Having the support of a managed service provider primarily helps to reduce costs.

Having the support of a managed service provider primarily helps companies reduce costs, increase efficiency and improve the security of their technology systems.

First of all, if you don’t know what an MSP is, you’re certainly not the only one, even if you’ve been working in the IT industry for some time.

Many “IT companies” may already be an MSP, without even knowing it!

Let’s try to clarify the concept a bit.

The definitions of Managed IT Services and IT Support Company can vary depending on who you talk to, but in the small and medium business sector, an MSP is an IT solutions provider that offers:

Unlimited phone and remote support – ‘all-you-can-eat’ type.
Proactive IT management activities: backups, security, monitoring, upgrades.
Vendor management: Software House, TLC, Hardware.
Fixed cost

The characteristic of a Managed IT Services is that it offers all these services at a fixed cost, usually monthly, quarterly or annually. This is usually the most complicated knot to untangle for those who want to approach this business model.

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1 Managed Services Provider: what is an MSP?

Managed Services Provider: what is an MSP?

The increasing demands placed on companies’ internal IT infrastructure are a major challenge for many companies.

One possible solution is to contract a Managed IT Services Provider.

What are outsourced Managed IT Services and the Managed Services Providers behind them?

What is a Managed Service Provider?

A Managed IT Services is a company that provides and manages various IT services for its customers.

Typically, managed services are provided and maintained remotely over the Internet, so visiting customers is not usually on an MSP’s agenda.

MSPs usually offer their services under a Service-Level Agreement (SLA). In this contractual agreement between the provider and the customer, the main performance data of the services to be provided are described.

Managed IT Services often offer several different billing models: a monthly fee for the provision and maintenance of the respective MSP services is as common as time-based billing.

It is also common for providers to charge by the number of connected users or devices.

Originally, the concept of managed services, which started in the 1990s, was aimed exclusively at large enterprises. Back then, IT bigwigs such as IBM laid the foundations for the business model of today’s Managed Services Providers by offering remote server and network monitoring services.

Today, Managed IT Services are of particular interest to small and medium-sized companies, which can dispense with in-house IT support by outsourcing IT requirements to an MSP and thus save costs.

What is a Managed Service?

The term Managed IT Services does not refer to any particular type of IT service. Rather, it is used for all IT services that can be outsourced and managed remotely by an external provider.

In addition to these technical IT services, Managed Services Providers offer other basic services to companies such as personnel management, process optimization or accounting.

The following examples of Managed Services are intended to illustrate the advantages and functioning of the IT services contracted and how Managed Services Providers operate.

Managed Services: IT security example.

IT security plays an important role in modern companies. The loss of sensitive or secret company data can not only be costly, but can also damage the company’s image. However, especially in the SME sector, many companies lack the know-how or personnel to provide the necessary security.

With a Managed Services Provider as a partner at their side, small and medium-sized companies can delegate responsibility for their security infrastructures and concentrate on their core business with some peace of mind.

The issue of security is also important when it comes to choosing the most suitable storage option for the huge amount of data handled by a company; in this case, storing data in the cloud has been common practice for years. In recent years, the issue of data security and protection has become increasingly important. Those who outsource the storage of the entire company to a Managed Services Provider not only save on the necessary hardware, but also benefit from the security conditions that the provider guarantees when it provides its services.

What is IT support? Definition, scope, advantages and tools

Many providers offer a very popular IT Support Company that covers the complete backup management of the company.

Regardless of the chosen base storage structure, a backup system guarantees a higher level of security, as lost data can be restored at any time.
A provider helps to implement the right strategy, also manages and monitors the backup process and stands by the company as a partner in case a system restore of the company’s system is necessary.

IT Support Company: example of remote monitoring and management

Remote monitoring, i.e. remote control of IT infrastructures, is considered to be the first Managed Service offered, the first time being in the 1990s.

Today, however, offers of this type are no longer geared towards large companies. The ability to remotely monitor and manage their own IT infrastructures is also of interest to small and medium-sized companies with a functional, high-performance IT infrastructure.

Possible functions of today’s remote monitoring and management services (RMMS) include, for example:

Software Installation and Update, IT Support Company and others.

The range of IT Support Company is not only varied, but the way in which providers choose to present themselves on the market is also very different: while some companies sell themselves solely and exclusively as Managed Services Providers.

For others, on the other hand, Managed Services are part of a wide range of product offerings. Providers also differ from one another in the number of services they offer.

Why should a customer work with IT Support Company?

Many are familiar with the principle of outsourcing: it implies that a business process is carried out by a third party under contract. Being an MSP means performing the tasks of an IT department on an outsourced basis.

By monitoring and maintaining a company’s IT infrastructure – often using automated tools and processes – and proactively addressing potential problems, an IT Support Company actually minimizes the downtime of the customer’s infrastructure and does so in the mutual interest of provider-customer.

By offering “all-you-can-eat” support, an IT Support Company gives customers peace of mind knowing that when (not if, but when!) problems arise, they can call you as often as they want without worrying about cost overruns. By managing vendors, an MSP gives your customer a single point of contact for all requests. Instead of contacting the Internet provider when the connection fails, they simply contact their MSP. This saves time and money in contacting providers and experts to find out what the problem is.

If you do the “right job” in maintaining and testing the customer’s network, you will work less and better, and earn more! That’s the importance of an efficient IT Support Company.