In the digital age, the importance and use of Information Technology are ever-growing. Fewer and fewer companies can function without proper IT systems, so it has become difficult for small-scale IT departments to comprehend and deal with the rising complexity of technology that is used in businesses.
This is where Managed Service Providers or so-called MSPs come in.
There is no concrete interpretation of the name ‘managed service provider‘ (MSP), and the reason behind that might be the wide variety of amenities and products they offer. However, their principal goal is to deliver IT support to clients remotely and via the internet.
Some of the advantages of using managed service providers are round-the-clock monitoring and protection, extensive reporting, and cost-effectiveness.
The basic services offered usually include:
6Programmed Maintenance
Depending on the arrangement, the service ensures providing quarterly or monthly maintenance of the company’s networks.
5Helpdesk
This is the primary tier of support for issues with computers, servers, LANs (Local Area Networks), programs and printers.
4Centralized Management and External Surveillance
Supervision of operational functions of client’s computers and servers, handling updates, providing patch management solutions, and solving issues when they arise.
3Protection
Firewalls and endpoint security – the protection of networks that are externally connected to other devices – are the included primary products. Certain MSPs have a bigger variety of security services, so their security solutions might vary because of this.
2Recovery and Backup
Included services consist of restoring and backing-up information and data from various devices such as computers and servers.
1Simplified Billing System
These type of services deal with tasks connected to finance such as payments, budgeting, and invoicing.
Managed Service Providers might often, but not necessarily always offer other services and products, such as telecommunication services (providing broadband connectivity, dedicated connections, and voice services), professional services (custom made applications development, aiding with digital transformation projects), as well as cloud and data center services.
According to Orange Crew, the reason why businesses are becoming so dependable on MSPs and are shying away from the break-fix method is that the latter deals with problems after they happen and fail to stop issues from occurring.
In return, this causes huge losses to businesses and has an effect on their overall performance. MSPs offer IT services that are constant and unfailing, making them trustworthy and extremely reliable.
Another advantage of Managed Service Providers is that they have a fixed, per-seat fee for their packaged services opposed to the break-fix model where the client is billed for every service they have been provided with.
As such, we could say that MSPs also have a higher incentive when it comes to efficiently resolving any issues and preventing them, to begin with.
The basic purpose of MSPs is to act as an external IT department, especially for small and midsize companies, which sets them apart from systems integrator and even telecommunication providers.
Although they are pretty straightforward and simple in their business, one thing is clear – Managed Service Providers are slowly, but surely becoming indispensable.
