In today's economy, owners of small to medium-sized businesses are looking for ways to be more productive and competitive, looking to cut costs without losing their edge. One segment that often comes under scrutiny is IT infrastructure. With today's technology of high-speed Internet connections and dependable and secure data centers, the need to have all your IT in-house is a thing of the past.
So what are the options?
First thing you need to do is an in-house assessment of your current and future IT needs. If you have an IT professional on your payroll, what do they do that an IT managed service provider or IT consultant can't do. For instance, if he manages a database that is critical to your business and he is good at it, you are going to want to keep him. At the same time, you could ask them what part do they least like doing as far as maintenance. This usually includes desktop upgrades, helpdesk and email exchange servers. If that is the case, you may consider looking at outsourcing those segments so he can best focus on areas that bring in the most revenue.
Let's say that after the assessment, you decide that outsourcing is the way to go, what now?
Now the choices are whether to look for a managed service provider or an on-site IT consultant. I will provide an overview of what each providers offers.
Managed services let you offload specific IT operations to a service provider, known in tech speak as a Managed Services Provider (MSP). The managed service provider assumes ongoing responsibility for monitoring, managing and/or problem resolution for selected IT systems and functions on your behalf.
Managed services providers can offer services such as alerts, security, patch management, data backup and recovery for different client devices: desktops, notebooks, servers, storage systems, networks and applications. Offloading routine infrastructure management to an experienced managed services professional lets you concentrate on running your business, with fewer interruptions due to IT issues.
Managed services providers usually price their services on a subscription basis. Depending on the services they provide, pricing is usually based on the number of devices, with different packages priced at different levels. Some provide customer support on-site when required.
Basic services often start with a monitoring service, which notifies you of problems, which you resolve on your own. At the upper end of the spectrum, service providers offer fully managed services that cover everything from alerts through problem resolution.
Typically, they perform an initial assessment of your current IT environment and management requirements to help you decide what services and service levels you need.
Some things to consider:
MSPs offer a wide range of different services. Many focus on managing specific areas and functions, such as storage and related management services, or desktop management and help desk services. Some provide management services for server hardware, operating systems and middleware, but limited support for applications such as e-mail. Many provide on-site services as required, but may have limited regional or local coverage areas.
An on location IT consultant offers hands on maintenance managing your infrastructure on as needed basis. They may have some remote capabilities but mostly will have to fix the issue on-site. IT consultants offer their services at an hourly rate.
Make sure whatever way you choose that you interview, check references and make sure you fill comfortably with your choice.
Wood can be reached at [email protected].
So what are the options?
First thing you need to do is an in-house assessment of your current and future IT needs. If you have an IT professional on your payroll, what do they do that an IT managed service provider or IT consultant can't do. For instance, if he manages a database that is critical to your business and he is good at it, you are going to want to keep him. At the same time, you could ask them what part do they least like doing as far as maintenance. This usually includes desktop upgrades, helpdesk and email exchange servers. If that is the case, you may consider looking at outsourcing those segments so he can best focus on areas that bring in the most revenue.
Let's say that after the assessment, you decide that outsourcing is the way to go, what now?
Now the choices are whether to look for a managed service provider or an on-site IT consultant. I will provide an overview of what each providers offers.
Managed services let you offload specific IT operations to a service provider, known in tech speak as a Managed Services Provider (MSP). The managed service provider assumes ongoing responsibility for monitoring, managing and/or problem resolution for selected IT systems and functions on your behalf.
Managed services providers can offer services such as alerts, security, patch management, data backup and recovery for different client devices: desktops, notebooks, servers, storage systems, networks and applications. Offloading routine infrastructure management to an experienced managed services professional lets you concentrate on running your business, with fewer interruptions due to IT issues.
Managed services providers usually price their services on a subscription basis. Depending on the services they provide, pricing is usually based on the number of devices, with different packages priced at different levels. Some provide customer support on-site when required.
Basic services often start with a monitoring service, which notifies you of problems, which you resolve on your own. At the upper end of the spectrum, service providers offer fully managed services that cover everything from alerts through problem resolution.
Typically, they perform an initial assessment of your current IT environment and management requirements to help you decide what services and service levels you need.
Some things to consider:
MSPs offer a wide range of different services. Many focus on managing specific areas and functions, such as storage and related management services, or desktop management and help desk services. Some provide management services for server hardware, operating systems and middleware, but limited support for applications such as e-mail. Many provide on-site services as required, but may have limited regional or local coverage areas.
An on location IT consultant offers hands on maintenance managing your infrastructure on as needed basis. They may have some remote capabilities but mostly will have to fix the issue on-site. IT consultants offer their services at an hourly rate.
Make sure whatever way you choose that you interview, check references and make sure you fill comfortably with your choice.
Wood can be reached at [email protected].