Network downtime, data phishing scams, technology that feels outdated . . . we’re pretty familiar with what benefits of working with a partner, but what about the IT managed services challenges?
There are in fact several major IT managed services provider challenges that can lead to a lower IT ROI when working with your provider. To that end, let’s go over several of these major challenges, so you know what to avoid in your managed services providers (MSPs ).
Five Common IT Managed Services Challenges
The five key IT managed services providers challenge s we’ll be going over (in no particular order) are:
- Lack of specialized expertise
- Inability to contend with developing cybersecurity threats
- Difficulty scaling
- Inconsistent reaction times
- Complicated pricing models
You may very well come into contact with other IT managed services provider challenges (should you end up with an inexperienced MSP, that is), but this list is a pretty good rundown of some of the most common – and most financially draining – difficulties.
Lack of Specialized Expertise
When you’re working with MSPs , you want to count on them providing a team of qualified domain experts that can help with whatever IT project it is your business plans to tackle.
More complicated IT projects like data migration, digital transformations, server setups, total network overhauls, in-depth assessments, etc., all these require experience and careful attention to detail to be done right.
Unfortunately, not all MSPs are able to meet your requirements. While many can provide basic break/fix support, many find it difficult to tackle these more complex projects. The result being that you either end up with an incomplete job, a poorly executed job, or you’ll have to hire on specialized help at much higher cost.
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Which is all to say that you can rather easily avoid this IT managed services challenge by making sure that your IT partner has the requisite team of experienced professionals on staff to manage both your day-to-day mundane tasks in addition to the more complicated issues.
Inability to Contend With Developing Cybersecurity Threats
Every year, more and more businesses are being set upon by cybersecurity attacks. It’s growing so fast, in fact, that the cybercrime ‘industry’ is projected to reach $10.5 trillion in value by 2025 .
And to make things worse, small businesses are increasingly becoming cybercriminals’ preferred targets due to their often weaker set of cybersecurity standards. This lack of preparedness can be disastrous, with one study finding 60% of small businesses closing within six months of a hack.
It is mission critical to protect your data and network from hackers, lest you find your business suffering from a breach that could dramatically derail productivity and cost thousands or even tens of thousands to remediate.
It’s similarly critical that your MSP is able to reliably stay up to date with cybersecurity trends, understanding the preferred method of attack so they can build your IT defenses accordingly.
This does present an IT managed services challenge as cybercriminals are constantly developing novel ways to breach your business. But the right IT partner will be aware of these emerging security issues and be able to tailor your security services to effectively thwart these attempts and keep your business safe.
Difficulty Scaling
As your business grows, your IT needs to expand in tandem to account for the higher workloads, more workers, higher demand on the network, etc.
You’ll also need to be able to implement simplified yet thorough onboarding processes and cybersecurity best practices training for these workers, to ensure that your business continues apace without much delay as new hires are made.
Your IT partner will be able to make the necessary network augmentations, infrastructure adjustments, technological procurements, simple yet comprehensive cybersecurity training processes, etc., to ensure that your new workers can start helping your business produce as soon as possible, without having to struggle with technology and byzantine systems.
Unfortunately, this tends to be a major IT managed services provider challenge as many providers simply don’t have the requisite experience and know-how to effectively scale their services to meet their clients’ needs.
But the right IT partner will provide long-term IT strategy planning to mitigate these growing pains and ensure that your technology only ever helps you grow rather than constrain you.
Inconsistent Reaction Times
We’ve all been there: you’re working on some critical project or task, and then, all of the sudden, your network goes down. The internet isn’t responding, your work remains unfinished with a deadline just around the corner. In short: disaster.
These types of IT headaches can be all too common when struggling with IT management on your own. With an MSP on your side, they shouldn’t happen, or at least, should happen very infrequently.
But still, that doesn’t mean that the odd issue won’t squeak by or that a human error may not occur on your side of things. But when turning to MSPs for help, r eliable partners will guarantee they’ll be available to provide quality services the movement of an IT issue appears – no matter when it appears.
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Customer support readily available by way of professional helpdesk services, alongside rapid response rates (think two minutes or less) backed by service level agreements (SLAs) is critical to ensuring that your business can manage these IT hiccups as they appear. While this can be challenging for MSPs to provide (or at least, challenging for some), a strong and reliable IT partner will be able to guarantee upwards of 99% uptime and rapid response rates to any IT issues that do appear.
Complicated Pricing Models
For those unfamiliar with MSP market jargon and IT specifics, it can quickly become very difficult to follow along when you don’t have the right partner explaining things. Networks, firewalls, hybrid servers, cloud computing, vCIO, SaaS, PaaS, DRaaS . . . it can make some people’s eyes glaze over.
For some providers, they have difficulty communicating with their clients, leading to frustration and, worse yet, complicated invoices that leave customers confused as to what exactly they just purchased.
It is incumbent upon the MSP to clearly define the set of services you will receive, and how these services will help your business. Your vCIO, for instance, should be able to assess your entire IT stack during the kickoff process and identify areas of need as well as any technology redundancies. This will save you money by removing superfluous services while providing a productivity boost by implementing the solutions best suited to your business.
Of course, not all MSPs are up to this challenge and some will try to provide a paint-by-numbers service package which prevents full ROI maximization.
In short, your IT partner should keep you abreast of all the work they do for your business, ensuring that you understand exactly what’s happening every step of the way. Furthermore, they should provide SLAs and reports to demonstrate and assure you that you really are getting the most out of your IT spend. There are few better investments, after all, then IT – when done right.
These IT Managed Services Provider Challenges Won’t Affect Your Business When Working With AT-NET
Ready to work with an MSP – but don’t want to face these above-mentioned challenges?
Partner with AT-NET. For over 23 years, we’ve been providing comprehensive IT services to companies just like yours . Our services offered i nclude:
- Helpdesk and IT Support Services
- Network Security and Support
- IT Consulting and Strategy
- Cybersecurity Services
- IT Outsourcing
- 24/7 remote monitoring
- and more
To start enjoying all the benefits of managed IT services for your business, talk to us today and set up a free consultation where we can identify your specific business IT needs together.
