Why Managed IT Service Providers Can Help If You’re Already in the Cloud
It can be tempting to think that using cloud services will instantly solve all a business’ woes. However, while robust cloud services try to make their services friendly and intuitive, they’re still vastly complex systems. A managed service provider (MSP) can help reduce and manage the complexity, leaving your business free to focus on the positives.
Even if you’ve already made the transition to the cloud, there are a lot of areas in which a managed service provider can help you improve. Here are only a few ways an MSP can be used to truly elevate your organization’s infrastructure.
Training and Support
Is your business too small for dedicated IT staff? If so, your employees may not be getting the training and support they need to truly leverage your cloud-based solution. Your new cloud solutions are only as useful as your employees make them, and if your employees can’t use them properly, they could even become a hindrance. An MSP is filled with experienced, knowledgeable staff members who can help your team know how (and when) to use various features of their new cloud service.
When employees run into issues, a certified MSP offers dedicated tech support. If you have a small IT team, a single IT professional, or no IT team at all, it’s likely that your employees aren’t going to be able to get the support they need when they need it. An MSP will be able to help your team on demand, making your team more productive and effective as a whole.
Migration and Implementation
When you’re adopting a new cloud service, you need to move all your relevant data and information and processes into the cloud. That can take hundreds or even thousands of person-hours depending on the size of your business. An MSP can take care of that while your employees focus on their usual work. Many organizations embark upon cloud solutions, but they still need to leave a lot of their data either in their old solution or on-premise, because they don’t have the resources they need to transition fully to the cloud.
An MSP will be able to create a complete roadmap for getting your data on your new service, thereby making your service more useful to you. Managed IT service providers excel at taking control of tasks such as transitions, while your employees can focus on their day-to-day tasks without disruption or interruption.
Scalability and Future Planning
Is your current cloud-managed solution scalable? Will you be able to develop it further as your company grows? Managed IT service providers don’t just maintain your system; they also make sure that it’s future-proofed and scalable so it will be able to grow with your enterprise and support your future needs. As your business grows, your managed IT service provider will be able to explore new cloud managed services for you, finding tools that you can use in the future.
Your managed service provider is an expert on the cloud service you’re using and can let you know if any changes are happening to the service and just how they may impact what you’re currently doing. Cloud solutions are upgraded and modified all the time, and if you don’t have someone doing the research for you, you won’t be prepared for these changes as they occur. Cloud-based solutions will require ongoing training and support, which is something that your managed IT service providers can handle.
Optimizing and Cost-Cutting
Your cloud-based solution may work, but is it optimized? Through an MSP, you can explore whether there are potential cost-cutting measures, such as using a single solution like Microsoft Office 365 rather than several other, third-party solutions. MSPs aren’t just skilled at setting up and transitioning to cloud-based networks – they’re also skilled at optimizing these solutions for better bottom lines.
Through an MSP, you can identify core inefficiencies in your existing business processes, paring down to the essential and simplifying your organization’s infrastructure. In doing so, you can create a more effective, affordable, and usable solution.
Security and Compliance
Issues of security and compliance are constantly changing, especially for organizations in industries like healthcare, education, or finance. Regardless of the type of industry your business is in, it’s likely that you need to protect and control personally identifiable information, proprietary information, and financial information. An MSP often includes security and compliance experts who can help your organization place your data under stricter controls.
If you want to improve upon your cloud environment, you need cloud managed services. Want to supercharge your experience with cloud services like Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Azure? Contact Red River today.
