Many businesses choose to outsource their IT to a managed service provider, who will manage and assume responsibility for providing a defined set of IT services on behalf of the business. This process has become increasingly common amongst large businesses and organisations, due to the many associated benefits:

Costs

The cost of investing in top of the range technologies and hardware can be extremely high. A good managed service provider will house the best technologies, allowing the client to enjoy the benefits of carrier grade solutions, without the initial outlay. Fixed contracts and monthly payment plans allow a business to budget for their IT management, without any unexpected upgrade charges or maintenance costs. Outsourcing IT services also reduces the need to employ in-house specialists to manage your IT networks or alternatively frees up existing specialists time to focus on more strategic projects.

Expertise

Managed service providers possess specialist IT skills, that may well exceed the levels available within a business. Having round the clock access to these skills can prove an invaluable asset, and can also save money that would otherwise be invested in training staff internally or hiring specialist freelance technicians.

Future-proofed technology

Leading managed service providers will use the best technologies and hardware available, in order to deliver the best possible IT solutions. Technology and hardware will be upgraded regularly, with no additional costs or stress to the client. Through the use of storage and server virtualisation, upgrades can be carried out with little or no business impact. The constant practice of upgrading technologies means that no managed IT services will become obsolete.

Converged services

A managed service provider will be able to deliver all your IT services over a single "converged" network. Not only does this save money in terms of infrastructure, it also presents productivity benefits, as staff are able to access voice and data applications while working from home, or any other location.

Centralisation

The ability to centralise all your servers and applications within a managed data centre results in improved staff performance and productivity, as members of staff can access data and applications over a centralised network, regardless of time of day or location. Centralised data centres within the network can also provide round-the-clock access to virtual services, as well as backup and storage files.

Resilient infrastructure

A managed service provider will provide a much more resilient network than standard, enterprise IT services. Networks will be subject to 24x7x365 management and will adhere to government security procedures.