Don’t have a Managed Service Provider? Here are 7 hurdles you’ll face.
At this point, you should at least have an idea of what a Managed Service Provider is. In other words, if someone asks you to describe an MSP, you’re able to get somewhere within the right ballpark.
However, when it comes to describing the key benefits of Managed Services, things might start to get a little fuzzy for you … which is entirely acceptable. But then again, many of the same companies who refuse to partner with an MSP are in this very same bubble – they kind of understand what an MSP is but get a little fuzzy when you start talking benefits … which is entirely unacceptable.
How are you going to deny a business opportunity when you haven’t even tried to understand the benefits of it?
So, in the spirit of not making poor business decisions, we thought we’d lay it all out on the table for you. Here are 7 major consequences of not partnering with a Managed Service Provider.
Emergencies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
If you’re like most people, then you aren’t a fan of emergencies – especially if they have anything to do with work. In these situations, productivity stalls, customer service suffers, and employee frustrations escalate. It’s a mess.
When you don’t have a Managed Service Provider, IT issues will be emergencies 10 times out of 10. This is because you have no dedicated, on-call support – which means there’s no telling when or if your problem will ever be fixed.
The struggle is real.
So say you have this technology-initiated emergency before you, and everything is paused –– which means no one is working like they should be working and customers are suffering as a result. Without an MSP by your side, it’ll be a mad dash to find an IT company (with an emphasis on the “mad”).
At this point, you’ll be confronted with the near-impossible task of hunting down an IT company that can:
- Help you within a reasonable timeframe
- Not charge you a small fortune
- Get the job done correctly
The struggle is certainly real.
Bobbing for rotten apples.
If you’re not working with an MSP, then finding a technician in times of need will feel an awful lot like bobbing for rotten apples on a hot day.
When the times comes for you to start bobbing, you can only be certain of one thing. Whatever you pull out of that bucket won’t be what you were hoping for. You can count on that.
In other words, it’s never a good idea to go bobbing for technicians – especially in the midst of an IT emergency. The chances are high that, in a situation like this, you’ll end up with an unqualified technician who will only make your situation worse. Instead, it’s best to work with a technician (and a company) you know and trust.
Problem-solving, slug style.
How fast do you like your problems solved? Well, if you’re anything like a normal business professional, then you like those problems solved as fast as humanly possible. However, without an MSP, solving those IT problems of yours will move only slightly faster than a slug on a hot day.
On one side of the spectrum, you have MSPs. These bad boys rely on remote support to resolve issues quickly, and larger problems that require onsite support are handled within the given SLAs (X type of problem will take X amount of time to resolve).
On the other side of the spectrum, you have break-fix IT companies. These little guys will get to you when they get to you … and that’s all there is to that.
Inside out and upside down.
Technology is expensive. That much is obvious. But it’s not just expensive. It can also be downright confusing. To top it off, every business and every setup is a little different. This means that even if you do manage to get a qualified technician into your business, they might not know where to begin. At this point, one somewhat minor problem could end up costing you more money and time than it should.
In other words, you shouldn’t let just any person roll up their sleeves and dig into your network. Yes, you need someone who is qualified. But you also need someone who is familiar with the inner workings of your infrastructure. The majority of the time this will require an MSP.
If a wallet is empty, is it still a wallet?
The thing about IT emergencies and break-fix technology services is that … welp, they’re pretty darn expensive. And it’s not like you have one emergency a year, and then you’re good until the next time. No … if you’re like most companies, you have something go wrong, go down, or get all wonky on you at least once a month (and that’s a best-case scenario).
Oddly enough, one of the greatest benefits of managed services is its ability to be cost-efficient. Now you might be thinking, “How is it cost-efficient if I’m paying a monthly fee I wasn’t paying before?” And the answer to that is simple. An MSP keeps your technology in prime working condition so that you don’t have to bend over backward for obnoxious repair fees every month. On top of that, if something does go wrong with your technology, repairs are already included in that monthly fee.
Would you like a side of downtime with that glitch?
When you have a technology issue, what you also have is downtime. That’s just how it works.
A computer goes haywire. Downtime. A server crashes. Downtime. Your printers start spewing black ink everywhere. Downtime.
And while one broken computer or one malfunctioning printer may not take down an entire business, it does make people readjust their workflows. Things will take longer, and tasks, projects, and people will have to be resituated – all of which costs money, time, and energy.
With an MSP at your side, downtime isn’t as big a deal. Like mentioned previously, an MSP works to keep your hardware in prime working condition (with routine maintenance, automatic updates, and proactive monitoring). Because of this, you’ll see significantly fewer issues, resulting in less downtime.
However, when you do have an issue, they can be resolved quickly with remote support and on-call assistance, also resulting in far less downtime.
How can we help you?
At Cygnus Systems, we have decades of combined experience providing Managed Services to companies in Detroit and Southeast Michigan. If you want to learn more about Managed Service Providers or if you’re thinking about transitioning to a Managed Services platform, then give us a call today. We’d love to chat.
