Let’s Talk Managed IT Services

Managed IT services is when a third-party provider, known as a Managed Service Provider (MSP),  “manages” the IT functions for a business or organization. Think about this as hiring (outsourcing) your office technology to another company to handle for you. These IT services can range in scope from tracking the use of IT equipment to setting up a VPN to helping onboard and offboard employees and more.  

Most MSPs offer a couple of different plans with a range of IT services that are essential for today’s businesses and organizations. Typically, MSPs serve in two primary ways: as the main IT team for a company that has no internal capabilities or to support a pre-existing, in-house IT team by taking some of the day-to-day tasks off their plate or to help them resolve more complex issues. 

Overall, the main purpose of an MSP is to strategically improve a company or non-profit’s operations to increase performance, security and business continuity while staying within a client’s budget. More specifically, they assist organizations with their IT infrastructure, maintenance and other technical assistance, along with handling end-user systems and more. Typically, they also include technology auditing, remote desktop support, and application managed services, among others in their services. MSPs are most helpful to clients when they take a strategic and preventative approach (gets to the root cause of IT issues), rather than offering their services piecemeal that tends to focus only on fixing IT issues when they break. 

These are the two leading models in the area of IT services support: strategic and firefighting. A strategic approach hinges on partnering with a company to treat your IT functions as an entire ecosystem by using assessments, identifying root issues, and implementing preventative monitoring to and security protocols in addition to support. The main purpose for MSPs that employ a strategic approach is to eliminate the root cause of your issues.  

This differs dramatically from a firefighting approach, which lacks a strategic, preventative focus, and only fixes your systems once it breaks. In essence, the firefighting approach only offers reactive support and is based on a fee-for-service pricing model. This means provider only gets paid to put out the fires not to prevent them. Ultimately, this approach fails to identify and address root causes of IT issues and leads to systemic, chronic issues that drain an organizations resources, time and performance.  

MSP’s help better organize, optimize and streamline your IT systems, processes and equipment using a team of experts. As they say, more heads are better than one.  

Also, MSPs are skilled in these key areas: increasing operational efficiencies, implementing cybersecurity protocols and best practices, and keeping you informed of the most recent technological advances that to further your productivity and security. Also, they’re more cost effective while giving you access to current technology advances that will continue to help optimize your operations. 

In addition, you’ll benefit from enhanced cybersecurity and compliance as well as consistent remote monitoring and maintenance to prevent issues before they cause costly downtime.  

Choosing an MSP is more cost effective than hiring and managing an on-site IT person. You’ll get greater IT expertise including the most up to date tools and skills that wouldn’t be otherwise easily accessible. And you can flex and scale your services more easily with an MSP.  

No. The cloud is accessible via a PC or a Mac. All you need is access to the internet.  

Great question. We do both. It really depends on what your unique needs are. If you’d like to learn more, please contact us for a free consult here.  

Moving is a huge undertaking. We’ve compiled a moving checklist here to make sure you’ve got everything covered. 

Yes, we support clients all over the US. If you’re located abroad, we work with partners to provide IT services. Please contact us to learn more. 

Yes, we can provide on-site assistance and coverage as needed. Contact us for more info. 

Yes, we support both. In fact, we’re Mac enthusiasts!

Our core competencies include strategy and consulting, Co-Managed IT, cybersecurity, Mac and infrastructure management, cloud migration (Office 365, G Suite and more), VOIP Management and remote work transition and optimization. 

In addition, our entire team participates in ongoing, service-specific growth and development training to remain current with the latest technology advances. This includes Mac management training. 

We adhere to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the New York Stop Hacksand Improve Electronic Data Security (SHIELD) Act cybersecurity protocols.