What Can Managed Services do for you?

In the technology industry, managed services are a hot set of services, but what are they, and what can they do for you?

First, we need to get the definition of managed services. I did a quick Google search on the definition, and came up with 2 results. I am going to use the definition I found on Wikipedia, the following was copied from the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managed_services

Definition:
Managed services (as defined by Dr. Gerard Macioce) is the practice of transferring day-to-day related management responsibility as a strategic method for improved effective and efficient operations. The person or organization who owns or has direct oversight of the organization or system being managed is referred to as the offerer, client, or customer. The person or organization that accepts and provides the managed service is regarded as the service provider.Typically, the offerer remains accountable for the functionality and performance of managed service and does not relinquish the overall management responsibility of the organization or system.

That is an excellent definition, but in my opinion, it is difficult to read. Here is my take on it.

Managed Services is a service offered that helps you run your business more efficiently, by doing the types of work outside of your company’s specialty. I would consider lawn care and janitorial under a managed service, if that is something your company has not hired a full-time employee to fill those positions

So, what does this have to do with technology? Well, if you have a law firm, real estate company, printing business, dealership, manufacturer, etc, your specialty is most likely not computers. If you are a smaller company, then you probably do not have a full-time IT person. You have an individual or company come in to help you as needed. The individuals you use are like a managed service, but they are not, because they only come in when you call them.

Managed services have to do with the day-to-day business operations. Most small businesses cannot afford an IT department, so they opt to have a company be their IT department at a fraction of the cost. The service provider will monitor your network, computers, and servers. They will upgrade your equipment, before they go bad. And ensure your network is doing what it is supposed to do. Most companies who provide managed services will customize a package for you, bringing many of their services together in a package just right for the needs of your company.

There are several services that can be considered managed services. I will briefly mention a couple here, and write separate articles about them later.

Remote Monitoring and Maintenance: This is a service that allows a service provider to watch over your network. When there is a problem, a specialist is alerted and the problem is fixed, many times the problem can be fixed without even going on-site. This is a pro-active system to help keep the system running smoothly, and minimize any downtime during business hours.

Help Desk: This is a really nice new service. When your employees are having an issue with their computer, or a program, who do they call? Do they try to look for help? With a help desk package, they now can have a number to call and get support for most everything on their computer. They won’t have to search the internet for a solution, and spend hours trying to fix something simple. They call someone who can help walk them through fixing the problem. Even if they are just having problems with MS Word, MS Excel, accessing the internet. A help desk can be a real time saver for employees.

How does this help? These services help the small and medium sized businesses more than a large enterprise. Most large enterprises have their own IT departments, and usually evaluate a managed service on a case by case basis.

Since the budgets of small and medium sized businesses are always tight, they usually have a network of at least 3 to 5 people, they don’t have an IT person. When something goes bad on a computer, or the network goes down, they have to call somebody to come fix it now. They incur costs from non-productive employees, and from the company coming out on an emergency call. Most companies charge more money if they have to drop everything and come out now to fix something. And what about if no one can come fix it right now? Those costs can get expensive.

With a managed service provider, they are monitoring your network and equipment, and know something is going to go bad, and fix it proactively. Most of the time they can do it after hours, so employees can remain productive during business hours.

The service provider can also give monthly, quarterly, and annual reports on their computer system. And meet with the companies on a quarterly basis, showing them what should be repaired, and helping them plan for future growth. These meetings can be as often as the customer desires, and are agreed upon at the initial sign up of the services. That means that the meetings are built in to the service. It is a much more proactive system, and will save money in the long run keeping downtime to an absolute minimum.

In a nutshell, for the fraction of the cost of an IT department, a company can rent an IT department for a long term basis to take care of their network.