Why a Managed Service Provider (MSP) can ease up your technology

Why hiring an MSP is critical to Small Business’s success?

Small companies with only one to a few employees have people who can do literally everything required to run the business. If they did not have this general expertise, the business would not succeed. The savvy business owner knows when to identify and utilize external sources to empower their business to be more productive. This decision empowers you to use your time where you have strengths and outsource other essential business tasks. When it comes to your information technology needs, a smart decision means reaching out and connected with a Managed Service Provider (MSP). An MSP can help you with business tasks such as data security, cloud migration, server hosting, internet connectivity, and managing collaboration.

As a small business, you are used to being creative, stretching the budget, and finding innovative ways to be successful. When you have a limited set of financial resources, it is easy to think that you cannot afford the use of an MSP. However, the return on investment in terms of the benefits that MSPs provide is worth it. At this point you are probably wondering how exactly an MSP can help your small business.

Specific Expertise

As a small business owner, you are used to being a jack of all trades. MSPs remove some of the hats that you need to wear. Whether it is client management or running the books, there is no task that you are not used to doing. Information technology is a critical piece of any overall business strategy. Technology is constantly progressing, and businesses need to be proactive in adopting to the changing technology infrastructure. It is costly to devote time, energy, and resources towards staying on top of the latest technology trends. Rather than spend time trying to manage your technology needs, you can work with an MSP who is able to provide the specific services that you need.

Lowered Cost

The IT needs of any business are small and complex. As a small business, you would have to hire multiple people with the needed skillsets to make your business successful. In addition, you would not need all their capabilities all of the time. Instead of having to pay the salaries of full-time employees, you can contract with an MSP and only pay for the services that you need. Not only would you have to pay for the salary of these full-time employees, but you would have to worry about orienting them to the team culture, making sure they have appropriate onboarding, focusing on continuing their professional development, and the other responsibilities that come along with having full-time employees.

By utilizing an MSP, you are gaining all of the benefits of technology experts without the burden of full-time salaries and a time devotion towards managing a staff. It is estimated that using an MSP can save a small business between 25 and 45 percent. (cite)

Full Data Security

Whether it is the popularity of secure web browsers or a focus on customer data, making sure that your business is protected data in a cyber world is absolutely critical. 43 percent of all cybercrime attacks are on small businesses. If your small business is hit with a cyberattack, there is a 60 percent chance that it will go out of business within six months. A breach could damage your reputation and lose customer trust. As a small business, you want to make sure your data is safe online.

Your data could become vulnerable through phishing acts or malware that enters the system and steals your information. The people with bad intent are constantly pushing the envelope in the field of cybercrime. The last thing you want is for a malicious attack to happen while you are away from work whether it is home for the night or taking some time off. An MSP is constantly monitoring your data and remotely managing key processes. They have the systems in place to know if there is a data breach immediately. If this occurs, they take prompt action to protect you. They work to fix the issue. In addition, you can be confident that your data has been backed up.

Data Analytics and Visualization

We live in a data rich world. Most of this data goes unused and its potential to help business processes and outcomes is lost. MSP can alleviate this problem by providing strong business insights through the analysis of data and the use of visualization tools. This makes the data visible and relevant to stakeholders who need to see it. Having access to historical data also helps to provide context and predictive analytics into the future.

Data Loss

The biggest impact of a successful phishing attack is that the data stored by that company is no longer safe. Identity theft happens frequently because criminals are able to buy and sell information on the black market. This information is sourced from a phishing attack.

Sometimes, this data can be vital to the success of the company and a lot of money has been invested into the gathering of it. When it is stolen in a phishing email attack, the cost for the business can be in the billions of dollars.

As a small business owner, you probably feel like there are never enough hours in the day. You can make the smart decision and partner with an MSP provider to serve all of your information technology needs. There are numerous benefits to speak of, but they often come down to saving money, improving efficiencies, and keeping data secure. MSPs are in the business of success and believe that your business can always be improved to maximize the technological opportunities and allow you to devote time to other parts of the business.