In this digital age, you’ll be hard-pressed to find any business that does not rely heavily or entirely on information technology. Whether for advertising, communication, or their actual core businesses, all business owners make a significant investment in installations and development of appropriate technology for their line of work.

While there are many tech-savvy people in the workforce nowadays, there is still a need for technical support specialists to handle the more specialized aspects of technology management. For instance, not everyone can create a code for a specific program, or troubleshoot certain functional issues within software.

Therefore, you definitely need a trained and experienced individual or team to handle these issues. It is also essential to get the professionals because IT installations can be quite expensive and you wouldn’t want to risk getting them damaged by a well-meaning, albeit unqualified, individual.

Your Options

There are various ways of getting technical support. The more traditional approach has been to hire an individual or team to deal with all things IT; from software to hardware installations and troubleshooting.

However, in recent times, technical support has been outsourced to companies that specifically offer this kind of service. Referred to as Managed IT Services, this has become quite popular both as a business model and as a requested service.

There are various ways to engage with managed IT services:

Tandem

Here, you retain your IT staff while hiring managed IT services. You then divide the labor, as it were, between your two teams. Most businesses prefer to have the in-house IT team focus on the company’s core business while the managed IT services team will handle the recurrent or mundane, yet time-consuming jobs.

Troubleshooting

In this arrangement, the managed IT services team only show up when the in-house team is unable to address a particular problem sufficiently. Think of it like calling the fire department; they only come when they are needed and in emergency situations. 

Total

Within this total engagement, there is no in-house IT team. Everything, large or small, is handled by the outsourced IT team. The rest of the staff simply call a designated number when they come across some tech difficulties, and they will be assisted.

Making the Most of It

As a business owner, most decisions are made with the impact on the bottom line firmly in mind. So, naturally, you want to ensure that this outsourcing of IT services will be worth your while (at the very least) and possibly lead to increased profits (which is the best scenario). So, how do you maximize your partnership with a managed tech help desk?

1. Know what you need

What exactly do you need? There are many services offered by managed tech services, but these can be tailored to the specific needs of your business. For example, you may only need your system continually monitored with alerts being sent to your in-house IT team for management. Alternatively, you may need the outsourced team to do the actual troubleshooting alongside or in the absence of an in-house team. So, first, be clear about what you need.

2. Run the numbers

Once you know what you want, calculate how much it would cost an in house IT department to deliver vis-à-vis an outsourced team. Remember to take into account all the easily overlooked issues such as downtime and the ensuing loss of productivity. You may need a professional to do this for you but make sure you get it done so you can see just how much money you will be saving by outsourcing.

3. Do your due diligence

This kind of partnership is critical, mainly due to the tech-reliant times we are living in. So, you want to do your research on each managed IT service provider that meets your specific needs. Ask around for recommendations, check out their portfolios and recent audit reports, critically examine their strengths with regard to what you specifically need, and then make your decision.

Talk to Us

If you are in Long Island or New York City, and you’re looking to get the best possible managed tech service, you should go ahead and give us a call. You may also contact us and we will answer all your questions. We look forward to hearing from you.