Managed IT Services for the Mobile Workforce
These days, having quality IT support for a small- or mid-sized business is much easier said than done. Typically, small- or mid-sized businesses mean small IT capabilities, and often, a single “jack of all trades” IT guy, who quite literally, does it all. Often, the IT guy must dash from crisis to crisis to fix, update, patch and manage help calls, network issues, printers, servers, and email — all on a daily basis. Then, in his spare time (if he ever has any), Mr. IT has to keep current with the newest and safest gadgets, gizmos and software that will keep your company moving forward.
If that sounds like your situation, you already know that it’s a less than perfect solution to an increasingly critical need. That’s why many successful small- and mid-sized organizations rely on a managed services approach to IT—whether as a turn-key solution or a supplement to their internal resources. But it is important to get the right partner for managed IT services to keep your organization’s agility high in today’s “always on” culture.
Being Picky-Choosey. And smart.
For almost every organization, technology is critical to fulfilling their business objectives and day to day processes. With technology, comes the need for support, and with that need, comes the huge growth in the use of Managed IT Services. In fact, according to CompTIA, more than two-thirds of businesses said they have used external IT firm services within the past year. Another reason: managers now look at managed IT services as a strategic business asset, and not as an instrumentally employed break/fix cost.
By partnering for Managed IT Services, organizations lower their risk, reduce their costs and improve efficiency — not just in the IT space; rather, across the board.
But not all Managed IT Services partners are the same. Experience is important, and a service line offering that also includes document/content management and imaging is a real plus. It’s good advice to seek out a Managed IT Services provider that offers a la carte options, which allows you to choose the help you get — such as email hosting, CRM applications, storage, network monitoring, or even backup and recovery efforts. At the same time, insist on a provider who also has the depth and breadth of capability and experience — including document/content management and imaging — that will position you for the future.
And it doesn’t have to be an “all or nothing” proposition. Having a Managed IT Service provider handle the monitoring of servers, desktop activity or the network as a whole will really be a breath of fresh air to your IT “department.” Plus, these services are usually run 24/7, not just during business hours, so there is additional peace of mind with a Managed IT Services provider who is also 24/7/365. Further, hosting is another great benefit that can be had through Managed IT Services. For example, even just having email managed in the cloud through a Managed IT Services provider frees up more time for in-house IT services and provides a more malleable service to your employees.
Should you handle all your own devices?
Mobility at work is a hot topic. Day-to-day functions are increasingly being taken to the home, local coffee shop, or in the field rather than being accomplished exclusively in the office.
Of course, mobility comes with risks and issues, as well as rewards. One common strategy that organizations are employing to meet the challenges and opportunities of “always-on” are bring-your-own-device policies. While these policies are extremely necessary and advantageous, they do make it a bit more complicated for IT to handle the myriad issues arising from having different devices, platforms, and apps/services that each individual employee may use. Additionally, providing security for each individual and device, and making sure each device is being safely used with sensitive information on it becomes a bit more challenging, as well.
Empowering employees with mobile devices provides another set of challenges, too, like setting up, managing, and activating networks, emails, or applications. Lost devices, easy to hack passwords, and downloading and browsing non work related items can all also easily break down the wall of security your organization tries so hard to protect Managing this mobile, always-on workforce and fleet of devices can also be very time consuming for IT. In fact, it could easily be a job in itself. Another excellent application of Managed IT Services: to properly handle mobile devices and device security through effective mobile device management or MDM.
Similarly, another fleet that needs a strategy as well as servicing and attention are your organization’s printers, copiers, MFP’s and scanners. A full-service Managed IT Services provider can monitor machines, diagnose issues, and push notifications about the device. The printers can even be configured remotely with built-in security. Not only are the printers managed, but accurate data can be kept about usage and incident history of the machines from the Managed IT Services team.
So, what to do?
The strategic role of technology resources in an organization is nothing new, but the way we use them is. Certainly, technology is the path to the future; but it does not have to be complicated, overbearing or even dangerous to your organization, so long as it’s managed professionally and with attention. Partnering for Managed IT Services allows your organization to deploy its resources better while getting the support, security and reliability so important to your organization.
And that’s where we can help. Learn more at www.stratixsystems.com or call us toll-free 1-800-444-2943