Tackling 3 Remote IT Support Service Concerns

Posted on July 26th 2019

Having a third-party manage your business’ IT environment gives you access to industry-leading expertise and allows you to focus on major projects that will drive growth, rather than the day-to-day, micro-level management that you currently have to battle. We understand that you might have doubts, specifically when it comes to remote IT support.

In this post, we’ll not only address some of the concerns you might have with your business switching to remote IT support services but also outline just how beneficial they can be.

How Secure is My Data?

This is a perfectly understandable concern because if a security breach occurs as a result of an external partnership, then it’s you who’ll have to answer difficult questions from above.

To avoid any possibility that your data is unsecure, work with an MSP who will have the protocols in place to ensure your data is handled and stored securely.

An easy way of knowing which MSPs are serious about data security is if they’ve been awarded any accreditations. The ITIL framework and ISO:9001 governance are both good indicators that an MSP is committed and dedicated to following robust data security processes and procedures.

Their main aim should be to task their expert engineers with assisting you in resolving any issues quickly and effectively, before they can escalate and begin to cause serious problems.

They should be able to provide complete risk management and a full audit of your existing network with their remote management tool. Before agreeing to a partnership with any particular MSP, ask them if they have full visibility of who has been signed in and when, what they have accessed and for how long.

Having this level of insight into your procedures means that they can provide full accountability as to what has taken place on your network. You’ll always know exactly who is responsible for what, reducing possible breakdowns in communication.

Will My Job Be at Risk If I Outsource IT Support?

There’s a common misconception that outsourcing will lead to your current infrastructure needing a full refresh and possible job losses. You may be worried that an external party will identify serious areas of weakness that will reflect badly on you. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

An MSP’s aim is to collaborate and coordinate with the existing setup that’s in place at your organisation. It’s not about ripping everything up and starting again or replacing a system that you’ve relied on for years.

A reputable and reliable MSP will work with their partners to find a solution that both parties are pleased with.

Rather than looking to replace the team or manager that’s in place, an MSP should empower them, providing the tools and resources to do their work more effectively. It frees up time, removing many of the stressful daily tasks that need to be dealt with and allows you to focus on important projects you’ve previously not had the time to work on.

This will boost productivity across the whole department which, in turn, can enable the team to power the business forward.

Is It Within Your Business’ Budget?

Outsourcing to an MSP is an investment for your business that you’ll need to find the budget for. We’d argue that instead of considering whether or not you can afford to outsource your IT to a third-party, instead think about can you afford not to?

Rather than thinking about the black and white costs of an MSP, you need to consider the wider impact of not working with one. For example, if your team and the business as a whole aren’t operating efficiently because of outdated technologies or consistent system downtime, then the business is losing money.

Inefficiency and unproductive staff are terrible for business, leading to unhappy clients and overall stagnation or even decline.

Working with an MSP removes these problems and ensures staff have the tools in place to be as effective as possible, helping to push the business forward and boost revenue.

The MSP will take over the management of time-consuming tasks so you don’t have to worry about them, giving you the freedom to focus on areas of the business that can be the most profitable. You can step out of the IT trenches and operate on a higher level.

It’s a balance you’ll need to think about – the cost of an MSP versus the future income that having one can generate because you’re able to complete projects, rather than neglect them. These projects can be assisted by the MSP who are offering access to an unrivalled pool of expertise, allowing you to deliver complex projects smoothly and methodically.

Ultimately, the income an MSP will allow your business to bring in significantly outweighs the initial investment in the MSP itself.

Considering an MSP for Remote IT Support Services?

It’s inefficient and frustrating to have to deal with the same consistent issues and tasks each day. Outsourcing gives you the freedom to focus on what’s important, safe in the knowledge that experts are managing everything remotely. They can also respond to out of hours issues, preventing you from having to travel to the office and restart the server at 3am.

Choosing an MSP is a decision that requires significant research to make sure you pick a partner that’s going to encourage business growth. As long as you’ve done your research you can take advantage of other benefits such as automatic software and patch updates… preventing issues before they have the chance to occur.

We pride our selves in our level of service and our transparency, so please contact us and we’ll happily answer any questions you may have.