The right IT support Orlando is important for small and medium businesses (SMBs) as it enables them to keep their IT infrastructure updated. It also empowers SMBs to deal with cybersecurity risks such as social engineering attacks, data breaches, and IT failure.
However, with limited capital and resources, managing an in-house IT team can be difficult for SMBs. No wonder, on-premise IT services expenditure by SMBs is forecasted to stay stagnant over the next five years!
This is where outsourced IT support or Managed Services Providers (MSPs) can help.
From managing a business’s IT infrastructure to providing robust security support, an efficient MSP works round-the-clock to improve business IT operations and productivity. Let’s take a look at the various benefits that SMBs can leverage through a reliable MSP.
Advantages of Outsourced IT Support for SMBs
1. Stabilized Costs
By engaging managed IT support services, SMBs don’t need to hire and manage a full-fledged in-house IT team.
The MSP takes care of all IT functions, such as network monitoring, help desk, and more. This eliminates the need of bringing onboard a full-time salaried IT employee with expenses related to training, paid offs, insurance, provident fund, among others. As a result, SMBs can cut their staffing costs considerably.
Further, MSPs offer state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, which enables SMBs to avoid costs related to buying, installing, and maintaining their own hardware/software. This, in turn, helps them considerably reduce their capital expenditure. SMBs can invest their savings in other important areas of business such as marketing and innovation.
Further, MSPs offer a transparent pricing structure, where they charge a fixed monthly fee for their services. A predictable fee gives SMBs a precise idea of their expenditure, helping them plan their budget without worrying about hidden or additional charges.
2. Access to Skilled IT Expertise
MSPs provide businesses with access to their team of seasoned IT experts. These professionals can fulfill all the IT requirements of SMBs, helping them increase their productivity and efficiency.
For instance, an SMB in the healthcare sector needs to adhere to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The outsourced IT experts have proper knowledge of maintaining compliance. They also keep themselves updated with the latest regulations. Therefore, these IT experts can help the healthcare firm adhere to HIPAA, and ensure the security of critical patient data.
3. Enhanced Cybersecurity
Implementation of comprehensive cybersecurity measures should be a top priority for SMBs. After all, small and medium-sized businesses suffer losses worth $2.2 million because of cyber-attacks. In fact, 60% of SMBs shut down within six months of falling victim to a cyber-attack.
By partnering with a reputable MSP, SMBs can get access to high-end cybersecurity. MSPs take a proactive approach to combat cybersecurity threats to businesses by leveraging the following:
- Remote Monitoring Management (RMM)
- Web Content Filtering
- Vulnerability patching
- Firewall and anti-virus
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
- Mobile Device Management (MDM)
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
- Employee cybersecurity training
- Virtual Private Network (VPN)
- End-point encryption
- Incident Response (IR) planning
- Penetration testing
- Spam filtering
4. Increased Focus on Core Competencies
Apart from resolving complex IT issues, MSPs take over the responsibility of performing mundane IT tasks such as password resets and software updates. This, in turn, enables the SMB’s internal IT team to focus their time and effort on revenue-generating and strategic tasks, thereby driving business growth and development.
5. Increased Scalability and Flexibility
As an SMB grows, its technology needs increase too. An MSP helps businesses scale their services in accordance with their current requirements. For instance, if an e-commerce startup needs to scale its customer support communication for its Christmas sale, the MSP will set up a VoIP system for the business. Once the sale is over and the VoIP system is no longer needed, the MSP will scale down this service.
In short, MSPs offer complete flexibility and scalability to SMBs, and help them adapt to their changing business needs effectively.
6. Improved Uptime and Productivity
As mentioned, MSPs take a hands-on approach to mitigate cybersecurity incidents. They offer 24/7 outsourced IT support and deploy tools, such as RMM, to provide round-the-clock threat monitoring and detection. This helps remediate a cyber threat before it turns into a catastrophe.
MSPs also provide dependable data back-up and disaster recovery services to decrease downtime arising out of unpredictable events, such as data breaches, power failures, system breakdowns, and natural calamities. For instance, if a business loses its critical business data in a fire, it can still continue functioning by retrieving the data that the MSP has securely backed-up in an off-site server or the cloud.
Wrap Up
SMBs need to operate efficiently to stay ahead of their competition. Outsourced IT support helps SMBs excel in this highly competitive environment. With MSPs taking care of the day-to-day IT operations, SMBs have more time to focus on their core objectives and increase their profitability. Further, the IT experts that work with MSPs help maximize business productivity. They also help businesses create a predictable monthly budget and reduce their IT costs considerably. In a nutshell, a reliable MSP can serve as a long-term partner that works in sync with the business and helps them achieve their objectives.
Guest article written by: Mike Della Pia is the President of LAN Masters, Inc., an Orlando IT support company that has been helping small businesses stop focusing on IT and getting back to doing business the past 15 years.