When you own a small business, you always have a lot on your plate. Many questions invade your mind daily – are customer needs being met? Are employees engaged and satisfied? Are investors and other stakeholders kept happy? Not to add another task to your to-do list, but we have to state a fact – maintaining an up-to-date computer network should be at the top of your list, too.
These days, essential company processes frequently take place on desktop computers, laptops, and smartphones. So, of course, small businesses and start-ups need a secure, efficient, and accessible IT network now more than ever.
Bearing this in mind, it is critical that developing businesses have access to IT personnel as needed. But not all of us have the resources, funds, or time to hire an in-house IT team. Some of us are known to rush to ad hoc external IT help in the form of friends or friends of our friends. But what happens when that proves ineffective and inconsistent?
Managed IT services can help with this.
These IT services are in high demand. According to Markets and Markets, the market is predicted to be worth roughly $355 billion by 2026, up from $243 billion in 2021. With managed IT services gaining traction at an accelerated pace, we decided to present to you the key ways such service management helps businesses.
Quick Definition of IT Service Management
Every IT organization should have some form of IT service management (ITSM). IT service management refers to how your IT staff maintains your business’s technological solutions and provides the technology to fulfill the needs of clients.
IT service management covers all areas of technology delivery, including:
- Planning and design
- Development
- Installation
- Continuing monitoring and support
One fundamental IT service management concept is the focus on meeting customer needs through technology. It aims at meeting client expectations by utilizing both technological solutions and the IT procedures established to deploy that technology. Continuous monitoring is another vital IT service management principle. The IT team uses its experience to improve and evolve its customer service.
How IT Support Service Management Benefits Small Business Owners
IT service management used to be about IT improvement. But with such a focus on technology these days IT service management has come to be one of the most important aspects of a business. IT service management is one of the most crucial things any company or other organization should have.
#1 It’s Cost-Effective
Tired of being made to speak to multiple points of contact regarding bandwidth, data privacy, and more? With managed IT services, there is just one point of contact, so you don’t have to coordinate between multiple parties. That saves you not just time, but money, as well.
Oh, and while it saves you your sanity, as well, it simply gives you space to spot problem spots that later help with allocating budget. So however you choose to look at it, a managed IT partner helps you bring your operational processes to a whole new level, without breaking the bank.
#2 It Improves Operational Efficiency
We just mentioned the operational processes above. Let’s expand on that a bit.
One of the benefits an outsourced IT team gives you is great operational efficiency through:
- Maximizing value from resources at hand (a.k.a. the outsourced team)
- Improving workflow in-house
For instance, managed services that operate on a high level ease your mind and help you focus on your business by offering 24/7 services that are proactive and remote, providing onsite care of your IT infrastructure and preventing breaches and breakdowns.
#3 It Level-Ups Customer Satisfaction
If you’ve been researching IT services a bit, you can see how much it highlights customer experience. Why?
The emphasis on the customer experience in IT service management increases customer satisfaction. An expert team of IT professionals improves operational efficiency, which translates to better and more convenient customer service, boosting their positive experience with your company.
Popular and up-to-date IT service management methods allow for the minimization of technical difficulties that generate customer irritation. If an inevitable technical issue occurs, IT service management enables a company to recover fast while retaining a great customer experience.
#4 It Mitigates Risk
Risk is omnipresent. With that simple truth in mind, you can do your most to minimize it as much as you can. If a change is poorly planned, tested, and executed, then you, your team, your plans, and your customer’s needs can all suffer a blow.
IT service management can lower the chance of monumental glitches that can slow company growth and operations. A well-organized outsourced IT service management company approaches its work diligently. They formalize processes and policies, they have interconnected and efficient departments, and they are quick to provide you feedback and answer your queries. That also means they have proven release management procedures in place for the rollout of changes. That significantly lowers risk.
#5 It Offers Operational Transparency
If you’re running the show in your company, then you will greatly appreciate the visibility IT service management companies offer nowadays.
With IT service management, better transparency means that:
- The staff can see each other’s progress and task status
- Superiors and other management staff can monitor the ongoing and upcoming processes in a project
- You get insight into data and analytics
All of this lets you allocate time and capital better.
Final Word
For small businesses, enlisting an IT-managed service company frees up space to focus on your own tasks — like meeting customers’ needs and scaling your business.
And nowadays, with so much at stake if a cyberattack hits you, the need for effective cyber protection is on the rise — another area where IT services help, thanks to mitigating risk.
All in all, going down the IT-managed service route opens up space to deal with opportunistic challenges ahead.
