Innovation has become the need of the hour for businesses, big and small. However, it holds particular importance for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). To hold a candle to large enterprises and their IT infrastructure management, SMBs can leverage the power of managed IT service providers.

However, with the expanding market of managed IT service providers, choosing the right partner is more difficult for organizations. Business owners must ensure that outsourcing their IT management reduces their workload and does not increase it even further.

The Need for Managed IT Services

Although companies are already utilizing modern technology in their IT processes, out-of-the-box user demands, rising complexities in IT management and persistent cybercriminal activities have started pushing firms against the wall. Managed IT service providers are experienced in dealing with surprising situations every day and can apply the same expertise to your organization.

Things to Look for in a Reputed Managed IT Service Provider

Here are some factors you should pay attention to when choosing an MSP for outsourcing your IT infrastructure management:

• Your IT needs and the MSP’s offerings – Create a checklist of essential IT services that you want for your business. The list can serve to identify the gaps in workflow and inefficient areas to help SMBs find their perfect match. Since MSPs offer a comprehensive package of IT services, it’s critical that you determine what you need to avoid paying for services you won’t use.
• Portfolio of services – Blindly selecting an MSP to handle your IT services is not wise. You should conduct proper market research to find out the MSP’s previous clients, their work feedback and their total industry experience. This will help you assess the MSP’s track record and capabilities in order to facilitate the decision to go ahead with the partnership or not.
• Incident response and resolution metrics – An unexpected security incident can become the root cause of extended downtime and, in turn, financial losses. Before you start working with a managed IT service provider, ask for their incident response times, resolution satisfaction rate and other numbers. Take a deep look into the Service Level Agreement (SLA) to find out what you’re paying for, what’s coming under additional services and what to expect from the services offered.
• Customer satisfaction – No client would like to work with an IT firm that cannot retain most of its customers. Being available 24*7 for the client and providing quality resolution for technical problems should be the first thing an MSP should advertise. With a team of experienced experts, you can expect quality results from the MSP partner.
• Employee training – It’s vital to make your business’s employees aware of the practices to prevent the ongoing cybercriminals’ strategy from becoming successful. An MSP will deploy cutting-edge cybersecurity tools along with training your company’s staff on the best measures for preventing a data leak.

On a Final Note

Outsourcing your IT architecture management only makes sense when you do it to a well-known and reliable MSP. Selecting that one IT company that can add value to your business is a strategic decision to be taken with utmost seriousness.

One82 is a Managed IT Service Provider that helps small businesses realize their objectives by providing 360-degree IT support. Our team of experts becomes part of your organization to manage your daily IT activities effectively. With mature and reliable cybersecurity and cloud solutions, we take our client’s IT architecture to the next level.

We have only one objective in mind – to make seamless organizational workflow possible for our clients. Contact us today to upgrade your business.