Everything You Need to Know About Managed Network Services
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Do the tech tools your organization uses get in the way of productivity and efficiency? It might sound absurd, but it is a very common complaint, especially from small businesses. With that, many business owners are choosing to hire-out their managed network services from experts… like us.
In enterprises, advanced network tools create skills gaps, leaving IT managers on call to fix preventable problems. Furthermore, corporate leadership is not always on the same page with its IT department, which can create communication problems.
Regardless of your organization’s size, the pattern remains the same. IT professionals have to deal with ever-increasing amounts of data, using ever more complex tools, and are more likely than ever to get overwhelmed.
Managed network services alleviate this issue by outsourcing routine tasks to vendors, allowing IT to focus on strategic initiatives. The demand for network management services is growing with modernization.
Managed Network Services at a Glance
In theory, you can develop your own network solutions. In practice, maintaining them often diverts resources from your core business.
This fundamental truth underscores the value of managed network services. Outsourcing network infrastructure upgrades infrastructure to a reliable vendor doesn’t equate to losing control over critical business functions. Instead, it enables your organization to leverage advanced technology and expertise for those functions, while allowing precise control over in-house management needs.
Most businesses cautiously approach network service management. They start with low-impact tasks, gradually transitioning to third-party experts, avoiding hefty upfront costs.
Those costs would include hiring top talent, procuring cutting-edge technology, and expending company resources to maintain and update hardware to ensure smooth operation. Managed services ensure that you can enjoy all of those benefits while only paying a fixed monthly fee.
Network management agreements can be delineated by individual processes. While you may want to retain some network elements in-house, there are numerous options for out-tasking that can yield substantial cost savings and performance enhancements.
What Core Services Do Businesses Usually Out-Task?
Relatively few businesses decide to entrust their entire network infrastructure to a managed service provider from the start. Cisco identifies several core services that most companies decide to out-task first:
- Managed VPN
- Intranet and Internet Hosting
- Data Storage
- Business Continuity
- Backbone Network Transport
- Managed Business Voice
- Managed Contact Centers
Cybersecurity is another very popular area where managed network services can provide valuable results. Managed network services providers leverage relationships with reputable brands like Datto to create combined services that ensure easier communication, greater productivity, and enhanced security for entire organizations.
How Managed Network Services Save Money
The key value driver managed network services offer is cost savings. Instead of stretching your IT resources thin with break/fix routines, let your service vendor handle maintenance while you focus on streamlining processes.
Managed network service providers offer 24/7 monitoring services that would be prohibitively expensive in terms of man-hours for most businesses. There are many other ways that properly implemented managed services reduce IT spend:
- Reducing the cost of hardware maintenance and operation.
- Reducing staff expenditures on internal IT and information services.
- Reducing the operational expense of low-impact IT processes.
- Providing predictable fee structures for information technology.
- Generating economies of scale in the enterprise environment.
- Reducing training costs and IT staff turnover, which is typically high for IT positions.
Businesses that operate in highly regulated fields like finance or healthcare have an additional incentive to implement a managed network infrastructure, as well. Maintaining regulatory compliance is a powerful resource drain that needs to be achieved reliably and at as small a cost as possible.
Managed providers with experience deploying compliant solutions are able to leverage that expertise towards generating value for their clients. The ability to find and fix flaws that would otherwise result in noncompliance is a critical advantage in situations where mandatory regulation is paramount.
Learn more about managed network services by talking to a specialist about how it can help your business work more efficiently.
