Managed Services: Which IT support model comes out on top?

When you’re trying to focus on growing your business and make progress in a highly competitive world, the last thing you need is to be held back by your technology. Perhaps you hire an IT company to come in on a case-by-case basis whenever something goes wrong or needs updating. Many people do that and feel as though it sufficiently serves their purposes.

Let’s take a look at two friends: John and Jake. John met Jake at an industry convention and struck up a friendship. They’re in the same business and enjoy a friendly competition. However – Jake recently made the decision to switch his IT management to managed services with i-Tech – while John chose to remain with his current IT company. Let’s see how their business lives change as a result.

Better to Be Proactive or Reactive?

After Jake has met with i-Tech and worked with them to set up his new managed services, John thinks he has the advantage by taking what he feels is the less expensive option. Both men begin working as normal – until one day, John comes into work to find his network down. He quickly calls his IT provider and is placed in the queue to have a technician come out and take a look at the problem. All the while, John’s employees are stuck in the dreaded downtime. They twiddle their thumbs, read a book, and converse amongst one another until the technician has fixed the problem and has their network back up-and-running.

Over the last few months, John has noticed his IT provider keeps him waiting an awfully long time for assistance from the help desk. They haven’t offered him any strategies for moving forward, they have no contingency for him in the event he is hit by a cryptovirus – or worse yet – ransomware. And he’s had to allow for a usual amount of downtime with them “managing” his IT.

Based on industry surveys, Gartner has discovered the average cost of company downtime is $5,600 per minute, which extrapolates to well over $300K p/hour.

Jake’s company also had the same issue as John’s company. However, with i-Tech’s managed services, the issue was proactively detected by i-Tech’s technical support specialists the moment it arose and handled remotely. Jake’s issue was never allowed to evolve into a problem which could take down his network, and his staff continued working throughout the downtime of John’s company – as well as throughout every other downtime John’s company experienced thereafter, allowing his company to become far more productive.

Enjoying the Benefits of Vendor Management

Throughout his business day, John Simpkins often receives multiple messages from his staff regarding the software they use.

• “Mr. Simpkins? Our version of BangZoom 123 is no longer supported. What should I do?”
• “My copy of WriteNifty 3000 isn’t activating, Mr. Simpkins.”
• “It looks like our licenses for Video blast 10 has expired. Should I renew, Mr. Simpkins?”
• “What about this, Mr. Simpkins?”
• “Do you know how to upgrade, Mr. Simpkins?”
• “Mr. Simpkins?”
• “Mr. Simpkins??”
• “MR. SIMPKINS??!!”

By the end of the week, John is ready to climb into a hole and never think about another software issue or upgrade again.

Jake, on the other hand, has happily granted management of all his technical vendors to i-Tech – who monitor all of John’s software and hardware for him. They even manage his service with his Internet provider. Now whenever a licensing or other software issue springs up, i-Tech receives warning in advance and works with the vendor to solve the issue before it can affect Jake’s company. They also ensure Jake’s people always have the latest version of their programs and know how to use them.

Jake’s people are delighted with how they never have to deal with their vendors or software issues, while John is still looking for a hole to crawl into.

Enterprise-Level IT Support at SMB Prices

When Jake told John he was going with managed services by i-Tech, John thought he was crazy. “Expensive!” he exclaimed. “We run small companies. We can’t afford a service like that. Maybe in a few years.” But Jake was undeterred. He had read a new CompTIA study, revealing that among current users of managed services, 46% of firms have trimmed their annual IT expenditures by 25% or more as a result of their shift to managed services – including 13% that have slashed annual IT expenditures by 50% or more.

He encouraged John to get a price quote with him, but John had no interest. “I’ll just do what I’m doing – you give your idea a try, and we’ll just SEE who comes out on top in the end,” John chuckled in response.

A week later, Jake was in a meeting with i-Tech – discussing all the benefits of managed services, the aspects of Jake’s business they will manage, and the cost. Jake left the meeting with a handshake and a large smile on his face, as he was astounded by the affordability of his new managed services plan. Jake would now receive the same level of IT support that large-scale companies receive, but the cost fits into his monthly budget.

As a result, Jake saw definite and measurable advancements within his company, and the reasonable cost offered by i-Tech allowed him to continue to receive that same level of service indefinitely.

Guess Who Came Out Ahead in the End?

A year later, John was highly impressed at how Jake’s company had benefited from managed services. He readily admitted defeat and promptly fired his IT company in favor of i-Tech. Today, both Jake and John are enjoying the freedoms and assistance they receive from managed services and, in addition, have also arranged for i-Tech to manage their security and professional services, as well.

We will be happy to do the same for you. Please reach out to i-Tech support and let us know how we can help you.