT related issues impacting productivity? This is why many companies consider to hiring a full-time IT person. They assume by having someone technical there, issues will be quickly resolved and technology improvements made resulting in better productivity. In the beginning this is often true. The new hire is eager to redesign the IT infrastructure to improve performance and the staff learn that they can call on him or her with any issue and have it quickly resolved. Unfortunately, the honeymoon, is often short as the new hire finds him or herself unable to do large projects in a timeframe that works for the company. Even rolling out new workstations or a new server is time consuming for a team and crippling for a single person. But the worse is when the heartbreak occurs…. when the IT person calls out sick, takes a vacation, or quits. When the only person who knows how everything is set up can’t be reached, that is when the fear really sets in.
A managed IT services agreement costs significantly less than a full-time IT person. The IT service providers team has a broad scope of varied IT knowledge and multi-industry experience that uniquely endows them with solutions a single person would not have exposure to. Since managed IT services providers work as a team, all IT infrastructure is documented, so anyone on the team can step in and help. It seldom makes sense for a company to invest in full-time IT until they are at least ready to hire two or three people for the role.
In a pay-as-you go model, the IT providers technician often feels rushed to solve the issue in a short time. They have to balance being thorough with meeting the client’s cost expectation for the repair. It’s not uncommon to invest enough time into a computer issue that the bill is higher than the cost of a new computer, leading to an unhappy client. With the fixed fee managed IT services model, the service provider is incentivized to fix the problem right the first time; no matter how long it takes. The last thing a managed IT service provider wants is a return visit for the same issue. It impacts their profit as well as the client’s end-user. Plus, the technician doesn’t need to feel rushed since it does not impact what the client is paying. It’s a win-win situation for both parties.
Many of the best-in-class monitoring and security solutions available to businesses are meant for enterprise clients. They often have purchase minimums that put them out of reach for a small business but perfect for a managed IT service provider with several thousand end points across many clients under management. Exceptional managed IT services companies know that these solutions keep their clients working and secure. They work on behalf of their clients to negotiate with technology vendors, help plan for future technology costs, and are trusted advisors for anything technology related. This leaves business owners and management able to focus on the business they are passionate about instead of trying to learn IT. The less problems a client has, the more productive they are, the more they grow, and service provider grows with them.
No matter how diligent a service provider is or how exceptional their software stack is, no one can guarantee that a network will not be infected, breached, impacted by hardware failure, employee espionage, or disaster. These major incidents can often take significant time to resolve, research the cause, and implement safeguards to prevent it happening again. If it takes 60 hours to accomplish, the client still pays the same fixed monthly fee under a managed IT service agreement. It’s like having an insurance policy for your IT infrastructure.
Overall, it comes down to a business’s employees having a stable, secure, and well performing IT infrastructure that empowers them to be more efficient while also having someone to call if they do need help. The resulting productivity and reduction in wasted salary will almost always outpace the cost of an exceptional managed IT service provider. Just ask any of our existing long-term clients why they love Able Technology Partners LLC and the service we provide.
