IT Managed Services: What It Is and How to Choose the Right Provider

Managed IT services are the information technology services being provided by the third party.

A managed IT services provider takes care of your IT infrastructure and equipment on a contract basis. In other words, you outsource your IT management and computer network technical support to the third party service provider, rather than employing full-time staff for that. It is a service model in which you rent out the services or infrastructure rather than purchasing them.

They are quite popular among small businesses which lack robust IT infrastructure and IT staff.

There are many managed IT support companies in Singapore. However, it is important to choose the right one that can go well with your budget and needs.

Here’s how…

Make Sure to Choose a Proactive IT Support Provider:

A proactive IT support provider assesses your systems for potential breakdowns and performs preventive maintenance.

Simply put, they minimize or prevent the occurrence of the issues in your devices. Continual monitoring and proactive support are likely to be cost effective at this point than simply fixing the issues when they occur.

This way, they keep your systems up and running for a long time. They are important for you especially if you face a continuous problem with your IT equipment.

After all, rather than waiting to call in a professional when a breakdown occurs and you’re losing time and money, choose a proactive service provider to prevent the issues from occurring in the first place.

They work by monitoring your network for issues, fixing small issues before they lead to bigger problems, and keep your systems working smoothly.

It leads to increased productivity, less downtime, and more convenience.

Managed IT support is ideal for small to medium sized corporations with 10-60 computer personals.

Ask About Their Data Backup and Recovery:

There are many risks that can cost your data, from accidental deletion, employee’s mistake, malware, cybercrimes to breakdown. This is why you should look for a managed IT services with solid data recovery strategy.

Ask them how they store your data along with creating its backup? How will you be able to restore your data in case you have lost it?

These important points will help you choose the right one for your IT needs.

Being able to Scale as You Grow:

Is your IT support vendor able to pace up with your growth? For example, you need more advanced services and tool as your business grows. While you can change your IT service provider any time, an existing partner is familiar with the ins and outs of your infrastructure and growth as well. Therefore, it is great to work with an IT support vendor who can support your business right from the start.

Simply put, the vendor should support your future growth.

Security Measures:

The last thing you worry about when utilizing third-party IT services is weak security. Data breaches are all too common, with several companies falling prey to cyber-attacks each year. Besides, a business has to deal with phishing scams, ransomware and various techniques hackers use to get into data. Make sure to choose the one who is best in cybersecurity.

Ask them what cybersecurity technologies they have in place. Although the use of any specific technology might not guarantee that the vendor will be able to prevent the attack, it can give you a fair idea of how well-equipped they are to tackle a variety of situations.

Besides, they should be certified in those technologies. However, they should understand your specific risk so they can make create sound strategies.

Weigh up the Advantages of the Vendor’s Specializations:

Not all IT support providers are equals. That’s why you should look for the appropriate skillsets being found in the specialists. They are the experts who are efficient at identifying needs that are customized according to your business. Cybersecurity specialists, for example, can provide valuable insights and solutions to back mission-critical issues.

Therefore, if your company has specific requirements, look for the providers with the related specific staff and skills.

Availability:

You don’t work round the clock, but your IT network needs to and so does your managed IT support provider. While looking for IT support vendor, make sure your provider has a 24/7 availability. Besides, they should respond quickly to your concerns.

So these are the tips to choose the right IT managed service provider. What do you think? Please let us know by commenting below.

About Ng Wei Khang

Ng Wei Khang, CEO at a Singapore based IT consultancy company, APIXEL IT Support, has been operational for over 8 years from now. Apixel provides fixed price IT Support Services with unlimited packages that includes small business server setup, Cloud Solution Configuration, Network management and Data security & Theft prevention. The company also provides expert IT consultancy to SMEs in Singapore.

View all posts by Ng Wei Khang →

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *