Managed service providers (MSPs) are in the limelight for helping businesses cope with the challenges of the pandemic over the past year and a half. With the transition to remote work putting many small and medium-sized companies in a tight spot, MSPs worked around the clock to make this transition as smooth as possible for their clients.
Managed service providers either take over their clients’ entire IT operations or select IT or business functions, and oversee their smooth functioning on a day-to-day basis in exchange for a fee. Companies, for their part, turn to managed service providers to manage functions they aren’t staffed to support. Many small businesses, like doctor’s offices and local gyms, for example, have no IT staff on the payroll.
What Are Managed Services?
A managed service is any business function that an MSP manages and executes for its customers. It is often a non-revenue generating function of an organization that runs in the background, such as workforce management, payroll, IT management, etc.
But more often than not, when we talk about managed services, we usually mean managed IT services. After all, IT infrastructure is the backbone of any organization, big or small. Administering an internal IT environment is not only costly but also a time-consuming job. It involves finding the right talent and regularly investing in tools and services to deliver and manage IT services.
MSPs remotely monitor and manage a company’s IT infrastructure, usually for a monthly subscription fee. Depending on the customer’s requirements, managed service providers can either oversee a single IT function, like network monitoring or cybersecurity, or oversee the entire IT environment. Think hardware, software, networks, communications systems, cybersecurity, help desk, problem resolution and even strategic planning for the future.
