For the love of outsourced IT_

Common challenges include: 

• Budget constraints and Total Cost of Ownership: Businesses often face budget constraints and high Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) when setting up an IT function. This includes the costs associated with training and recruitment. Businesses now need predictable and transparent IT costs.  

• Cyber security complexities: All businesses are now navigating complex cyber security landscapes. Requirements have increased around adhering to industry-specific regulations and fulfilling client demands, while ensuring integrity across the entire supply chain. 

• Skills shortages and knowledge gaps: With the rate of change in technology, the rise of AI and increasingly complex IT requirements, many businesses simply do not have the internal skillset to support users at scale. Expertise across multiple disciplines is required and now expected from end-users.  

• Scalability and growth: As your business grows your IT infrastructure needs to be scalable. High growth can strain internal IT resources, leading to a lack of necessary processes, driving a degradation in quality of service internally. 

What happens when IT isn’t managed effectively? 

Ineffective IT service management can lead to several challenges for businesses.  

• Increased downtime: System failures and performance issues disrupt operations.  

• Data breaches: Can occur due to inadequate security measures, exposing sensitive information and damaging a company’s reputation. 

• Productivity impact: Poor IT management can also hinder productivity. Employees may struggle with outdated technology or slow systems, leading to decreased efficiency and job satisfaction.  

• Ability to move into new markets: A lack of IT agility can prevent businesses from adapting to changing market conditions and seizing new opportunities. 

Ultimately, the consequences of poor IT service management extend to the bottom line. Increased costs due to system failures, security incidents and lost productivity can erode profitability. 

This is why businesses look to a strategic partner and MSP to deliver an end-to-end IT service management model.  

The core components of our augmented approach to outsourced IT include: 

IT Service Desk:  

• 1st, 2nd, 3rd line support  

• Request and change management 

• Incident management 

• Device management
   

Microsoft support: 

• User and tenant admin 

• Microsoft 365 security  

• Technology adoption 

• Solution management 

• Service owner
   

Operations: 

• Security monitoring 

• Network monitoring 

• Infrastructure monitoring 

• Application monitoring 

• Endpoint monitoring 

• Patch management 

Service Management:  

• ITSM model 

• Service assurance and governance 

• Regular service reviews and reporting 

• Operational management 

Managed Security: 

• Incident response 

• Microsoft Defender for Cloud 

• Microsoft ENTRA 

• Microsoft Sentinel 

• Microsoft Purview 

• 24×7 proactive monitoring 

Many businesses choose to maintain a small in-house IT team to handle specific tasks or projects while outsourcing most of their IT operations to a managed service provider. This hybrid approach can provide the best of both worlds, combining the benefits of in-house expertise with the cost-effectiveness and scalability of managed services. 

When selecting a managed IT provider, consider factors such as: 

• Experience: Look for a provider with a proven track record in the industry. 

• Certifications: Check for relevant certifications and accreditations. 

• Customer references: Ask for testimonials from existing clients. 

• Service level agreements (SLAs): Ensure the provider offers guaranteed response times and uptime. 

• Pricing: Compare pricing models and service packages to find the best fit for your budget.