Your IT team. You know them; you love them. But are there areas where you wish they could do more to support your business? Even with the best A-team in the world, there are limitations on the level of maintenance, research and care they can implement for your business between the hours of 9 am and 5 pm. Beyond that, when they are at their desks, managers and support staff are often so stacked that getting beyond the usual day-to-day helpdesk stuff can seem impossible – not great when businesses rely on technology to help them stay competitive and efficient.

There is a solution. Here, we explore some of the key benefits you can unlock by working with a managed IT provider, and where your investment is likely to deliver the most value. 

They ensure you have 24/7 global support

Internal IT teams are entitled to the same things the rest of your employees are: lunch breaks, parental leave, holidays and sick leave. They are at their desks for 8-10 hours a day, and then they go home – which is fair enough. Unfortunately for you, there is every chance that you or your team will need IT support outside of those business hours. What if a team member gets locked out hours before a deadline? Or if there is a security breach? What if customers are not able to access vital services? The longer such issues remain unfixed, the greater the negative impact. Working with a Managed IT Provider that provides 24/7 IT support means that there is always someone available to ensure every issue is picked up and addressed as it happens.

They help your business stay agile

The world spent £2.6 trillion on IT hardware and software during 2020 – and most of us can guess why. With widespread lockdowns across the UK, many businesses had to pack up and start working from home –– practically overnight. A rush ensued as companies hurried to invest in the necessary equipment for staff to keep things moving. Your managed IT provider will always recommend technology in advance to help you mitigate such risk. If, for example, more businesses had adopted Microsoft 365 ahead of the pandemic, workers would have been equipped and confident to adopt a work-from-home model. 

They help protect your business against an attack or data breach

A massive 39% of UK businesses suffered a cybersecurity attack or breach in the year following March 2020 – the last thing anyone needed. Having a team of bonafide cyber security experts on hand to support you is the best way to quickly and safely offset the effects of a cyberattack.

Read more on 4 reasons you’re more cyber secure with a managed IT provider

They help protect you stay compliant

Many IT teams lack accreditations for the tools and software being used throughout the business they are serving. This can be a huge problem. From GDPR regulations to Cyber Essentials, your provider should offer industry-standard services to help keep colleagues, clients and customers safe and your business compliant.

They free up your IT team to do what they are paid to do

An IT team managing everything in-house spends 86% of its working time simply keeping IT systems functioning as they should. This leaves just 14% of your team’s time to spend on seeking out new initiatives and projects. Many IT managers tell us that they are spending their days under desks, resetting passwords, setting up users, removing user accounts and other routines, and day-to-day tasks. But, to get real value from your people,  IT directors should be managing IT from a very high level, with real-time set aside to focus on strategy and training so that they can stay in tune with evolving technologies and move the organisation forward as it grows. 

They help you fill in any gaps in your skills and expertise

Should your IT team just plod along if there are gaps in their expertise? Or does it make more sense to have someone in the background helping them drive your strategy forward? For implementation or support on the cloud, infrastructure and Microsoft 365, having an external team of experts can help account for any weak points in your team’s skillset.

They can help you make investment decisions and prepare for the future

A good managed IT provider can offer advice on what resources, hardware and software to buy to help you stay aligned with your future goals. Having an IT team absorbed in the everyday tasks can mean your business slips further and further behind on the change curve, meaning lost efficiencies and capital expenditure when the time comes to play catch-up, not to mention problems with business continuity in the face of any future disasters. 

They offer a scalable solution

If the worst happens and you need to lay a lot of people off, any former investment in hardware for them means you could lose a lot of money. Working with a managed IT provider means that you have access to a wide variety of IT Services. This will ensure that your IT infrastructure is perfectly aligned with your needs, adapting – and that can shift and flex with your business. 

They can help reduce overall costs

The Investment in your IT infrastructure is high, there’s no doubt about it. However, working with a managed IT provider can help reduce your overall costs by providing the highest quality solutions on a monthly payment plan. Not to mention that they will always work to streamline your services and ensure that all products and solutions are fully integrated, maximising your investment.

What’s included in managed IT support services?

The services included with Managed IT Support can be very broad or very specific depending on the client’s needs and can include:

We are able to cover a very broad range when it comes to Managed IT Support, including a variety of Support packages, extended hours, onsite support, monitoring and maintenance from the Network Operations Centre and so on, ensuring you are actually getting the support you need. To discover more about Air IT and how we can align with your business to ensure your IT support needs are met, just click the link.