Many companies without full-time IT staff choose to hire IT services companies hourly. While it can be very cost-effective to hire engineers by the hour, compared to full-time with salary, benefits, and vacation, there may actually be a better solution entirely. Managed IT services are growing in popularity for businesses of all sizes, in all industries.
Here are some of the key features of managed services:
Partnerships
Business owners understand partnerships. A good partnership exists when both parties benefit from the other’s success. This is how managed services work. In most cases, you pay the IT services company a flat rate which includes all updates, maintenance, and even emergency fixes. For this reason, the IT company is highly motivated to keep your equipment running smoothly, as it means the same pay for fewer emergency visits. At the same time, you have a set IT budget with the services you need, a well maintained system, and a solution in case of emergency.
Contrarily, when you hire IT contractors on an hourly basis, there is no true form of partnership. Of course, any respectable IT technician will provide their very best service and fix any issues you may be having with your equipment. However, not only do they have less vested interest in your systems, they also tend to cost more in the long run. Furthermore, hourly updates, upgrades, and repairs make it very difficult to budget.
Managed IT services also offer the benefit of a team of engineers, rather than one technician. There are diverse opinions and skillsets that allow your IT infrastructure to receive well-rounded diagnosis and care. When you consider what you might want out of a partnership, you would likely choose to have as many knowledgeable and experienced professionals on your side as possible. This is not to say that hiring an hourly professional cannot be sufficient, but it is one of the many reasons that companies are switching to managed services.
Related Article: http://businessspree.com/benefits-investing-managed-services/
Maximized Benefits
Managed IT services allows you to maximize the amount of service you receive for a cost that you help determine. You are typically charged a monthly flat rate which covers the equipment and services that you decide.
However, if you rarely need IT help within a year, hourly services may better suit your systems. For most businesses, though, this is unlikely. Those who do choose to perform maintenance sporadically usually end up with the emergency break/fixes. Regularly scheduled maintenance, software updates, security updates, installations, etc. help to keep your company competitive and productive.
“According to Resource One Inc. companies who switched to managed IT services found significant savings.
- 13 percent cut annual IT costs by an incredible 50 percent or more
- 46 percent cut annual IT costs by 25 percent or more
- 50 percent cut annual IT costs costs between 1-24 percent
With almost half of all companies who switch to a managed IT service saving a phenomenal quarter of their IT costs each year, managed IT services is the obvious choice if you want to reduce costs and increase profit margin.”
Decrease Downtime
Decreased downtime is one of the biggest incentives for managed services. We all know that IT equipment should be kept up to date. We also know that security measures are constantly changing and that we have to stay ahead of the game. Unfortunately, not many companies have the time and money to spend on these issues.
Because an IT budget is usually so unpredictable, most companies try to keep it as low as possible and save some for emergencies. This is how we end up with outdated equipment, security breaches, bogged down networks, and complete system downtime. Rather than hiring an hourly contractor to check on our systems and keep them running well, we wait until its past time for a repair.
Check out this video on calculating the cost of downtime!
With managed IT services, it can be all-inclusive. You can generally select which services and features are most important to your business and can then use what you need monthly. You are far more likely to call your IT technician when an issue arises because you know it won’t increase your costs. The more you work with your partner, the more they understand your systems and your overall business IT needs. This also means they are more familiar with your equipment and can become increasingly more efficient at maintenance and repairs.
By addressing your small technological issues as they arise, you prevent them from turning into major, costly problems; downtime being one of the largest issues. Because so much of our businesses are centered around IT, downtime can completely stop productivity. Employees cannot work during this time and it impacts morale, reputation, and output.
While hourly rates may initially seem like a better deal, managed IT services actually gives you the best return on your IT costs and will likely save you much more in the way of time, equipment, and repairs.
Even if you have a full-time IT professional or maintenance staff, you may want to check out this blog “Who is Really Responsible for IT Maintenance?” It has some great suggestions for the use of managed services and remote monitoring management (RMM).
CCNY Tech is an IT sales and services company. For over 25 years, CCNY Tech has been supplying IT equipment as well as providing maintenance and IT recycling services. Partnering with some of the top brands in the industry, they are experts in equipment and custom configurations. CCNY Tech IT professionals provides custom solutions to businesses of all sizes. Learn more at ccnytech.com.
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