Do you feel like you are probably paying more than you should be to your outsourced IT vendor?
In years of conversations with business owners and executives, we have found that this feeling is common. However, the cause might not be what you think it is. It could be that your current supplier is charging you too much for their expertise. However, it could also be that you are emphasizing short-term savings over longer-term efficiencies.
Let us explain: many business owners and executives will only call an outsourced IT vendor when they really need help. They won’t pick up the phone unless something is on fire, for example, or none of their employees can check email.
That helps them lower billable IT hours in the short term, but it can end up costing them more over time. That’s because it’s almost always less of a hassle and expense to opt for a managed services agreement. That’s a situation where you pay your IT team a set amount each month or quarter to take care of regular maintenance needs.
This is something a lot of companies resist because they don’t want another bill to pay. And to be fair, if you’ve never had a managed services agreement in place it can seem like an unnecessary expense. When you look at things a little closer, though, you realize you get a few important benefits from the right managed services package. Let’s look at a few of them…
You Get a Higher Level of IT Care and Advice
Let’s put the financial component of a managed services agreement aside for just a moment. All other things being equal, would you rather be able to turn to your IT partner whenever you need them or to have to contact them when things aren’t working?
The answer is obvious. When you have a vendor you can call on for regular assistance, your business runs more smoothly. That’s because they get to know you, your team, and your hardware and software packages. What’s more, your IT partner can work proactively to make sure you have what you need before you are even aware of an issue.
You Suffer Fewer Outages and Setbacks
While this follows from the last point, it’s an important idea to highlight. When your IT partner is working proactively to keep your business running smoothly, you don’t lose access to things like email and customer files. That’s a bigger deal than you might realize because those outages hit your bottom line hard.
Whenever your team is forced to stop working at full capacity because of a technology-related issue it means you are paying salaries or hourly wages that aren’t delivering the kind of return they should be. Additionally, the related loss of sales or productivity can end up putting a big dent in your earnings.
You End Up Paying a Lower (and More Predictable) Amount
And finally, we come to the one thing that business owners and executives know in their hearts to be true. When you’re paying a regular rate for quality IT care, it costs a lot less in the long run.
If you doubt this, just add up all the emergency and overtime expenses you have racked up – or will in the future – when you have a major IT problem. It only takes one major setback to blow three years’ worth of managed services costs. Is that something you really want to gamble on going forward?
Isn’t It Time You Got the Details on Managed Services for IT?
You have probably heard of managed services in the past, even if you haven’t gotten firm figures and details. If so, let us help you fill in some of the gaps. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and see exactly how much you could be saving year to year with professional outsourced IT care.