The buzzwords relating to IT Support are “Managed Services”.   But what do “Managed Services” actually mean?

As a definition, Managed Services allow a business to offload some or all of their IT operations to a service provider, known as a Managed Services Provider (MSP). The Managed Services Provider assumes an ongoing responsibility for monitoring, managing, and/or problem resolution for the IT systems within a business.

The “Break-Fix” Mentality:

The background of Managed Services all started with ‘break-fix’ services. The “Break-Fix” Mentality came about when local computer shops built networks for their small business clients, and then provided limited support for those computers and networks. However, they were only able to offer very basic maintenance – when something broke, they’d come and fix it – and hopefully within a timely manner…

These computer shops had very limited tools to help them diagnose problems with computer hardware and networks in general. Many larger computer support companies would periodically send a tech onsite to their clients’ business locations to complete a checklist of items; like analyzing log files, memory and disk usage, and running virus scans. This was very important information at the time it was collected, but the problem remained that they still would not know if there were any computer or network failures until they received a call.

Over the years, as high-speed Internet connectivity became more widely available and less costly, some enterprising support people and software developers got together to create some very specialized and powerful programs to aid the support companies with remote control, monitoring, and yes, even ‘managing’ computers and their networks.

The Managed Services Provider (MSP) was born:

These newest tools greatly enhance the ability of the local computer support companies to provide more than “Break-Fix” maintenance, but actually allow them to proactively monitor Networks, Servers, Workstations, and now Mobile Devices. Many tasks can be automated; alerts can be sent; support tickets and reports can be created.

The Managed Services Provider can act as an extension of your IT Department, taking care of routine monitoring and management. This helps free-up your IT staff to focus on more important projects. Alternatively, MSPs can become your IT specialists, offering a wide range of services. MSPs can proactively monitor and maintain your systems in order to help you avoid problems and downtime. Basic subscription services often start with a monitoring service which notifies you of problems, and then you resolve them on your own. More intensive services can cover everything from alerts through issue resolution.

 The MSP subscription model gives you peace of mind by minimizing downtime; and also provides more predictable budgeting.

Please use the “Help Desk Portal” on the Contact page to ask for more information or to schedule a consultation.