Advancements in technology around cloud computing, Big Data and mobility are becoming game changers and end-users and customers are now expecting high quality, innovative IT services in real time.
Delivering this in-house has become an increasingly expensive overhead which lacks economies of scale and flexibility of service. As a result, financial services companies are moving to an outsourced model and choosing a Managed Services Provider for their IT infrastructure needs.
Here’s 10 reasons to outsource your IT infrastructure management….
- Value for money. It is more cost effective to let a third party manage the software, hardware, updates, upgrades, antivirus etc than hiring your own IT department. Your Managed IT Services Provider (MSP) has all the tools and experience required. And you also know your exact monthly spend, so you can budget accordingly.
- Compliance. It is hard for one person to keep on top all the new compliance initiatives including GDPR. Your IT partner will ensure your business is compliant.
- Always on duty. MSPs have a 24 x 7 service desk available to you (depending on contract). So you can get help as soon as you need it. Resourcing this with an in-house IT person or team can be expensive and a management burden.
- Single point of contact. Your MSP manages ALL your IT; from network to upgrades, to forgotten passwords to anti-virus and malware deployment. Buying different products from different partners, means a multitude of service contracts to purchase and helpdesk numbers to remember. When a problem occurs, the software vendor you call may not support the hardware it is installed on and so you have to make more than one call.
- Business continuity. How long can your business function if something goes down – even something as small as email? How about if the whole system crashes or there is a power outage? Your IT services partner will fix them quickly with minimum fuss.
- Training. Managing your own IT department means that your staff needs ongoing training in order to stay up-to-date. Outsourcing means that training costs are covered by your IT partner and you know that their employees are highly qualified, experienced and trained in all the latest hardware and software products.
- Latest technology and IT roadmap. Your IT partner manages all software updates and upgrades so that you know you are always using the latest, safest versions. If you want to move, expand or enter new markets, your MSP partner will know the best approach for your IT needs as they already know your business.
- Increased productivity. Your IT partner can predict, prevent and quickly respond to serious issues that lead to catastrophic failures and extended downtime before you are even aware that there is an issue.
- Security and change management. Control of your environment can be efficiently managed through change control systems. For example when an employee leaves, your MSP will ensure that access to IT systems is no longer available and all security measures are conformed with.
- Customer portal. The best MSPs provide your company with access to a tool for non-IT management to have complete visibility of your IT infrastructure status. This portal helps the MSP deliver and manage the capacity, security and availability of your IT infrastructure. It also provides real-time information about your IT assets, security, users, service performance and corporate compliance.
By Aisling Foley of Trilogy Technologies
