Businesses that rely on managed services support provider need to consider a number of important factors when selecting the service provider to provide their Managed Service Support needs. Some of these things to consider are; what type of monitoring and reporting do they require? Do they require monitoring and reporting in real time or can they be provided with archived logs and historical data? What security features are best for the company? Is there a need for any special training or certifications? The following list provides a brief description of the most popular Managed Service Support options and what they have to offer.

Industry Leading Disaster Recovery: Managed Service Support companies specialize in helping companies protect their business from a multitude of different events that can occur. Companies rely on their Managed Service Support provider to help them implement effective disaster recovery plans, follow them closely, and monitor their progress. When a business has a successful disaster recovery plan in place, it can mean the difference between being able to get back up and running quickly after an incident or suffering severe financial loss and reputation damage. Managed Services Support providers use industry-leading technologies to monitor servers and network applications to ensure their clients remain aware of the status of their systems and stay one step ahead of the threats that are sure to come.

Infrastructure Optimization: Optimizing an organization’s infrastructure is an integral part of business success. Without an efficient network, companies cannot grow, retain employees, or deliver quality products to their clients. Organizations must invest in the tools necessary to manage their networks and servers efficiently and effectively. The best practices for network optimization begin with the service provider’s ability to offer vendors the tools and services they need to optimize infrastructure. Vulnerability scans, security scans, and database updates are all services that vendors will need in order to stay compliant and secure. A managed service support provider with industry-leading expertise in all of these areas allows organizations to remain a step ahead of the threats that are sure to come.

Back-Up: Many companies rely heavily on their IT systems, which allows them to minimize potential losses due to a number of unexpected events. A service desk may not be the first priority of a business when it comes to back-ups. However, if an event occurs, such as a virus attack, outage, or data corruption, it can completely take down the IT backbone of the organization. Depending on the nature of the incident, this could mean the difference between being operational the next day or months later. By having the tools and expertise required by a managed services provider, the incident can be thoroughly investigated and any potential root cause identified, allowing a quick recovery and resolution to ensure the best possible outcome for the end-user.

Questions regarding Support and Service Desk Support: A question that many end-users have is regarding the level of support they will receive from their IT support and service desk partners. Often times, companies choose to outsource support activities in order to save money. However, this can often create problems and delays in support for end-users. When choosing a managed services provider, it is important to ask regarding the level of support provided. Make sure you understand the difference between full versus partial support, the number of call-backs, if there are any customer-facing representatives, and any other management or team-support tools offered.

Reduce Costs: In today’s economic climate, reducing costs is one of the biggest concerns for companies of all sizes. However, while you may have a great product or a top-rated service to offer, the best solution may be to cut costs elsewhere and increase productivity. When working with a managed services provider, you can eliminate the need for a full time service desk position, freeing up capital to invest in other areas. This includes improving employee satisfaction, which will lead to more profits, more sales, and more success.

Flexibility for Managed Support: One of the advantages of using an in-house managed service support team is that it offers a great deal of flexibility. While this can work well within certain organizations, it can also mean that things don’t quite measure up to your expectations. By outsourcing, you get additional services beyond what would typically be available from in-house teams. One of the biggest advantages offered by managed service provider pricing models is that flexibility extends to the support models and the provider infrastructure, allowing you to choose models that are right for you and your business.

Scalability: By using a managed service provider, you can significantly scale your requirements, taking advantage of the cloud-based infrastructure and full-service capabilities offered by the provider. One popular option is the use of a service desk software package that automatically creates work groups based on your individual needs. You can also create work groups based on common applications and common workloads, as well as ones that vary according to geographic differences or other staffing constraints. By setting up these work groups on the cloud, you can even move them around should you need to (but of course this should only be used as a temporary solution).