White Paper Makes The Argument For Managed Services For SMBs

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

Using managed services, cloud services, and internal IT support can be the best of all worlds

A white paper from Vertical Solutions demonstrates that managed services providers (MSPs) are being utilized by small businesses to cost-effectively manage, service, and support their IT processes.  This report explains how a hybrid approach — combining managed services, cloud services, and internal IT support — can truly provide the best possible approach for SMBs.  Together, they simultaneously helps SMBs achieve a greater ROI on their IT costs while also allowing existing in-house IT resources to be channeled into more valuable developmental roles.

MSPs can augment in-house IT capabilities with proactive management, remote monitoring, end-user help desk, a 24/7 network operations center, disaster recovery/business continuity solutions, and security audits and updates. 

Working with an MSP also frees in-house staff from mundane IT tasks, and it can also reduce instances of failure and human error — that are often the reason for vulnerabilities to security breaches.

MSPs can also help detect and address common costly disruptions for SMBs, including downtime-inducing hardware, software, and application failures. And with 24/7 monitoring provided by MSPs, alerts can notify the in-house staff of potential threats before they become serious.

The paper states “A good MSP functions as an extension of the business they service,” and it cautions MSPs not to overstep authority. Remind your new SMB IT customers to explain to their employees that embracing the cloud and leveraging the tools and services provided by the MSP will serve to make their jobs more manageable and less stressful — not obsolete — and it should mean less time on IT and more time to spend on other aspects of their business that can benefit the company’s bottom line.