What is a managed IT service provider (MSP)?

What Are Managed IT Services?

Managed service providers (MSPs) are companies that an organisation outsources a wide range of processes to. The aim is to ensure day to day operations improve and costs are reduced. An IT managed service provider (MSP) ensures a business’s digital services and IT infrastructure are operating smoothly and optimised to help a company achieve its goals.
MSPs support your business by remotely managing all aspects of your IT infrastructure and end-user systems on a proactive basis and subscription model. In the IT industry, MSPs are also referred to as cloud service providers if the service is supplied online and reinforced by a service level agreement (SLA).

How Does an IT Service Provider Help a Business?

Wondering how an IT service provider can help your business or which service in particular would benefit your organisation?

The first step is to think about the logistics of your business with these two options in mind:

(1) Sourcing a solution for all the individual areas of your business
(2) Using an IT service provider that will provide you with a package that covers everything

When you understand your business needs, it will allow you to streamline the process of organising and fixing any IT issues that your company faces. With an IT support services provider, if any issues arise, you’ll have a dedicated team that are ready to investigate it from their remote location. At Bluecube, if the problem cannot be resolved remotely, we have a team of field engineers located across the UK, able to come to your business location and fix the issue in-person.

From the first contact point with a managed IT provider to the point of a solution, with external IT help, the process is faster, more efficient and safer for everyone involved.

In this digital age, where we rely on computers to make our daily lives and work tasks so much easier, it is essential to have the most robust IT system in place.

When you outsource your IT to an IT service provider, there are numerous perks. From reducing time spent on your IT as well as a reduction in costs.

Which IT Managed Service is Best?

When searching for the right IT service provider for your business, the competition for your custom is high. It is worth taking a look at a combination of the service offering as well as the customer service feedback and reviews. This will allow you to build up a better picture of how their customers are treated and what kind of service you’ll receive.

Reliable & Fast To Respond
Ideally, you want to find a managed IT provider that offers a reliable, quality service. And, most importantly, an IT company that is easy to get hold of if your IT systems fail. A 24/7 IT service that fast, reliable and responsive is key.

Scales To Your Business Needs
When looking at outsourced IT services, you’ll need a service that scales to what your business needs are.

If you’re a small company then an IT service provider may not be one of your top priorities or key requirements. However, it all very much depends on how you run your organisation. It might be worth working closely with all the key members of your organisation’s IT department, collating ideas and deciding if an IT service provider could benefit your business to move forward.

Why Should Your Business Invest In A MSP?

Why does your business need managed IT services?

In the past, companies dealt with an issue when it arose. This method meant that when a problem occurred within an IT infrastructure, it had the potential to cause downtime or damage an organisation. Dealing with IT issues on an ad hoc basis isn’t practical for a business that wants to grow and improve its infrastructure.

Working with an MSP that delivers proactive monitoring and 24/7 IT support services is a more effective business model. If your company only reacts to issues while your competitors are proactive, you will fall behind them – potentially permanently. However, proactive monitoring isn’t the only service an organisation’s IT infrastructure needs. Regularly upgrading systems and IT processes is also essential to set up a digital transformation that has a wide range of benefits.

What are the benefits of hiring a MSP?  MSPs offer your business:

• Grow Your Business
• Enhanced Flexibility
• Upgrade Technology Quickly
• Adapt Systems
• 24/7 IT Support
• Managed Security
• Bridge IT Skills Gap
• Improve Service Performance

IT Expertise
Many organisations won’t have access to highly experienced expert IT technicians on-hand with support available 24/7 via an IT support services provider. MSPs deliver this support which can give your business an advantage over your competitors.

Sustainable Costs
MSPs are available at a fixed monthly rate that is agreed upon at the start of the relationship with your provider. Instead of incurring unpredictable costs that arise from IT issues, save money by working with a provider.

Regular Maintenance and Easy Scalability
Working with a provider ensures your IT infrastructure is not only up to date but able to constantly evolve to match your business’s requirements. This also ensures that your technology is scalable, so it can grow alongside your business as you continue to succeed.

Save Time
Investing in outsourced IT solutions removes the burden from in-house departments who can then focus on other areas of your business.

What Do MSPs offer?

MSP services include cloud solutions, disaster recovery, and computer services. These are three examples, however, these IT support services should be tailored to the requirements of your business. Managed services provide a computing framework that allows their team to remotely manage your company’s IT infrastructure.

The managed IT provider also manages end-user systems, such as computer desktops, proactively to discover possible issues before they escalate. Prices vary between providers but the costs are usually under a subscription model.

24/7 IT Support

For IT support to be effective, it needs to be available as and when your business needs it. When an issue arises, often, it’s too late to prevent it from disrupting your work operations. Whether this means unplanned downtime or data losses, without proactive round the clock monitoring, the risk of issues affecting your company increases.

24/7 remote monitoring of IT infrastructure catches a wide range of problems before they escalate. However, even consistent monitoring won’t catch every issue. When proactive monitoring doesn’t catch a problem, rapid and reactive IT support is essential to reduce the risk the issue poses to your organisation.

If your staff notice a problem not already highlighted by the remote monitoring team, they should contact your provider’s service desk. The provider will deliver technical remote as well as onsite support where necessary. It doesn’t matter whether the issue is complex or a minor problem, the team will resolve all problems quickly.

Managed IT Support

Regardless of industry, every organisation is different and needs managed services tailored to match its unique requirements. The importance of having a service that’s bespoke to your business cannot be overstated. Your company’s IT infrastructure is a vital component of how you deliver results to your clients and/or customers. Working with an MSP that ensures your infrastructure is more flexible, secure, and user-friendly for staff improves productivity and improves the service you deliver.

Implementing an infrastructure tailored to your organisation enhances the performance and productivity of your operations. Improving the quality and speed of operations are ideal ways to stimulate growth.

• User Account Management
• Network Operations Centre (NOC)
• Security Operations Centre (SOC)
• Cloud Provision & Management

Cyber Security Management

Unfortunately, cybercrime threats have only increased in recent years. Between March 2019-2020, almost half of businesses surveyed reported cyber attacks or breaches (46%).The companies affected highlighted that the occurrences increased to at least once a week in 2020. To protect against the cybersecurity risks hackers present, businesses require 24/7 remote monitoring of their IT infrastructure.

Working with an MSP ensures your company’s hardware and software is constantly upgraded. This is one of the most effective methods to safeguard against cyberattacks. New threats are continually evolving to outrun the cybersecurity protections attempting to contain them. Implementing effective tools and technology protects against both internal and external security threats. Your provider should always be available to discuss your cybersecurity requirements.

• Backup
• Patching
• Anti-Virus Software
• Disaster Recovery

Looking for managed IT services? Enquire About Bluecube Managed IT Services

At Bluecube, we’re an MSP that delivers tailored IT support and managed services for a wide range of organisations. Operating across the UK, our team has aimed to be the leading provider of IT services since our founding in 2003. Due to the desire to instil best customer service practices across our organisation we have seen consistent growth year-on-year.

Explore our managed IT services page and discover the wide range of ways your organisation will benefit from working with Bluecube as your managed IT provider. Fill in an enquiry form on our contact page for more information.