What are managed IT services?
“Managed IT services” is a term that gets bandied about quite often, but how people interpret it can be quite different. While there’s a general understanding that it relates to outsourced IT services, it’s less clear what exactly that includes. We’ve put together a short guide to explain exactly what managed IT is all about.
Helpful definitions
Managed Services Provider (MSP)
A managed services provider – an MSP – is a third-party IT services provider that partners with a business to manage its IT requirements on an outsourced basis, usually on a month-to-month or fixed-term contract. This is different to on-demand outsourced IT services, where the IT service provider will perform a specific service when required (e.g., repairing a computer) and bill the company for that service as a once-off.
An MSP will cover part or all a business’s IT requirements, as agreed upon in a contract or service level agreement (SLA), which defines the exact services the MSP will render.
Most MSPs levy an upfront setup or transition fee and then bill clients on a monthly flat or near-fixed fee. This assists businesses in budgeting as they know exactly what their IT costs will be and ensures IT support is available when needed. Most MSPs bill an upfront setup or transition fee and an ongoing flat or near-fixed monthly fee, which benefits clients by providing them with predictable IT support costs.
Fully managed IT services
“Fully managed IT services” means exactly that. An MSP that provides fully managed services is essentially operating as an outsourced IT department for your business, taking care of everything that an IT department would usually handle. This should range from routine IT support (a desktop service helpdesk) to the role that a CIO would play – using IT to support your business strategy and enable growth. The benefits to your business are that there’s no drain on payroll, HR or recruitment – just complete peace of mind that your entire business IT function is in capable hands.
It’s worth checking, however, that an MSP that claims to offer fully managed services does tick all the IT boxes, from data protection to cloud computing, disaster recovery planning, IT advisory services and the complete IT procurement cycle.
Co-managed IT services
“Co-managed IT services” is a hybrid model where an MSP offers a defined list of IT services and tools to help augment and empower a company’s internal IT department. The MSP’s services suite supplements your existing IT resources affordably and on demand. It’s like a top-up where your team needs it most. This might be supplying IT strategy expertise or managing surveillance or access control technology. It could also be specific project implementation or automation.
It’s important to ensure your co-managed services MSP is able to provide the specific capabilities with your business is likely to require.
The benefits to your business of employing co-managed IT services are access to mature IT capabilities as and when required, the ability to scale or contract services as your company needs change and access to on-demand technical skillsets and expertise with no long-term commitments or overheads.
What should managed IT services include?
The short answer to that question is “whatever you need them to include”. When selecting an MSP, it’s important to define your needs upfront. A good MSP will be able to guide you in this process. Normally, fully managed services will include:
- IT governance and compliance
- Cybersecurity and risk management
- IT operations, management and support
- IT procurement (including hardware, software, and lifecycle management)
- IT strategy
Before selecting an MSP, do your homework on the companies under consideration. Do they have a proven track record? Do they offer the services and solutions you need – not just to sustain your business, but to grow it? Find out about their response times, accountability measures, contract terms and transition processes. Ask for an audit of your current IT systems and the MSP’s recommendations.
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If you’d like to partner with a premier IT service provider for managed IT or co-managed IT, consider Numata. Whether you need to outsource your company’s entire IT department function under one, expert, roof or you’d like to unburden, augment and empower your internal IT department, we can assist.
