Beginning the search for a Managed Service Provider can be daunting, and usually starts with a question like this:

 

“Who can I partner with that will most efficiently manage my IT needs and bring the most value to our organization?”

 

However, if you are a small-to-mid-sized company, you ultimately may make a decision based on a question like this:

 

“Who is going to be the cheapest cost for necessary IT services?”

 

It’s just a fact of life in many small-to-medium sized businesses that costs play a huge factor. Unfortunately, though, trying to manage too tight to overhead costs can cost you in the long-run. Look, at the end of the day, good IT simply is hard to come by. We all know this. But, if you are willing to invest in it, there’s a number of efficiencies you gain that tend to result in an improved bottom-line.

 

One way that investing in a good MSP can save you in the long-run is through first-class IT road-mapping. Having a MSP that will provide you with a dedicated vCIO is a tremendous asset for your company. Essentially, vCIOs act as strategic advisors for your business that help you better manage the utilization of technology as well as keeping you pointed in the right direction. This factor alone can end up being a big time-money-headache saver. Let’s face it, IT is constantly evolving and is integral to modern-day businesses. It’s worth it to have an MSP that brings more to the table than setting up your desktop and backing up your data.

 

Another way that investing in a good MSP can be meaningful for your business is by freeing up internal resources to operate efficiently. Typically, SMBs have just 1-4 internal IT professionals. Despite grand plans at tech improvements, these people can often times get sucked down by a steady-stream of breaks, fixes, monitoring and updating. And unfortunately, none of these things are going to truly progress your business forward. Partnering with an MSP with a broad set of certifications and functional skills can allow your internal team to move forward at a quicker pace. What’s essential here is having an MSP that provides layered support for your business. This means that they are always there in a pinch and have the headcount necessary to put some muscle behind managing your IT needs.

 

A final factor that good MSPs bring to the table is polished policies and procedures. When you hear about data breaches and data loss, you are talking about big time costs to those companies. If you are in a regulated business, then you also have to contend with potential costs for non-compliance with tech regulations. Having an MSP that has established IT policies to leverage for the betterment of your company is undeniably important. Consider this, the average SMB company losses 1 million annually in technology and communication downtime6. If an event does happen and your MSP gets you back up in minutes instead of hours or days, then they just paid for themselves.

 

Sometimes going with the lowest cost provider makes sense. But, when it comes to technology and business, there’s a lot of reason to believe otherwise.

 

For more information about the value added services a top-shelf MSP can provide, please contact info@ansolutions.com.