How Managed Service Providers Help Businesses Succeed

It takes determination, skill, and hard work for a business to succeed in today’s competitive environment. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are in a tough position because they must always balance limited resources with the pressure to embrace digital transformation. 

Keeping current infrastructure operational to support core business functions is challenging when other issues and responsibilities pile up. Achieving important business goals is impossible without working computers, a stable network, and well-configured software. 

That’s why businesses worldwide are turning to managed service providers (MSPs). They use an MSP’s vast portfolio of IT services to become as efficient – and profitable – as possible through modern business technologies and best practices.

Who Are Managed Service Providers?

Managed service providers are companies that deliver IT services to businesses. They use a managed service model (also known as a fully outsourced model).

The provider assumes the responsibility for delivering services under this model. For example, they might offer network security or remote connectivity, all while providing ongoing support to address any issues that may arise promptly. 

The managed service model can be seen as a proactive alternative to the traditional break/fix or on-demand outsourcing model. In that model, the provider doesn’t anticipate the customer’s needs.

In 2020, the global MSP market was valued at $152.05 billion. At that time, the figure was expected to reach $274.20 billion by 2026. However, by the end of 2022, the global managed services market had nearly reached the $256 billion mark – nearly doubling in just two years. This massive growth is driven by the increasing adoption of modern business technologies and practices – including cloud computing, big data analytics, and hybrid work.

5 Ways MSPs Help Businesses Succeed

The right MSP can help you succeed in a variety of ways. Most of which stem from removing the headaches associated with IT maintenance and leveraging the economies of scale to keep costs low.

1. MSPs Equip Businesses with Cutting-Edge Technology

For most SMBs, staying at the cutting edge of technology is impossible while maintaining focus on business growth. 

MSPs can equip you with cutting-edge technology at the right moment to improve your competitive advantage. A great example of this is when the recent pandemic disrupted established work routines and forced employees to work from a remote location. 

Because MSPs offer the same services and solutions to a range of customers, they can make them affordable to small businesses with very limited IT budgets.

2. MSPs Have the Expertise and Experience to Address Cyber Threats

Businesses face new kinds of cyber threats as they embrace digital transformation. These threats require a wealth of expertise and experience to protect against them. 

Cybersecurity-savvy MSPs know these threats and provide various outsourced cybersecurity services to address them. They can include: 

Around-the-clock monitoring
Backup and disaster recovery
Endpoint protection
And more

MSPs are perfectly positioned to address your threats because they will become deeply familiar with your IT infrastructures – enabling them to work fast.

3. MSPs Help Employees Focus on Their Work

Employees in organizations that don’t have an IT department must often be their own customer support. That means they are constantly trying to solve day-to-day issues with: 

Faulty hardware
Buggy software
Unreliable network connectivity
And more

This extra work slows them down. Preventing them from focusing on their core work. Trivial problems can take a long time to solve because they are regular employees, not IT experts. 

MSPs help employees avoid distractions and stay focused by providing ongoing support and proactively monitoring all systems to fix issues before they become large problems.

4. MSPs Introduce Scalability to Support Business Growth

The needs of businesses can change rapidly, which the pandemic made painfully obvious. The problem is that businesses relying solely on their in-house IT resources can’t scale their infrastructures up or down as needed. 

MSPs introduce scalability in two ways. First, they provide access to IT experts who are ready to: 

Fix problems
Implement new solutions
Brainstorm IT roadmaps when needed

Second, they help businesses leverage industry-leading cloud technology. 

Businesses that become scalable with the help of MSPs can grow without being hampered by their structure or available resources. This makes it easy to take advantage of short-lived opportunities.

5. MSPs Save Businesses Money in the Short and Long Run

MSPs can leverage economies of scale because they offer the same services and solutions to many different customers. However, that’s not the only reason partnering with them can be so cost-effective. 

Managed service provider pricing works to your benefit. They make IT spending predictable and manageable because they use pay-as-you-go pricing models. This allows businesses to make bolder investments to improve key functions without the looming threat of unexpected IT expenses. 

MSPs are not paid to fix problems. It’s their responsibility to prevent problems from occurring. So, it’s in their best interest to help customers optimize their IT infrastructures by taking advantage of modern technologies – which also tend to be more cost-effective.

Become More Profitable & Efficient with an MSP

A partnership with a reputable MSP can unlock digital transformation opportunities that improve efficiency, customer service, productivity, cost savings, and other benefits.