Your growing business needs tech support. Naturally, you turn to Google and enter, “IT help” or “tech support in ‘my city’”. These are great search terms, and you’re on the right track to finding the assistance you need. However, as you have researched your options you may have come across the term “managed services”. What does this mean? How do managed services providers differ from regular IT support companies?
Managed services providers work on your information technology systems just like the best IT support companies, but managed services providers operate on a fundamentally different philosophy.
What is their philosophy? Consider this: traditional IT support operates on a “break then fix” pattern. Managed services are essentially the inverse of “break then fix” tech support. AGJ is among a growing number of tech support companies who proactively maintain your systems. As managed services providers, we exist to ensure that your IT systems are taken care of around the clock. This is a far cry from simply responding to problems as they arise.
Here’s what managed services provide:
- 24/7 monitoring – Our monitoring technology allows us to know about problems before they ever affect you.
- Proactive maintenance – We take great care to keep all of your systems fully operational.
- Remote and overnight services – We’re here to help whether it’s 12am or 12pm.
- All-inclusive IT – Printer setup, system updates, hardware upgrades, and more.
- Flat fees – Don’t be caught by surprise when you get your bill.
When contrasted with basic “call and response” or “break then fix” IT support, which may only arrive when disaster strikes, managed services providers bring an entirely new level of predictability to your business and your budget. In some cases, managed services providers supply you with a Chief Information (Technology) Officer who is actually able to assist with your annual budgets and advise on technology decisions.
Beware. All managed service providers aren’t the same. While we believe that managed services should include support for your entire technology infrastructure, some local companies, as well as “big box” national chains, offer very limited support with foreign help desks (and still call it “managed services”).
Make sure all of your systems are supported and maintained by downloading our ‘16 critical questions’ guide.
Ultimately, managed services ensure that you can earn a great ROI from your technology, while simultaneously reclaiming precious time that would otherwise be lost to IT interruptions. Most importantly, you will spend more time on your business, not in it.
We invite you to learn more about how we’re changing information technology for small and medium sized businesses in Southern Mississippi and along the Gulf Coast.
