December 9, 2022
With rapid inflation, a looming recession, and supply chain issues still dominating business publication headlines, it can feel counterintuitive to consider adding a service — especially one that seems spendy. However, that’s precisely what many organizations are doing when it comes to managed IT services.
Outsourcing adds scalability and flexibility, which is one tried-and-true method of withstanding economic turbulence. But managed IT can add surprising cost savings to the mix. According to a recent survey by CompTIA, 50% of companies who partnered with a managed IT provider saved 1-24% in annual IT costs, 33% saved 25-49%, and 13% reported savings of more than 50%.
It’s essentially a service that pays for itself and then some. And not only is it worth it to you financially, but it’s also worth it for its many other benefits.
What Does Outsourced IT Provide?
Not all managed It providers are the same or offer the same level of services. Fully managed IT often includes monitoring and ongoing maintenance of your equipment, systems, tools, and network in addition to end-user support. In fact, many who are new to the managed IT services world are surprised to hear that their contract covers many subscriptions and tools they were already paying more for separately.
In many ways, you might think of a managed IT provider like working with an event planner or a remodeling company rather than hiring a series of vendors and making purchases individually.
Yes, you pay the expert for their time. But that expert can typically get significantly reduced rates on goods and services, so their fee is completely overshadowed by the tremendous savings they can provide. Plus, they take care of all the annoyances, complexities, and tiny details so you don’t have to worry about it.
8 Reasons Managed IT Is 100% Worth It
1. Increased Productivity
According to a recent study by Technology Intelligence Consulting (ITIC), 40% of businesses said just one hour of downtime costs between $1 – 5 million, and that’s not counting legal fees, fines, or penalties. Gartner found that 98% of respondents put the cost of one hour of IT downtime at anywhere from $100,000 to $540,000.
How much downtime can cost depends on the business, its industry, and the tools its staff needs to get work done. But none of those numbers I listed above are good. Fortunately, you don’t have to wonder what kind of downtime a provider can save you. Their guaranteed uptime for your servers and network will be outlined in their Service Level Agreement (SLA).
2. Reduced Infrastructure Expenses
Data centers are expensive to maintain, expensive to power, and they take up a lot of space. You can ditch yours and use your provider’s instead, so you’ll have less to worry about, and you’ll see a big difference in your electric bill. You can also stop paying for some software licensing or IT training and consulting, as those will be included in your contract.
3. Your Internal IT Staff Get the Help They Need
Internal IT teams are often stuck on the break/fix model of IT. Their daily tasks are so overwhelming that they can’t help you advance your strategies, keep an eye on cybersecurity, and recommend upgrades to boost security and productivity. When they’re stuck reacting to what’s failing, they can’t be proactive and get out of the costly, time-consuming, and highly frustrating break/fix cycle.
A provider, on the other hand, will have the staff and resources you need to get out of the endless spiral, and into a technology ecosystem that performs more reliably.
4. Reduced Financial Risk
Not only will you have a predictable monthly bill for all of your IT needs, but you also won’t have to worry about suddenly needing to invest in a new server, for example. Your IT provider will also be able to give you recommendations on what needs updating now to avoid downtime or a potential cybersecurity incident, and what can wait.
5. Expert-Level Support On Demand
There’s almost nothing a good managed IT provider hasn’t seen before. We’ve even helped enterprise-scale companies uncover issues that have completely perplexed their own IT teams — who know those systems inside and out.
You’ll have world-class experts on demand who can typically resolve your tech issues remotely in just a few minutes. And because your system will be constantly monitored, most issues can be resolved before they affect your productivity…before you were aware there was a problem.
6. No More IT Recruiting Issues
Have you struggled to recruit IT talent or hold on to the staff you already have? Demand is growing for top IT talent, and schools simply can’t produce skilled workers fast enough to keep up. Unfortunately, this leads to overburdened, understaffed internal teams, which can ultimately drive more talent attrition. When you use a provider, this long-term problem completely disappears.
7. Better Morale
Technology is there to make our lives easier. When it does the opposite, it’s incredibly frustrating for end-users. Tech that doesn’t live up to its expectations is a big source of workplace stress. A good provider can keep your technology working as it should, and they will also know what tools and systems to recommend to make everyone’s lives a little bit easier each day.
8. World-Class Cybersecurity
The average cost of a single data breach in the United States is now $9.44 million.
And according to the Unit 42 Ransomware Threat Report, the average ransom demanded by hackers is now $925,162. A single cybersecurity incident can be devastating for many organizations. If your internal IT team is too overwhelmed to apply security patches and upgrades promptly, getting world-class help is absolutely worth it.
Unfortunately, many businesses don’t make the investment until something bad happens. Many smaller organizations don’t consider themselves to be a target of hackers, but the opposite is actually true. It’s always sad for us at Marco when we’re only brought in to help a client recover after a major cybersecurity incident has occurred. We’re always happy to help them get back on their feet, but the long-term damage to their reputation can be more difficult to repair.
Finding the Right Provider
If cybersecurity and cost savings were the only things a provider had to offer, those alone would probably be worth it. I firmly believe that the rest are the “but wait, there’s more!” of any great offering.
Finding a great provider can be difficult if you’re looking online, but not if you know how to speak their language. There’s actually an easy way to tell if a provider lives up to their promises, and that’s a SOC 2 report. If your provider has achieved one for their services, you know that a third party has verified that they’re consistently doing what they say they will and following best practices.
To answer your next question, yes, Marco has achieved a SOC 2 Type 2 report for our managed IT services. Getting a SOC 2 Type 2 report is not as common as it should be for managed IT providers, but we believe that every organization deserves cutting-edge security, and every customer, staff member, and strategic partner deserves to have their data protected at all times. Regardless of any government or agency requirements, it’s just the right thing to do.
If you’re looking for help with your IT, we are happy to simplify your search. Our US-based team of over 650 certified systems engineers and technical representatives is standing by!
