Managed IT Services: What Can They Offer Small Businesses?

As the use of technology has grown over the years, wrapping your head around it can often be a headache, especially for smaller companies that don’t yet have an IT department.

It can be difficult to set up an IT department because there are financial restrictions on how many people can be employed full-time which conflicts with the depth and breadth of what is needed from them.

This conflict frequently means that an IT department is under-resourced and struggles to keep up. In some situations, this can be a recipe for disaster. 

So, for smaller businesses, are managed IT services worth it, and what can they offer them?

1. Not a Catch-All Service, Necessarily

While there are IT companies in London that aim to cover everything that a company requires and won’t offer a tailored or piecemeal service, others are more adaptable.

Sophisticated providers targeting SMEs know that they may not always have the budget available to fund every type of IT service required.

However, that doesn’t mean that they cannot prove useful in providing special services like IT support London area and beyond, advisory services to steer the business in the right direction with IT purchasing, software management, and more. 

Certainly, with this IT support company, they provide a broad set of options depending on the requirements of their client and how they may best be of service to them. With service awards and accreditations, Totality Services is worth looking into if your business needs London IT support or other related services soon. 

2. IT Hardware Procurement

Not everyone is an IT expert with knowledge as to which computers, laptops, servers, and software represent the right fit for a business or a new department that’s just been created.

For example, while an employee may wish to pick out a laptop that has an Intel i9 chipset, 4K display, and other high-end features, do they really need it?

Simply talking to a laptop salesperson or even reading product reviews online makes it difficult for someone who is not familiar with the latest technology to know what they need in the business. It can all seem like so much jargon, after all!

The right question in this situation is, “What will they be using the laptop for?”

If the answer is spreadsheets and document editing, rather than video editing and running multiple displays, then it is likely that a modern, but less powerful laptop will be fine. This kind of decision is likely to save the company considerable money.

A hardware procurement service provider will also be more familiar with which brand presently produces the most reliable equipment. Not all hard drives, displays, or motherboards are as reliable as you’d expect, leading to inconvenient downtime.

It is best to avoid this, so knowing the right brands and models to recommend can save money and reduce future inconvenience too. 

3. Remote IT Support

Especially with the current need for remote working that employees are going through, it is far more common to have people working at home now.

This poses many challenges for companies where staff may be using work or home PCs to perform essential duties promptly. 

Providing remote IT support becomes even more useful in this situation. It is difficult for companies to offer this in the evenings or weekends when office staff may need to work out of hours or when they have free time.

Meanwhile, conflicting with that is that any in-house IT staff need their downtime, and they’ll want to avoid receiving support calls at all hours, or emails that they are expected to answer in the late evening.

So, having a managed IT services team that can support the use of G Suite or Office 365, or resolve troublesome network connection problems with the corporate server, is extremely beneficial. For many companies, outsourcing remote IT support really takes a weight off their team’s shoulders and is worth it just for this. 

4. Security Provisioning

Security has become an extremely complex field that has many different facets to it. It is also a growing threat. There is corporate network security within an office, access to it from outside the building, and mobile security concerns too.

Also, the company may feel the need to monitor its website and other online tools provided to customers to ensure they stay operational despite regular hacking attempts (most websites suffer hacking attempts daily now). 

Each of the above areas is different. They typically require their own software to fix them when something goes wrong or to monitor them for errors. It is too much to expect one person to handle the security for all areas because it is both expensive and changes fast.

Therefore, a team-based approach to security is far superior – and safer – which smaller businesses will struggle to satisfy. Therefore, there are identifiable benefits to letting specialists handle the IT security aspects at the very least. 

5. IT Consultancy

It is possible to get a top-level oversight on a monthly basis to discuss relevant IT matters to the company and receive suggestions on how best to proceed.

The IT consultancy service can be aimed at Company Directors who need a big picture overview with a realistic, updated assessment of the information technology within the company. Discussions about recent issues or growing pains can be covered and recommendations sought to avoid such difficulties in the future.

Companies that lack such expertise on-staff can benefit enormously from an insightful review and discussion. Particularly for smaller businesses without necessary technical expertise, it can connect the dots between initial ideas and the possible implementation of long-term solutions. 

6. Switching to Cloud Computing

Some businesses have struggled to make the switch from a desktop-based approach to a cloud-based one. While other companies with greater resources have transitioned in the last few years, uncertainty about the change may have stopped company owners from making the same leap.

A managed IT service provider that offers cloud-related services is well-positioned to identify and resolve any security concerns, suggest ways to deploy the cloud usefully for the business and devise a workable plan to make it happen. 

With the recent move to have more employees working from home, as well as the greater use of freelancers, having them able to securely access company records and files from anywhere provides extra flexibility. Without using the cloud, it becomes more difficult to have staff work from home and not be hindered when doing so. 

7. IT Cost Controls

A worry for many company owners is how much IT costs can seem to spiral out of control. They know that information technology is important to their business, but there is a fear of how expensive it will be.

A company that offers IT services where there is an economy of scale working in their favor makes it possible to control IT costs reasonably even when advanced services are being provided. This greater predictability on company costs holds considerable appeal, especially for owners who aren’t as technologically savvy as others might be. 

While small businesses are always worried about using outside providers for essential services, it does often make sense within the IT realm.

There are just too many distinct areas with information technology for a tiny team to handle, which creates a real dilemma for smaller businesses. Using outside service providers which have a larger, highly trained workforce is a possible solution to this problem and often brings with it a better result too.