What
is Managed Services?

Managed
IT services are IT infrastructure monitoring,
maintenance, repair, and reporting operations carried out by a service provider
on behalf of the business that owns the infrastructure.

In simple terms, it’s what happens when a
business outsources the management of its IT to another firm that exists to
take on such work, instead of leaving this task with in-house IT teams.

There’s an important point to note though.
Occasional repair work done by a technician you’ve hired for a one-off job
isn’t managed service, in the real sense that it’s understood. Managed
services, unlike occasional repair and maintenance, are carried out based on a Service
Level Agreement (SLA). And you typically pay for the service monthly.

When you have a working agreement with a Managed
Service Provider (MSP), they will take care of a range of IT issues that you
ask them to provide.

Whether you’re a small business or large corporation,
you should consider using managed IT services.

Here’s why.

Managed
Services or One-off Repairs?

As a business, you want your IT systems in
top shape every hour, all day, throughout the work year. Your productivity
depends on this, as does your bottom line (ultimately). Even if your workers
are skilled and primed to do their jobs, they will be unable to produce the best
quality output unless they have the tech tools in good condition.

For a long while, most companies in Nigeria
have relied on technicians to fix these issues when they arise. They contact
someone to sort out their problematic wiring, or set up a WLAN (Wireless Local
Area Network).

But this approach is becoming less
convenient. That’s because our businesses have grown so dependent on these
technologies that our operations shut down if we have to wait for technicians
to carry out hours-long fixes. When it takes too long to deal with IT problems,
we lose hours or even days of productivity.

This is where managed services come in.

With managed IT services, you won’t have to
hurry someone over to troubleshoot issues or burn precious hours while trying
to figure out tech problems. Your IT infrastructure will be taken care of by
experts, who ensure that issues are dealt with before they can threaten
business continuity.

Examples
of Managed IT Services

Here are some things that an MSP can do for
your business.

1.
Managed WLAN

You don’t have to wait until there’s a
problem with your business’s wireless connectivity before getting a technician
to have a look at it. Why not let a team of experts manage the setup on your
behalf so that they tackle any weaknesses that exist before it disrupts your
activities?

2.
Enterprise Mobility

Companies often need their staff to deal
with tasks while they are away from their offices. A managed services provider
could help them set up channels that let employees to securely access their
company’s digital platforms from wherever they are. MSPs also ensure that such
systems are always functioning optimally, and will fix any issues that may
arise with them.

3.
Managed Security

When an MSP provides managed security, they
take on the monitoring and management of a client organization’s cybersecurity.
They can help set up and maintain systems like virus blocking, Virtual Private
Networks (VPN), and firewalls.

4. Professional
Services

Managed Services Providers also plan,
design, implement and manage networks and general enterprise technology
systems. This includes network audits and forensics, voice and data network
visualization, installation and configuration, live network monitoring and
24-hour emergency maintenance, among others.

5.
Managed Cloud, Storage, and Backup

Instead of having their
cloud-infrastructure on-site, most businesses now prefer to let cloud service
firms provide and take care of those facilities on their behalf.

What
You Stand to Gain with Managed Services

1.
Frees Up Time and Resources

MSPs take a significant amount of load off
businesses. They no longer have to struggle with very technical repair and
monitoring tasks. This frees up time and resources that they can channel to the
core aspects of their operations.

2.
Increases Productivity

Given more time and resources, your team
will be able to achieve more. The improved IT services you get from your MSP
will also allow your staff to do better at their jobs—they don’t have to
struggle with outages that disrupt their work, for instance.

3.
Smaller Budget

Depending on what your IT needs are, you
may not even need an IT team if you’re using a managed service provider. The
MSP could completely take on that role. This takes out the cost of training and
remunerating an in-house IT team.

4.
Scalability

If your business grows, or if the demand
for your services increases, you may need to ramp up your IT resources to meet
up with the market’s requests. Managed services are designed to adjust quickly
to this. You can scale up or scale down the service you are getting with
relative ease. You don’t have to hire and train staff, change your technologies
and incur the costs that accompany these things.

5.
Support

If there’s anything about your IT that
you’re not sure about, you can call your MSP and ask them to make it clearer to
you. The more customer-centric service providers will respond promptly to your
requests and keep you updated on things as often as is possible.

Does
Your Organization Need Managed Services?

 Your
business or agency needs to consider managed IT services if it meets one or
more of these criteria:

•Your in-house IT team is overworked or
struggling to keep up with the many tasks on their plate

•The organization has a growing IT
infrastructure that requires constant monitoring

•IT maintenance costs are expanding rapidly
and eating into your budget

•You are dissatisfied with the current level
of support you’re getting for your IT infrastructure

A Managed
IT Services Provider You Can Trust

If you would like to find out more about
managed services, you can speak with the IT consultants at Layer3. They
could help you determine what kind of services your business needs, and how
they should be deployed.

For over 14 years, Layer3 has served clients
in both the private and public sectors of Nigeria, providing them with the
technologies that meet their peculiar needs. You could benefit from their
extensive expertise in cybersecurity, managed WLAN, mobile device management,
and network maintenance.

Get
started with managed services to help your business up the growth curve. Contact us now to
begin this journey.