When faced with the decision of investing in a Managed IT service, it’s common to think about the return it can bring. You may not realise but there are a number of benefits that can translate into savings, when it comes to using a Managed IT service.
Meanwhile, I bet you are unaware that Managed Service Provider can assist in helping your business achieve a number of corporate initiatives?
According to the IBM white paper called Business Value of Managed Services, on IDC’s research, businesses need to focus “the right people and resources on strategic initiatives, in core areas, that’s their biggest challenge. In order, “to optimise productivity.”
The International Data Corporation or IDC for short researched the value of Managed IT services. And their research found some very welcomed savings for businesses that chose Managed IT services. For every 100 users, just under $400,000 can be saved on a yearly basis. Incredible savings!!
So, let’s look at their findings
The financial benefits of Managed IT
In many ways, Managed Service Provider, provides businesses the help they need to ensure the right people are getting the right resource, in the most effective ways. This in turn provides financial benefits, ensuring money is spent in the best way possible. Other corporate or common initiatives Managed IT Services support include optimising the use of the organisation existing resources, investing in new resources, improvements in customer satisfaction, staff satisfaction, and refining business flexibility and resilience.
Here are the 8 different ways, a Managed IT services can save you
1. User Productivity
I don’t need to tell you that your business needs the tools required to do business and to do it well. IT equipment and resources are there to enhance and improve the way you do business. If you haven’t got the right tools people cannot work. And time equals money. So, when your staff can’t work, you are losing money.
The IDC’s data, calculated that for every 100 users, unplanned downtime costs a business a huge $58,118. How did they get to this amount?
Firstly, the average employee loses about 12.4 hours a year due to the server going down.
Secondly, the average employee loses another 6.2 hours for network down time.
But by choosing a Managed Service Provider , they were able to reduce server and network downtime by 85%. Saving almost $50,000 per 100 employees.
2. Infrastructure Expenses
In a lot of ways, choosing a Managed IT provider reduces infrastructure costs. If you think of now being able to downsize the amount of infrastructure you have on-site by using their data centres, once they take control of your infrastructure. You’ll save on the hardware costs, energy costs and get some extra office space in the meantime.
In addition, you’ll save on items related to training, licensing and consulting. All of these are included in your monthly fees. Of course, these amounts aren’t savings made, but are all streamlined and managed via your Managed Service Provider. Likewise, savings were still achieved when it came to infrastructure costs. In the IDC study each business saved a massive $146,801 per 100 users every year. That equates to $1,468.01 per staff member, yearly.
3. IT Staff productivity
All to often we see IT staff fixing small user issues or glitchy equipment instead of focusing on their main responsibilities. As a result of choosing to outsource your IT, both the IT department and non-tech staff, can focus on the job at hand. Your productivity increases and everybody is working. So that translates into money!
4. Small Initial Investment
Because you’re not paying for a whole lot of hardware and software upfront, as investing in technology are done in increments, on a need basis. And then some costings are captured monthly rather than all at once. Furthermore a Managed Service Provider is a service that is an operational expense rather than a capital expenditure. So, there are less people trying to manage the technology in the business. In short, you’re not spending time and resources on top of costly hardware. Before you know it both time and money have been lost.
5. Predictable Monthly Charges
When you chose a Managed Service Provider such as Rock IT, you have the option to pay the same amount each month regardless of the amount you need. So, you know exactly what you’re up for every month. You’ll know exactly what to budget for, and the service you are paying for. Certainly, this means you can confidently put your money in other areas of the business. And keeping an eye on the costs is so much easier.
6. Immediate Expert- Level Support
We all know that IT issues can disrupt productivity and put your projects on hold. And time is money. A Managed Service Provider offers expert-level advice in an instant, ensuring the smoother running of your business. Rather than time wasted by your staff trying to figure out what’s gone wrong or struggling to fix it. Most importantly, Managed Service Providers have a pool of experts on hand. They’re ready to have the issue fixed, often within minutes so your business up and running again, at full capacity.
7. Economy of Scale
As you grow your business, your IT support needs also grow. What once worked may longer be suitable. You’ve outgrown it. A Managed Service Provider, gives you the flexibility to scale your business up or down. Simply have a conversation with your provider. For instance, if you’re recruiting new staff, your Managed Service provider can support you in on onboarding them. And as technology moves so fast, a particular application may no longer suit. A Managed Service Provider will easily clean out those older apps, and recommend new.
So, if you need flexibility a Managed Service Provider, is capable – of moving up and down to suit your business needs. Certainly, useful in the early stages and during the times of notable growth. When things need to change, instantly.
8. Overall Business Productivity
To sum up, a Managed IT service can and does increase the overall business productivity. It does this by creating an IT condition that is reliable, scalable and well-supported, that positively effects the bottom line. IDC calculates that a business can save $229,511, per year just in productivity.
Now back to ROI
Clearly, we can see cost savings across the board. But what about the cost? The investment per business on average was $274,326 per 100 users, going by the IDC study. Which saw a return on that dollar amount within 6 months. The ROI was a huge 224% on a 3 year analysis. See the full study and results here.
But before you chose to use a Managed Service Provider it’s worth assessing if it aligns with your business needs and objectives.
Benefits of Managed IT Services
Therefore, whatever your business and no matter the size, a Managed IT Provider can really offer some great benefits. And these benefits are definitely- worth considering, especially since they can have positive effects on both your productivity and your bottom line. And think of all the money you’ll save that can be re-invested in your business in other areas. Afterall, it could be just what you need to take your business to the next level.
If you’re thinking about making the change, contact our Managed IT specialists today – contact us
