Before we investigate the benefits of managed IT, what exactly is it?

A managed IT service (sometimes called a hosted service) is a one-stop shop for all IT needs. A third-party company takes over all your firm’s computing responsibilities, managing everything from the software you use to the servers. Finally, you can get on with your core operations without having to worry about the next network outage.

Managed IT services can look after the computer networks at your place of work or provide you with computing solutions remotely over the cloud. They allow firms to avoid the hassle of developing the skills they need to manage their computer networks in-house. That’s all done by an outside company that specialises in doing all the dull, technical stuff you’d rather avoid.

So what are the benefits?

Regular, Reliable Data Backup And Recovery

All businesses, whether they like to admit it or not, depend on troves of data. Your organization needs data for everything, from developing better products to effective CRM. If you lose your data, you could be in big trouble.

Managed IT services help mitigate this risk. An IT provider that offers hosted backups will periodically and automatically take data collected by your primary server and store it elsewhere at a safe location. You also get data recovery services, enabling you to regain access to your information minutes (or even seconds) after losing it.

Manage Your Phone Calls With Ease

Traditional landline telephone calls are not suited to the digital age. Phone conversations over landline don’t integrate with digital communication technology, causing problems when you switch from one mode of communication to another.

VoIP, or voice over internet protocol, gets around this issue. With VoIP, you can forward voice communications and answerphone recordings to the relevant person via email and have your team take calls using digital platforms.

Hosted VoIP makes things even easier – instead of managing it yourself, a third-party company does it all for you.

Lower Costs

Maintaining a full-time IT staff is not cheap. IT professionals come with a hefty price tag – something you want to avoid if possible. The great thing about hosted services is that they make much more efficient use of labor than you could if you hired people directly. You get far more computing services for each dollar you spend and other intangible benefits, such as less stress and hassle when things go wrong.

Effortless Scalability

Scaling in-house IT networks is a nightmare. Often it involves overhauling entire systems, installing new servers (at high cost) and having periods of planned downtime. It’s not something any business wants to go through as it expands.

But it turns out that this is an unnecessary growing pain for many firms. Hosted IT solutions in the cloud offer almost unlimited scalability, allowing you to add new users if and when you please, increase your storage, bandwidth and other parameters, all while keeping lump sum payments to a minimum. When you want more computing services, you just raise your monthly premium. That’s it.

For more information about our managed services, click here