[cs_content][cs_section parallax=”false” style=”margin: 0px;padding: 45px 0px;”][cs_row inner_container=”true” marginless_columns=”false” style=”margin: 0px auto;padding: 0px;”][cs_column fade=”false” fade_animation=”in” fade_animation_offset=”45px” fade_duration=”750″ type=”1/1″ style=”padding: 0px;”][cs_text]With the passing of every year, managed service IT firms grow and evolve to cover different technical competencies. Customer needs change, new markets open, and technologies debut that change the way small businesses operate. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) have to constantly adapt to both technological changes and operational changes spurred by the businesses they serve. There’s an element of service and synchronicity that MSPs have to apply in order to support the businesses they partner with. Here are the top five things that are driving managed service growth in 2017:

  1. The Approach
  2. The average small business owner has a lot to worry about when it comes to the day-to-day operation of their business. Worrying about the reliability and connectivity of their network should not be top of mind. MSPs fit the bill here by not only providing 24/7/365 IT coverage, but also freeing up local IT resources to address other tasks. With an MSP on top of network issues and vulnerabilities, the business owner doesn’t have to stop what they are doing just to resolve problems. Most issues are taken care of long before the client is aware with a competent MSP.

  3. The Protection
  4. Security is a hot-button issue for 2017. With more laptops, desktops, smartphones, tablets, and servers connected today than ever, we’ve given potential hackers and exploiters many different entry points for a breach. Business owners are terrified of being featured in the next headline about a colossal breach in which customer information is jeopardized. MSPs across the board show that security is a major adoption driver for IT services in 2017. Business owners are turning to the experts to keep their information and operation safe.

  5. The Holy Grail of Efficiency
  6. Outsourcing IT service has many benefits, but the above point might be the most functional for your business. With Business Continuity, Virtualization, and Backup Solutions, MSPs can keep your business up and running in the event of a natural disaster. An MSP can flip the switches on a backup to restore data, virtually-replace downed equipment, and duplicate your important data off-site daily without a gap in service. Not only do these solutions free up and empower local resources to stay on task and busy, but they also minimize the costly downtime that plagues small businesses when something does go wrong.

  7. The Latest and Greatest
  8. When it comes to hardware solutions, most small business owners have a “run it into the ground” mentality regarding their tech assets. Often when you have a strictly internal IT staff, they’re so busy and burdened with local issues that they barely have time and funds to research, bid, and implement new hardware. When you outsource your IT to a MSP, you can open a conversation about the latest technologies, including remote monitoring, data solutions, the cloud, and of course…hardware. Investing in these key infrastructure pieces will pay dividends in the long run, meaning you won’t have to play an expensive game of “delayed catch-up” in the future.

  9. Pocketbook Peace of Mind
  10. Let’s face it – IT is one of those departments that is easily overlooked when everything is running smoothly, but comes under fire when issues start to flare up. IT labor costs skyrocket when chronic problems plague your business – you have to pay your local staff as well as service specialists to come out and fix things.

    IT shouldn’t be a line item cost that varies per month in your business; it’s far too volatile when you don’t have the proper resources on hand to diagnose your problems. With an MSP, you’re paying one flat monthly fee for everything. You can accurately predict your IT costs on a monthly and yearly basis. There’s a massive return on investment when you can simplify costs, free up local resources, and streamline your IT operations all at once.

    The above list showcases just a few drivers in the IT Managed Services world today – there’s a myriad of custom solutions and business tools that are re-mapping the ways small and medium-sized businesses operate in 2017. Get in touch with the Managed Service experts at Fantastic IT today to see what they can do to streamline and protect your tech operations.

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