Using an MSP To Help Manage Your Business
What Is a Managed Service Provider?
Managed service providers or MSPs manage customers IT infrastructure and end-user systems. Managed service providers perform daily management services for their customers. These services include network and infrastructure management, security, and monitoring. They're categorized by both the customer's business size and the amount of responsibility. There are pure-play MSPSs, staffing legacy MSPs, and high-level MSPs. They're also categorized by the types of services offered.
This process often includes an SLA. A service-level agreement or an SLA is a contract agreement between the MSP and your business. This will lay out performance expectations and services for both parties. It will also include pricing details. Microsoft has launched the Azure Expert MSP program to highlight and promote partners. This is a new global initiative that helps you find top partners for your business to work with. Microsoft expresses that MSPs will help their customers transition through technological shifts. These partners help customers "by guiding them in all aspects of their cloud journey. From consulting to migrations, to operations management, cloud MSPs show customers all the benefits that come with cloud adoption."
How Can Managed Service Providers Help You?
Managed service providers are there to meet your business objectives. They can fill gaps and roles in your IT system or staff. Your MSP provider can deliver services including network, application, infrastructure, and security. They provide ongoing support and active administration. MSPs work from either your business, their MSP's data center, or in a third-party data center. Hiring an MSP allows you to focus completely on business improvement. You are able to do this without the worry of service interruptions or long system downtimes. Taking the worry off of you and allowing you to focus will help improve your business operations. MSP's can benefit smaller businesses by being an outlet of IT expertise for them. Smaller businesses have more limited in-house IT capabilities, making it a great option.
Potential tasks managed service providers handle can include:
- The management of your IT infrastructure
- Providing and offering technical support to staff
- Adding cybersecurity software to your IT
- Managing your user access accounts
- Handling your contract management
- Offering compliance and risk management
- Providing payroll services
What Are the Benefits of Using an MSP?
- Navigating Microsoft Azure- MSPs guide you through planning and migration of Microsoft Azure. They perform cloud-readiness tests and learn your business applications and technology environment. They help you create a custom solution for your business. They build on your initial assessment and provide support providing zero-downtime migration.
- Cost Efficiency- Hiring an MSP can actually help you reduce costs and save money. Finding, hiring, training, and keeping Azure experts can be an expensive process. MSPs allow access to certified, experienced experts on demand. MSPs also allow your existing IT team to reduce their daily workload. This gives them time to focus on strategic IT initiatives. Managed service providers can also offer special discounts and simplified billing.
- Easy Billing and Management- MSPs offer a single point of contact. This helps to simplify your experience with Microsoft Azure. Whether you have a technical question or a billing one, your team will have a single point of contact. This contact will know the account and understand the products. They will work to resolve issues with efficiency and speed.
- Support and Expertise- Expert resources are critical. Unplanned downtime or errors can affect customers and employees. MSP's will use tools to track your system’s performance. This tracking means they can manage issues as they arise. They will simplify your communications. Microsoft Azure MSPs offer 24/7 service and fast response times. A good partner will offer flexible support and access to fixing issues by phone, email, or live chat.
- Motivated Monitoring- Cloud ecosystems are complex. Not having the correct tools will make staying on top of your Azure deployment difficult. An MSP will use those needed tools to watch the health and activity of your system. They can watch nodes and devices with an IP address. They will track the health and uptime of your deployment. This ensures that your disk space, CPU application, and other factors are optimal. They will check for configuration changes, restarts, and backups. They will also watch applications for performance, bandwidth, anomalies, and other issues. This will optimize performance at the application level.
- Detailed Reporting- Regular reporting is also crucial. MSPs can provide you with monthly reports. The reports focus on account health, key actions, and identifying the need for changes. This process can be time-consuming. Managed Service Providers lessen the time your team spends creating these reports.
In Conclusion
Managed service providers can provide a lot for you and your business. They can also take some stress and worry away from you, allowing you to refocus your energy. Catering to your specific business objectives is key, and a good MSP will do that. If you want to improve your business operations or you're looking to fill in gaps, an MSP might be the right choice. If you've decided you want to search for an MSP that’s right for your business and your needs, look no further! Here at Seifert, we're Microsoft Azure Expert MSP partners. Our company's committed to providing high-quality support and service. We will assess your company and cater to those individual needs. We can ensure you a smooth, worry-free migration. We can offer expertise and provide options best suited for your company. Contact us today to learn more or get started.
