Managed IT Services

Managed IT Services is when a company outsources IT functions to a third party provider, sometimes referred to as a Managed Service Provider, or MSP.  A Managed Service Provider provides IT Support for a monthly set fee.  Services that can be provided are end point break/fix situations, software installations/setups and upgrades, network troubleshooting, and VoIP.  Having an MSP gives you access to an IT department, without having one in-house.

 

Technology Challenges of Growing Businesses

Starting and growing a business comes with many different challenges.  When it comes to utilizing technology and innovation to grow your business there are many things to consider.  Keeping up to date with technology can get pretty pricey if not planned out.  Below we will look at a couple of items to consider when selecting IT Business Solutions for your company.

 

First, let us look at the different options available for growing businesses. There are office applications, there are supply chain applications, accounting applications, time and management systems.  Deciding which to purchase and implement first depends on the area of your business that you want to focus on.  CNG IT has many options to help get started.

 

Once you have selected the business applications you want to get your business started with, how do you begin?  Are there discounts available?  How much is the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), meaning is there a subscription that comes with purchasing?  Is the application you want available in the cloud, or does it have to be installed on every computer?  Does the application allow for collaboration? What are the prerequisites for the application?  What about training and upgrades?  Having a Managed IT Service provider on your side, removes you from knowing and understanding the answers to all of those questions.  At CNG IT, we help navigate all of those questions and provide easy to follow answers and suggestions.

 

Additionally, you will want to consider the scalability of this purchase.  Are you only purchasing a couple of licenses?  Will you need to add licenses when you start adding personnel? Will you have to pay for feature updates, or is this included in the original purchase price?  Is there ongoing training for your new users?  What does the support package look like?  Does the software vendor provide on-going support that is included with the package, or do you have to pay subscription charges?

 

Understanding the wide variety of options that fit your budget needs comes with experience.  Let CNG IT help navigate your options to help select the best fit for your company!

 

Why Businesses Need IT Support in Today’s Ecosystem

There are so many people that admit to being technology challenged.  Not everyone is expected to know or understand application installation, printer management, or even networking and VoIP.  But these are all technologies that have become necessary with a business.  Online meetings, collaboration, online file management, office applications are some of the most common ways people utilize technology in business.  What happens when things do not work correctly?  Who do you call?  Who can help? Now, more than ever, it is becoming increasingly important to have access to some kind of IT Support.  Smaller businesses that try to minimize costs by not purchasing or renewing the ongoing support of technology quickly find themselves at a loss when things go awry.

 

Having a relationship with an IT Support team (MSP) when needed can help with some of the following areas.

 

Improved productivity- this would include minimizing downtime.  In the event of a printer issue, that is beyond someone’s scope of understanding, having IT Support could be a phone call away.  The IT person would be able to quickly diagnose and start a remediation plan within 30 minutes.  However, without that expert assistance, you could be sitting on hold with the manufacturer of the printer, hoping that the person on the other end of the call can help, or hoping that service hasn’t lapsed.

 

Provide security – An IT Support team will help you keep your devices and end-points secure.  They will offer suggestions on best practices at keeping data files secure, and even offer assistance with Disaster Recovery.  This is an area that your normal business users find intrusive and therefore do not give a whole lot of attention to.

 

Innovation- When it comes to understanding business practices and the technology that is needed to support a growing company, IT professionals can offer suggestions on the tools and applications that could help grow your business.  This is an area that is often overlooked, how do you know what you need, if you don’t know that it exists?

 

Provide immediate hardware support/Keep devices running- Having IT Support available to troubleshoot issues as they arise, keeps your business moving forward.  Regular maintenance, upgrades and patches are usually included as part of the offered services.

 

Understanding of network/internet/voice connectivity- when you have an IT professional looking at and diagnosing network issues, you are able to quickly get your business back online.  This gives you someone that can contact the service provider and work with their engineers to bring you back online.  This allows for a quicker resolution and less downtime.

 

What Problems can you Solve with a Dedicated IT Team?

Reduce costs- by outsourcing your IT needs to a Managed IT Service provider, you minimize your company overhead.  You avoid paying the high cost of labor to have in-house service.  Additionally, you avoid the training and employee costs as these are part of the experience you get from a MSP.

 

Maintenance of IT Administration and systems- let’s face it, unless you are an IT professional, the thought of maintaining your systems, with upgrades and patches are never considered.  With Managed IT Services, this becomes part of the package, and you do not have to think about getting it done.  Additionally, maintaining user accounts, mail boxes, telephone extensions, group roles, file access and file repository are now all taken care of by your provider.

 

Access to expertise when needed- Managed IT service providers typically staff a variety of IT professionals that will help any business with all IT related tasks.  Whether it is help with networking services and installation, or User Administration, or hardware break/fix, your IT provider can assist you.  This is what they do.  Additionally, you get access to people that are certified and up to date with technology, so you will always have top notch expertise at your fingertips.

 

How We Tackle These Challenges

At CNG IT, we tackle the IT challenges of small to medium businesses by offering an affordable way to access IT services.  We offer professional advice from our staff of highly qualified engineers.  In addition, we also offer assistance with cloud computing, VoIP services and collaboration.  We partner with SaaS providers in order to help you keep your business online, and up to date.  This helps drive your overall IT costs down and keep your focus on your business.