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Is Your Organization Ready for Managed IT Services?

Is Your Organization Ready for Managed IT Services?

 

Keeping up with technology is one of the major challenges in running a business. No matter what type of product or service you provide, chances are there is an IT component to your business. Whenever you have downtime, it can result in lost productivity, increased costs, and potentially have a negative impact on your customers and your company’s reputation.

Many companies are looking at managed IT services as a way to reduce downtime and ensure their systems are running at optimal levels of performance. In fact, one study found that 64 percent of businesses use some form of managed IT services.

How do you know when your company is ready to make the move to managed IT services? There are a few signs that may point you in that direction.

Switching from a Reactive to a Proactive Mindset

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Downtime immediately places your company into crisis mode. Operations grind to a halt and customers may be left without access to your products or services. According to research experts at Gartner, IT downtime can cost a company anywhere from $140,000 per hour to $540,000 per hour, depending on the size of the company. These estimates include lost revenue and lost productivity, as well as the intangible costs from damage to your brand and reputation. Plus, there are the recovery costs, which are the actual costs associating with fixing the problem.

There are varying philosophies on downtime. Some IT leaders see it as something to be avoided at all costs, which is probably unrealistic in today’s environment. Others may view downtime as a natural consequence of doing business. While this view may seem more realistic, it can also discourage the company from aggressively pursuing ways to minimize or avoid downtime.

No matter what your philosophy is about downtime, there are two main ways you can address it:

  1. Break/Fix Approach. This involves contacting a technician to fix IT system problems as they arise, typically at an hourly rate. It is a more reactive approach to the problem.
  2. Managed IT Services. This involves a more proactive approach in which your company chooses a long-term partner to manage your IT systems, typically for a monthly service fee. Managed IT services allow for a consistent relationship between you and your service provider.

Waiting until something breaks can leave your company and your customers in the lurch at the most inopportune times. Managed IT services can help you break out of the break/fix cycle and create a more reliable and predicable approach to IT services.

Types of Companies that Benefit from Managed IT Services

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Some people think that managed IT services are only for small or mid-sized companies, but that is not the case. Companies of all sizes can benefit from managed IT services. Whether or not you have an in-house IT staff, managed IT services may be right for your company if:

Managed IT services can supplement or support your existing IT staff, or you can contract out your entire IT function to a managed IT services provider. A major advantage of having an integrated managed IT solution is that it reduces finger-pointing among your IT vendors and prevents you from having to sort out who is responsible in any given situation.

Your managed IT provider can take responsibility for coordinating IT services and technology across all vendors, making sure you have fewer headaches and hassles.

What to Expect from D & P’s Managed IT Services

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D & P Communications recognized the need for managed IT services from interacting with our customers. As technology systems became more complex, we noticed that our customers were struggling to keep up and requesting consultation and assistance more frequently. That’s why we created our Business Solutions team. We wanted to leverage our extensive experience as an internet provider to help our customers solve their IT issues more efficiently and effectively.

We have a dedicated team of highly skilled IT experts, including system administrations, network administrators, network engineers, and programmers. Our team is able to provide the following services for a reasonable monthly fee:

It all begins with a network assessment to review the current state of your technology and equipment and identify future needs based on your projected growth. From there, our Business Solutions team will recommend solutions that will improve efficiency, reduce the risk of downtime, save on technology costs, and improve your return on investment.

D & P Communications started as a phone provider over 100 years ago. We evolved into a cable and internet provider in the early 1990s. And today we are a technology partner for our customers. Our strong local presence and commitment to customer service make D & P Communications the right choice for your company’s technology needs.