Network Solutions, Inc. now offers full managed services for your company.   What is managed services?  Managed services is like having your own information technology staff on the payroll.   Instead of waiting for a problem to arise (break-fix), we can proactively monitor your systems for problems, install patches on your operating system and 3rd party software, and fix issues “behind the scenes”.

Using a managed services model, your company is able to better budget your computer-related costs and improve your productivity by reducing downtime for your employees.

 

Managed Services vs. The Break-Fix Mentality

Taking advantage of managed services is a philosophical change in the way that a business deals with its technology. Instead of following the old-school tradition of break-fix (literally meaning wait until something fails and then scrambling to fix it), a business operating with a managed service focuses on the prevention of these issues before they disrupt employees, management and/or clients.

If you fall behind in keeping up with things such as backups, patches and security, the odds greatly increase that you’ll face an IT outage or another problem down the road that will negatively impact your business.  For instance, if a workstation, server, or network goes down, you will likely face substantial productivity and revenue losses as a result.

 

Why Break-fix is no longer good enough for your business

A break-fix maintenance service fixes problems as they crop up. This means that something needs to go wrong before you receive any service, resulting in an inevitable reduction in IT system performance while you wait for the problem to be fixed.

Today, a successful business can’t really afford the risk and uncertainty of relying on a “break-fix maintenance service” because your business is too dependent on having a reliable IT system. Furthermore, having separate suppliers responsible for different parts of the system puts you in the difficult position of trying to decide who should be delivering the service you require. You simply do not have time for this.

 

Do Managed Services Cost More Than Traditional Break-Fix Services?

Actually no! Surprisingly most managed services cost less than traditional break-fix services, especially when including the true cost of downtime. The total cost to your business is not only the cost to repair the problem, but also the money lost to wasted payroll and lost productivity of employee(s) who can’t do their work because of the system outage.  Remote monitoring, remote maintenance and the prevention of major issues allow a managed services provider to reduce downtime and loss of productivity which can outweigh any extra costs associated with the extra services being provided.

 

Why are so many IT Firms now promoting Managed Services?

There are several reasons.  First, businesses are becoming more and more dependent on their computer systems and demand higher uptime and faster responses.  Second, it puts the IT support company on the same page as the business they are serving. With traditional break-fix services, the only way for an IT Support company to make money is if something goes wrong whereas with managed services, costs are fixed so it is in the best interest of the managed service provider to reduce downtime and outages.   And third, business owners are beginning to see the IT infrastructure as a utility necessary to doing business – just like power and water, so having a monthly expense going towards those services is not a foreign concept like it used to be.

 

How are Managed Services priced?

Managed services pricing is based on the number of devices being managed and the amount of management being undertaken by the service provider.   At the entry level, the business owner may just be notified of issues such as out of date antivirus, disk space running out, or connectivity issues.  Above that level, we handle those kinds of problems without customer interaction and provide monthly reports of what is being done.  At the highest level, hardware costs for replacements may be included so that computers and servers can be taken out of service at planned times without sharp increases in expense.

 

The Real Benefits Of Managed Services

Put in simple terms – one of the biggest benefits of Managed Services is discovering and fixing problems before they can negatively affect your business.

A well maintained, proactively serviced computer network will always run better than the alternative. With proactive network monitoring, patch management, and desktop optimization performed on a regular basis, you will notice a tremendous difference in operations… and you will reap the benefits of preventing fires, rather than fighting them.

Reduced costs: Businesses are able to control their cash flow and reduce their overall operating costs with the flat-fee billing model. Cost-effective access to enterprise-level support is a reality