What is Managed Services?

“What is Managed Services?” is a question that many in business are currently asking. It sounds like the kind of phrase made for large corporations, but small businesses can benefit from these kinds of services, as well. In short, Managed Services usually refer to outsourcing some aspect of a company’s day-to-day operations related to technology.

IT Outsourcing on Steroids?

The concept of outsourcing has received a bad reputation in the last decade. It makes people think of the frustration they get when calling technical support. Outsourcing doesn’t have to mean a reduction in customer service. In fact, outsourcing often frees up businesses to focus on what matters most to their company: the customer. Managed Services will outsource the drudgery technical tasks (often the kind that can be automated) and let the business focus on more important things.

What Types of Managed Services are Available?

Managed services can be adapted to almost any business need in the IT arena. Managed Services often include running applications (Application Managed Services), databases, data recovery and back-up, network management (Network Managed Services), storage, security, and monitoring. That’s just a start. It should also be noted that not all managed services are technology based, that’s just the most common definition. A managed service can be anything outsourced including marketing and ever more basic operations like power or transportation.

The Role of the Managed Service Provider (MSP)

The managed service provider (MSP) is the company that runs all the managed services, usually IT. The MSP is a specialized company that will offer defined services to its business clients. MSPs are often proactive in their approach, meaning they will help the business know which services they need and then manage them. MSPs used specialized programs to help them keep track of and monitor all the programs that run in the background of a company, upgrading when necessary.

Cloud Computing

In the last few years, cloud computing has become a buzz word in technology. Managed services used to cover mostly the infrastructure needs of a business (firewalls and networks). Now, the management of cloud computing has also fallen under the managed service definition. Companies generate so much information, emails, data bases, shared files; a MSP can help keep that information safe while still being easily accessible for employees.

Managed Services for Small Businesses

Many small businesses don’t consider managed services because they think it would be too expensive or that their business doesn’t warrant that kind of management. What most small businesses don’t realize is that there are managed services that focus specifically on the needs of a business their size. These services can save time, money and help a small company get the most out of its regular work day.

Managed services offer the basic services that keep any size business running. They are the little programs that no one bothers thinking about but without them, everything would stop. That is why it is so important to have an expert who can keep everything working in the background so a company never has to worry. Hopefully this article provided the answer to “what are managed services”.

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