What Are Managed Services?
Do I Need Them?
Managed IT services allow businesses to delegate their IT operations to an expert third-party organization that specializes in handling these responsibilities. These third-party organizations, known as Managed Service Providers (MSPs), are responsible for the entirety or portions of a business’ IT systems, as agreed upon in a Service Level Agreement (SLA). IT equipment is typically procured by the client, and depending on the SLA, Managed Service Providers may provide round-the-clock monitoring, issue resolution and reporting, and more.
Do you need them? Yes, if you are doing any sort of business in today’s ever changing, rapidly growing, technological world… then you need this. Let us explain…
Insight
Risk Management
Productivity
Scaling
24/7 Monitoring
Peace of Mind
The number and type of services a company needs from Top Hat Networking usually depend on the company’s internal IT capabilities.
However, here are the most common services companies need support on:
Data Backup
IT backup services protect and retain your data and allow you to recover data as small as single files or as large as entire databases.
This layer of redundancy provides additional security and accessibility in case of an event. It usually makes sense to outsource secure data back-ups to take advantage of the state-of-the art technology an MSP can offer.
Help Desk Solutions
Many companies who use managed IT services have little or no IT resources of their own. MSPs often offer help desk solutions as a way to give their customers access to an on-call IT specialist who can help them troubleshoot their issues either remotely or on-site.
IT Support Services
IT support services are really useful when you need a combination of IT support and guidance. The MSP is responsible for proactively managing and patching your devices while providing insight into how your system works and how it should work.
Managed Network Security
This service helps free up your IT resources by outsourcing tasks like network intrusion detection and prevention, virus and spam eradication, content filtering and traffic analysis through a traditional or next generation firewall.
Microsoft Office365
With so many companies adopting this extremely popular cloud service, many MSPs are able to plan, design, implement and support Office365 for their customers.
Object Storage
This type of data storage architecture allows a customer to store large amounts of unstructured data. As businesses struggle to find ways to store massive amounts of data, object storage can offer benefits like cost-effectiveness, scalability and reliability. This type of storage is typically used for data like media files, web content, documents and backups.
Storage
General data storage comes in several tiers. The provider generally works with the customer to find and use the type of storage that will give them the optimal efficiency and the lowest cost.
Systems Management
This type of outsourced IT allows your MSP to monitor your servers, applications and network. They’ll interpret the data and real-time metrics in order to proactively identify and solve issues before they cause downtime and impact your business.
Virtual CIO
Small and medium companies don’t typically have the capacity to hire a dedicated Chief Information Officer. A Virtual CIO is a service some MSPs offer that provides analysis, strategy and a step-by-step plan for the company’s technology.
More…
As mentioned above, these are just some of the basic needs and most popular services we provide the majority of our customers. Top Hat Networking is a full service MSP and offers a vast variety of services to fit any need, business or home. Contact us today to get quotes or discuss your specific situation!