Technology is no longer a luxury but a necessity. For your business to thrive and remain competitive, you must proactively invest in technology. Even more importantly, just like a car, technology must be maintained, or it will suffer in performance or even crash. In an age when productivity all but depends on technology, waiting for your system to fail can be a costly mistake, especially if you must outsource IT in the case of an emergency.

Having a dedicated, internal IT department isn’t feasible for all businesses, nor is it always the most effective use of resources. That’s where an MSP or managed service provider can step in. Managed service providers, like my team at Smooth-IT, can do everything from consulting on particular IT projects to complete management and maintenance of the IT infrastructure for your business.

Below I outline three different scenarios and how you might work with an MSP to better your business.

Scenario 1: Your company doesn’t have any dedicated IT staff.

There comes the point in the growth of every business when it’s time to get a handle on your technology. When the maintenance of your system becomes more than the occasional dubious honor for the most knowledgeable person in the office, it’s time to consider your options. Most people recognize that you can hire a devoted IT person or pay someone else to service your system. Both options come with inherent risks. You either pay $60-80k per year for one person with a single specialty, or you risk the worst-case scenario where your company is at a stand still until an IT service can squeeze you in.

A better solution for you would be an outsourced IT department. Why not let an entire department handle your needs at a fraction of the cost? A great MSP manages your technology so that you can manage your business. With a team of technicians and sophisticated software tools to replicate a dedicated IT department for your business, MSPs can service many customers at once, which means you pay less for a team compared to the cost of hiring one full time employee. You’ll also gain a knowledgebase of technicians on your side, so the collective skill set far surpasses that of any individual. At Smooth-IT specifically, when you join our tribal circle, keeping your business running is our top priority.

Scenario 2: Your company has at least one IT person.

Excellent! You have a dedicated IT person to keep you on track. No doubt this person works their tail off to keep everyone happy. We want to give them a hand and not just applause. The one-person IT department has a lot of people to answer to and often some unfair expectations to meet. You expect this staff member to be an expert in every aspect of IT, which is impossible. Just like a good mechanic, they will have strengths in some areas and weaknesses in others.

Outsourcing the rest of your IT Department will fill in any knowledge gaps to keep your hard-working IT person at peak performance in their areas of mastery. Moreover, working with an MSP means your specialized IT expert can focus entirely on what you hired them to do rather than handling day-to-day updates and maintenance.

Scenario 3: Your company has an entire IT department. 

Perfect. You have a group of dedicated technicians hired to keep your company operating at peak performance. With an entire department, you have enough staff resources to cover your knowledge bases with specialists. So, you might wonder how outsourced-IT support can be of value in your case. Easy.

By handing over time-consuming tasks to a managed service provider, like system maintenance and project work, enables your team to operate at their highest level of performance in their specific areas of expertise. This saves you time and money. It also saves your team from burnout and frustration. At Smooth-IT, we can help bolster your already incredible IT team.

Moreover, some MSPs, like Smooth-IT, offer specialized services. Whether consulting or virtual CIO/strategic planning services, we can ensure your team is operating at its highest capacity and that you have all the tools your business needs to succeed and expand. At this level, you can’t afford not to have expert advice. We’re unbiased with no agenda other than to help you optimize your business.

Working with a managed service provider in any capacity can genuinely supercharge your business’s operational efficiencies, save you time and money, and ultimately help you grow your business. If you’re interested in learning more about our services, visit our website at smooth-it.com. At Smooth-IT, you’re not just a client or customer. You are our partner. When your business successfully reaches your goals, it means we’ve been successful in achieving ours. We’re not only on your team. We ARE your team.