Managed IT Service Providers See Success with Fixed-Cost, All-Inclusive Approach

Fixed-cost monthly billing, access to experts and agility top list of benefits

The rise of the contingent workforce has made day-to-day workforce management increasingly complex for HR and procurement departments. Hybrid, remote and on-site workers all have very different needs when it comes to IT services and workforce tools, expanding the knowledge and skills necessary to properly service an entire organization.  Working with a Managed Service Provider (MSP) has often been the most successful solution, primarily through having access to an entire team of technicians, versus one in-house person.

As businesses across the globe continue to experience uncertainty through increasing skills gaps, market pressure, or technological disruption, driving consistent business growth has never been so challenging. One business trend that looks set to stay is the rise of a dynamic, flexible contingent workforce.

Often referred to as a Managed Service Provider, these services continue to be very appealing through fixed-price billing and all-inclusive offerings.  If you look at the current makeup of enterprise employees, you can begin to see why this has been met with such acceptance.

The Current State of Enterprise Workforces

In Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends report, only 42% of 11,000 respondents reported that their business was primarily made up by permanent employees. Meanwhile, 50% were using a significant number of contracted workers, 23% were using a significant number of freelancers, and 13% of businesses using a significant amount of gig workers.

This new, flexible workforce is, of course, a double-edged sword – especially for HR leaders. While greater flexibility allows businesses to adapt to changing needs, it also vastly increases the complexity of managing an unstable, shifting workforce.  HR experts are employing several tactics. Some are utilizing existing in-house technology services, some are seeking to increase collaboration between HR and procurement, but many are resigned to dealing with the increasing pressure head-on.

Adjacent to this, we are also seeing a significant increase in the utilization of Managed Service Programs. Market analysis by Statista indicates that the global managed services market is expected to grow to US$296 billion by 2023 – a 70% increase from 2018.

Benefits of Managed Service Providers (MSPs)

Businesses use technology to compete in their industry and maximize efficiency, so they rely on networks and IT more than ever, and the costs required to maintain an in-house team are on the rise. For many small businesses, this often means choosing between sacrificing the quantity or quality of network maintenance efforts, being pressed to conserve limited resources.

Managed services are a way to outsource maintenance and repairs to experts. A top-notch managed services provider (MSP) performs multiple functions for your company, such as Network Administration, Data Backup, Network Security, Communications, and IT Support.

What are the drivers behind the expected growth, and what are the fundamental business advantages of working with a Managed Service Provider?

Fixed-Billing Brings Cost Savings and Easier Budgeting

Most small and medium businesses are finding it harder and harder to employ competent IT personnel to run their IT operations.  Many are turning to outsourcing these services to cut down those costs and provides predictable monthly costs to cover all services.

Access to a Team of Experts

With managed services from an upstanding company, even small organizations can access highly qualified personnel without doing the hard work of recruiting and satisfying them all.  MSPs typically have a wide range of experiences in the field of IT, which often result in getting more comprehensive solutions.

Proactive Support and Quick Response time

The service providers are specialized and dedicated 100% to the task of your IT systems.  Therefore, they can offer a quick and timely response in case of a performance drop in your system or failure.

Vast Experience and Resources

Codes are used to configure Cloud infrastructure. In-house developers can take months to develop the codes from scratch to configure all the applications of an organization. However, MSPs have libraries of such codes ready.  Only a little tweaking is done to fit the client’s individual requirements. This means MSPs can deploy solutions much quicker saving a lot of time and money for a business.

Freedom to Focus on your Business, not your IT

Managed service providers take stress off business owners because IT infrastructure issues are handled by experts, they can focus on the business core competencies and strategies, leaving technology needs in expert hands.

Not All MSPs are Created Equally: Understanding the Three Different Tiers of MSP and IT Support (Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3)

• Tier I or Level 1 – Tier I or Level 1, is the first support level accountable for basic issues. It is also known as first-line support, level 1 support, support line 1 and others to denote basic support function. The job of a Tier 1 support is to gather the customer’s data and to determine the issue. This is done by examining the symptoms and finding out the fundamental problem.
• Tier II or Level 2 – Tier II or Level 2, is in-detail technical support level. It costs more as the technicians are experienced and well-informed on a particular product. It is also known as administrative level support, level 2 support, and many other titles. These titles signify advanced methodological troubleshooting and investigation methods. Technicians in this level are accountable for assisting Tier 1 personnel to resolve any technical problem. They examine raised issues by confirming the rationality of the problem. They also look for known solutions related to these complex issues. However, it is vital to a support executive to understand the accomplished tasks by the Tier 1 technician before beginning the troubleshooting progression. The Tier 2 technician needs to know how long the Tier 1 technician has been occupied with the problem of a customer. This is a main component in fulfilling both the business and customer needs. This permits the specialist to rank the troubleshooting tasks and properly manage the allocated time.
• Tier III or LeveI 3 – Tier III or Level 3, for us, always begins with our extensive background in Professional Services which is a very broad category covering the provision of specialized technology-related services to companies, allowing customers to focus on their own pressing, core business concerns.

  Tier III is the uppermost level of support in a technical support model accountable for resolving the most difficult problems. It is also known as back-end support, level 3 support, high-end support, and many other titles. The title denotes expert level support for troubleshooting. These technicians are specialists in their areas and are accountable for assisting both Tier 1 and Tier 2 personnel. They are also responsible for research and development of resolutions to unknown issues. Tier 3 specialists have the same duty as Tier II specialists in understanding the work order. They also assess the period already consumed with the customer to prioritize the work. They ensure that time is utilized sufficiently.

What Hiring a Tier 3 MSP Brings that Traditional Tier 1 and Tier 2 Approaches by MSPs Do NOT

Not every MSP offers or can handle Tier 3 level work.  In fact, it’s quite rare that an MSP can employee all the talent to handle any scenario that comes up.  We know this because we commonly work with Tier 1 and Tier 2 MSPs and IT groups to handle projects outside their expertise.  Imagine the benefits of having your MSP also be able to do most anything you need.

A fully staffed Tier III organization will have a remote help desk, service team and ticket system are all here to manage your IT systems with perpetual monitoring, asset management, scheduled security scans, automated patch deployment, website and database care, server health assessments, and much, much more.  If it’s important to you, then it’s important to us.  Our trained Subject Matter Experts are all Tier 3 proficient, with years, if not decades of experience in all platforms and aspects of technology.  Through our automated alert systems, we know of issues within seconds of happening.   This allows us to provide immediate attention to any situation, as our distributed workforce currently spans across multiple time-zones and countries, leaving us fully staffed at any time of day.

With decades of technological experience and a passion for world-class service, In The Cloud Tech is your source for the best managed service provider for IT solutions.  Our subject matter experts use the latest, most applicable technology to monitor your servers, routers, firewalls, workstations and much more. Contact us today to learn how our managed services take the headache out of IT, allow you to focus on your business and finally, to get the greatest ROI out of your network, employees, and overall infrastructure.