January 9, 2023
When I talk to clients about Managed IT for their company, a few of the same questions come up. They're great questions, and they give me the opportunity to explain the value that Managed IT can bring to an organization. But if I'm getting these same questions time and again, it's a good indicator there are more people out there who are wondering the same thing.
Here are my answers to seven of the most frequently asked questions I hear.
1. What Is Managed IT?
Managed IT Services is essentially outsourcing your computers, network, and help desk support to a vendor. When you choose a managed IT partner, that partner will install agents on all your PCs and servers. These agents monitor the system and send reports whenever anything on the machines or the network looks like it’s in trouble or is exceeding the thresholds we have set up.
How Is Managed IT Different from Break/Fix?
Managed IT is very different from the break/fix model of IT. Thanks to 24/7 remote monitoring, if the hard drive on your PC, for example. is getting close to being full, the agent will tell us, and our support staff will figure out a strategy for keeping it from crashing.
In this way, a managed IT provider can be more proactive and prevent a disruption instead of your internal team constantly responding to emergencies — essentially waiting for something to break before fixing it.
2. How Much Does Outsourced IT cost?
Our pricing is based on how many users are being helped, which makes pricing simple and predictable. Plus, we can customize the treatment of different user types. For example, at a hospital, some nurses only use the computers for a short time, while an administrator is on a computer all day. Those two groups typically require different levels of support, and are therefore priced differently.
Our pricing model also has one big advantage for our clients. Instead of being incentivized to solve issues after they’ve happened, we do better when we’ve given you better service and have minimized disruptions.
If you’re shopping around for a provider, here’s a pro tip: Be somewhat skeptical of a managed IT provider that offers bargain basement pricing for their regular support, but will charge you through the roof if/when something goes wrong.
3. What Happens When I Need Managed IT Support?
Managed IT support calls are triaged. Here are a few examples of calls and how we would prioritize them:- High priority — your network goes down or a critical application isn’t working for a group of people
- Medium priority — an application isn’t working for one person
- Lower priority — someone needs additional access to an app or a folder, but it’s not time-sensitive
Our support desk is staffed 24/7, which allows us to provide exceptionally quick issue resolution: 96% of calls to our support desk are answered within ten seconds, and 98% of the tech issues our clients are experiencing are able to be resolved remotely. Furthermore, our help desk experts are trained in a wide variety of technologies, and have already fixed common problems many times.
4. What Happens to Our IT Team if We Use a Managed IT Provider?
In many cases, by handing over day-to-day IT services to a provider, your IT team will be freed up to pursue the kinds of projects that move your business forward, making your organization more efficient and able to better serve your customers.
We take all the tedious and boring work off their plates, like installing service packs, security updates, and patches, and making sure backups are done at the appropriate time so they have more time to address other IT initiatives.
5. Are We Too Small for Managed IT?
We find that organizations with 15 – 75 employees often weigh the cost of partnering with a managed IT provider versus the cost of hiring and paying a full-time IT employee. While some organizations require some internal IT staff, they can still get on-demand access to a team of world-class experts by using a provider. And that single provider can tackle multiple issues across your organization at the same time.
Unfortunately, the past few years have also proven that small to midsize businesses are a favorite target of cybercriminals. That same team of on-demand experts has time and resources to keep tabs on cybercrime, and knows how to protect your business from data breaches, ransomware, fraud, and more.
6. Are You Focused on Cybersecurity?
Yes. We base our recommendations on the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF).
But you don’t have to take our word for it, or take a crash course in cybersecurity to assess our work. We have achieved a SOC 2 Type 2 report, which means that a third-party auditor has verified that we’re constantly following best practices for our clients.
7. How Will I Know if Managed IT Services Is Benefiting My Business?
Not all providers do this, but at Marco, we consider that part of our job. All of our managed IT clients receive a bi-annual Client Business Review. During this review, your technology advisor will go over the details of your service, including data, performance analytics, and ticketing information.
They’ll also discuss your business goals and assess anything that is or isn’t working to make sure we’re providing a clear benefit. Our priority is to always have a good reading on the pulse of your company, so we can respond, be proactive, and manage your IT optimally.
There’s a reason we’ve been in business for 50 years, and it isn’t clever marketing. We have dedicated ourselves to providing value to our clients and making it easier for them to focus on what they do best.
If you’re wondering what your business could achieve if everyone had more time, fewer disruptions, and your technology made your work easier instead of harder, it’s time for the next step. Use the link below to get a quick quote.
