What is an MSP?

A Managed Services Provider (MSP) remotely manages a company’s IT infrastructure, network, and software on their behalf. Unlike a ‘traditional’ IT support company, an MSP has a more proactive, comprehensive approach, and takes ownership of your entire network remotely – not just your devices.

Some of the benefits of working with an MSP include:

• Maximised uptime
• Increased efficiency
• Support from a team of experts
• Comprehensive network overview
• Enhanced cybersecurity
• Cost savings
• Giving you time back to focus on your business

Maximised uptime

One of the key reasons why businesses work with an MSP is to maximise their uptime. Having a well-managed network can prevent unnecessary (and costly) outages, meaning your staff are able to work without disruption. An MSP’s ability to monitor your network 24/7 means that issues can be identified and resolved quickly, reducing the chances of your business going offline.

A traditional IT support company will have a ‘reactive’ approach; they will come to your premises as and when they’re needed, to fix issues that arise. An MSP, however, will support your entire IT infrastructure remotely.

MSPs will provide you with an SLA (service level agreement), a contract detailing their obligations and commitments to your business, including the percentage of uptime they guarantee you will achieve. Every hour of downtime can cost businesses a significant amount in lost revenue and wasted wages, so keeping it to a minimum can help to reduce unnecessary costs.

Increased efficiency

Partnering with an MSP can help to increase efficiency in your business. Throughout the past few years, many businesses have been forced into adopting cloud solutions for a myriad of different functions/ departments, particularly as the need for home working became apparent.

We have found that this has frequently resulted in businesses paying for a large number of different software/ applications, which are inefficient, expensive, and difficult to manage from a cybersecurity perspective.

MSPs are able to assess the legacy systems and processes you have in place, and recommend new solutions to consolidate and simplify your workflow. This helps prevent businesses from overpaying for software they don’t need, and helps them to use beneficial applications to their full potential.

Using an external team also allows you to scale up or down the support you need as necessary, too – so you’re only paying for what you need.

Support from a team of experts

One of the main benefits of partnering with an MSP is the specialist expertise their team can bring to your organisation.

MSPs work with businesses operating across a wide range of industries. This cross-sector knowledge enables them to develop a deep understanding of the wider market, as well as what works best for different companies in specific industries. Knowledge they have gained from working with businesses in the same industry as yours can be applied to your network and systems – such as the best software to use, and the best technology to implement to streamline your business practices. This helps to save your business from going through ‘trial and error’ to work out the best software and applications to have in place.

Because they’re experts, the MSP team are used to working with businesses, and will speak to you in a language you understand, rather than bombarding you with tech jargon.

MSPs like Beaming take the time to understand your business – we don’t do project work, instead we focus on providing ongoing support for your overall strategy.

Comprehensive network overview

MSPs are able to have a far greater degree of control over your entire network, as opposed to basic IT support. Rather than simply managing devices, an MSP will manage platforms and software for your business too. MSPs focus on the ‘bigger picture’ of your business, and will be able to map out future plans for growth and updates across your organisation. This approach is far more holistic than the capabilities of most internal IT departments, or traditional IT support companies.

Enhanced cybersecurity

Another benefit of working with an MSP is the proactivity in regards to monitoring and maintenance. MSPs will monitor your network at all times, and have alerts set up to warn of any vulnerabilities. The team are then able to deploy cybersecurity patches and update your network to make sure it remains secure.

As laws surrounding data protection become more comprehensive, and companies’ handling of data becomes more exposed to scrutiny, it’s crucial that businesses are 100% confident in the security of their systems. Partnering with an MSP can enhance your business’s efforts to remain compliant with legislation, and external regulatory bodies.

Cost savings

One of the biggest costs for any business is the staff on their payroll. Partnering with an MSP can alleviate the costs associated with having a skilled internal IT team including hiring, training, and retention. Relying on an internal IT team also leaves you vulnerable to individuals being unavailable to work through sickness, annual leave, or any other reason – putting your network at risk.

Another benefit of partnering with an MSP is the predictability of costs. MSPs will charge a set monthly fee for the monitoring and management of your network – which is far easier to budget for in comparison to surprise charges when businesses are forced to upgrade failing systems. Working with a number of clients allows MSPs to benefit from economies of scale, and in turn, pass these savings on to clients.

Giving you time back to focus on your business

Taking away the stress of managing your network gives business owners back the time to focus on their business. From day-to-day technical issues, to thinking of what the business’s network will need to look like in 5 years’ time – delegating these concerns to an MSP allows your attention to return to the aspects of your business that you’re best at.