What is Managed IT Service? A Comprehensive Guide

The IT world can be a fairly complex place for any company or business. Some would call it a minefield between the technology, the day-to-day operations, and the numerous problems you can stumble across.

Of course, the majority of us use some form of tech in our lives. In most instances, that can be narrowed down to a phone, a tablet, or a computer. Beyond that, though, so many things we do in a working environment can revolve around what’s behind a screen.

As we’ve progressed through life, we’ve adopted more and more technology as our careers have progressed - but there’s something to be said for taking that next step.

The aim of the game here is simple: teach you everything you need to know when it comes to managed IT services. It may not seem that exhilarating on the face of it, but you’ll come to realize just how important it can be.

What Does Managed IT Service Mean?

At its core, managed IT services concern the act of outsourcing your IT needs to a third-party service. Instead of running everything manually and through your own team, you can take the stress off of your own shoulders. It leans on the idea that a business model doesn’t necessarily have to be 100% in-house and can instead have a broader scope with a greater depth of resources.

Off the back of this idea, many within the IT field are edging toward something that’s more personal and built with greater sophistication. A customer can lay out the specifics of what they hope to achieve with IT, and an IT management service can offer a fixed monthly fee agreement to help them build, maintain, and secure the IT systems needed to help meet their goals.

The need and even the desire for such services has increased over the course of the last few decades, and understandably so. In decades past, it was advantageous to simply purchase and use computers. Still, with the advent of cloud storage and cloud applications, the rise of cybercrime, and ever-increasing demands on working capital, businesses are now looking to professionals to manage and support their complex IT systems.

Why? Because for those within the IT field, this is the primary focus. The goal is to ensure everything runs smoothly and securely from beginning to end on every single working day.

Global spending, when it comes to fields such as information security and risk management tech, is expected to grow 12.4% to a total figure of $150.4 billion, as per a recent report from Gartner.

In terms of the structure of such a model, there’s actually more to this than may initially meet the eye.

What’s Included in IT Managed Services?

The great thing about IT-managed services is that the process covers a whole lot of ground. As opposed to simply finding a vendor who sells and installs IT equipment, it marks a comprehensive step forward and a real leveling up.

As we’ve alluded to, there can be some personable touches added to this kind of experience. The customer experience will be in the hands of the support services team most frequently, and that experience’s success is driven by a partnership where you are able to build out the perfect strategic game plan with your managed IT service provider. Modern managed IT services provide security, maintenance, cloud computing support and services, as well as helpdesk support and professional consultative resources.

From a security standpoint, it’s also important to arrange data backup and recovery. The world is a very different place now than it was 20 years ago, and the ever-present danger of hacking is something that these experts specialize in dealing with. Within that line of thinking, it’s also worth touching on authentication methods.

Support, strategic guidance, monitoring — it’ll all be there at the click of a button - or only a phone call away, depending on your preference.

How Can Managed IT Services Help Your Business?

For a lot of businesses, there can be a certain kind of headache that comes along with the handling of IT. That may be because it’s not the first port of call or because it’s generally quite low down on the priority list.

In the simplest of senses, this is all about scaling up. Year after year, the aim is to focus on building a ladder that creates the kind of growth you desire. It may not happen overnight, but it’s crucial to think about efficiency and sustainability as opposed to rushing the process.  

Everything in our world goes through a screen these days, whether it be sales orders, purchase orders, quotes, marketing materials, training materials, and more. When you look behind the curtain, you’ll see it all flows over your business network and systems that must be carefully built and maintained. With assistance from a third-party managed IT service, you can choose to focus your energy on what’ll really produce results for your business.

Plus, it saves many entrepreneurs and leaders from the task of managing a technical staff for whom they can provide little training or oversight. It’s always great to have someone technical on your team, but more often than not, you can get a greater ROI on producers than if you hire someone exclusively for IT purposes.

There’s also flexibility. When you have a dedicated, outsourced squad of individuals who aim to cater to your needs, availability isn’t going to be an issue. As a client, you’ll always have access to your team if you have any questions, worries, or concerns about what may be happening.

Moreover, with network downtime costing over $5,000 per minute for some companies, it’s always reassuring to have the IT Avengers on hand to save the day - especially with cyber attacks being an ever-present threat in today’s society.

They often say that it’s a case of if, and not when, some form of attack will come up on your shores. If that isn’t a scary enough incentive to do something about it, we don’t know what is.

That isn’t to say there’s a guarantee of disaster, but knowing you’ve got someone there on a 24/7 basis is as assuring as it can get. It goes beyond simply wanting to find success, because in its place comes a close partnership and the feeling that everyone involved in the operation has your back.

The Main Benefits of Managed IT Services

It doesn’t matter if you’re in Dallas, Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York, because round-the-clock support does what it says on the tin. This kind of setup would support multiple timezones, offer proactive monitoring and maintenance, and would give you resources you can rely on in a pinch.

There’s an ongoing evolution within every sector, sport, and role right now across the United States. It’s all about adapting to your surroundings and being the first to the punch, which is where IT-managed services come in so clutch.

Information tech is priceless, and that will continue to be the case long into the future. A full IT team that resides in your own office will require salaries, holiday time, extra benefits, and even more office space. However, if you’re willing to invest in an IT partnership and entrust your IT systems and network to a third party, you’ll have a deep bench of IT resources, and you won’t have to train them, worry about their professional advancement, or cover the costs of their benefits and PTO!

It’s more than just a business relationship. It’s about putting real care into the relationship - and that’s where we come into the picture like a knight in shining armor.

Say Hello to Velo IT Group

We may be based in Dallas, but the Velo IT Group is ready to help any company in the US which is ready to start improving how they manage information technology.

For the last 17 years, our team has been working hard to provide assistance wherever possible in the realm of IT systems, networks, and cybersecurity. We use our extensive best practice checklist and work to achieve alignment with those best practices on a continual basis - as things change, the organization goes, new technologies are adopted, and old ones are phased out.

Our philosophy revolves around four central pillars: support, security, strength (through best practice alignment), and strategy. We ensure your IT environment assets and configurations are well documented, our team is quick to respond, and your infrastructure is secure and reliable.

We’re also here to lend a helping hand with any kind of upgrade, as well. We’ve developed a relationship with all the major IT equipment distributors, have the certifications and credentials necessary to get you the equipment you need at competitive prices, and what’s more, we have skilled and experienced team members ready to configure, install, and upgrade your IT systems and network with our turnkey project services team.

If you need to make a change or perhaps even find a new beginning, then Velo IT Group can aid you in finding the answers. We are an MSP that is committed to the success of our clients and built to serve.

Feel free to get in touch with us, and we’ll see how we can help your business thrive.