As a small business owner, you know that technology plays a crucial role in your day-to-day operations. When technology works as it should, business is smooth and seamless. However, even minor hiccups in your business processes could put a halt to your productivity.
On top of the ever accelerating digital transformation, COVID has introduced a slew of new challenges for small businesses, making technology all the more important. That means you’ll need to evolve at a rapid pace in order to remain agile, protected, and competitive.
A problem that most small businesses face is their inability to keep up with technology trends. To combat this issue, many have turned to managed IT services for support for a variety of their business needs. From minor technical aspects to comprehensive disaster planning, including a managed service provider (MSP) in your budget could help you keep business operating uninterrupted.
Here are four convincing reasons why you should invest in IT services for your small business:
By working with an MSP, you will unlock a host of capabilities that your small team may otherwise lack. IT services provide expertise in several technical aspects and have a working knowledge of your business, so they can help troubleshoot and address issues as they arise. Their offerings typically include support in network failures, security breaches, data protection, hardware configuration, managed cloud solutions, and disaster recovery.
As new technologies continue to emerge, an MSP could also help you with early adoption and creating solutions to maintain a competitive edge. Some providers even offer consulting services, which encompass a thorough assessment of your IT infrastructure as well as feedback and advice on ways you can streamline your business processes. With access to this wealth of knowledge and resources, your team will be free to focus on other essential initiatives.
By outsourcing your IT functions to a third party, you are able to save money on equipment and IT staffing. Unlike other investments, which could take time to yield returns, your small business will also feel a more immediate impact. Hiring an MSP could reduce your total IT spending by as much as 40%, meaning you’ll have more funds to invest in other core business areas.
Small business owners may still be reluctant to invest in MSP or might not have the necessary funds to justify the cost. However, outsourcing this support may be extremely cost-effective given the ongoing support that it offers. As managed IT becomes increasingly necessary, small business owners may want to research their financing options. If traditional financing options like personal savings aren’t feasible at the moment, it might be beneficial to consider alternative forms of funding such as applying for a business loan or borrowing against your home equity to help offset the cost of outsourcing essential support.
Scalability is often at the forefront of SMB owners’ minds. Scaling involves ensuring an environment that has the capacity to grow, and managed IT can play a critical role in fostering such an environment. Outdated technology can only slow your business down, which is why it may be beneficial to work with a scalable service provider to help your business adapt and grow.
In addition, you’ll be able to add users and capabilities as your business continues to expand. That means your starting costs may not be as high as you’d expect, and your IT infrastructure will continue to grow with your business. While conservative spenders may choose to only outsource some of its IT functions at first, an MSP will help you identify the resources that are critical for your needs at every stage.
Small businesses are often targets of cyberattacks. However, approximately 83% of small business owners don’t have a contingency plan for dealing with security threats. Even a minor cyberattack could be detrimental to any SMB, which is why around the clock monitoring is essential for identifying issues and addressing them before they escalate.
Assuming your team relies on their computers and/or other technologies to complete their jobs, an MSP would also be able to offer support around-the-clock should anything go awry. If an employee experiences technical difficulties, an on-call service provider would be able to address the problem promptly to ensure productivity and mitigate downtime.
In the height of a pandemic, it’s an especially good time to reevaluate your IT strategy and take the necessary steps to protect and grow your business. Working with a reliable managed IT services provider allows you to devise a solution that works for both your budget and evolving business needs.