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Managed IT Services or Internal IT Department?

When it comes to deciding on an internal IT Department or hiring a vendor (Managed Services Provider), what do you choose and why? Is one option better than the other?

Managed IT Services

Proven Reliability. IT Excellence. 

Managed IT Services or Internal IT Department?

 

With the number of hacking attempts, phishing scams, and natural errors that can occur with technology, there is always a need for IT and personnel to run it – this is clear.

The “industry” of hacking and cybercrime has boomed in the last 2 years, increasing the need for fast response times and security no matter the size of your organization. Gone are the days of just setting up email and file shares on a computer and forgetting about it.

When it comes to deciding on an internal IT Department or hiring a vendor (Managed IT Services Provider), what do you choose and why? Is one option better than the other?

 

The Role of an IT Department

In an overall sense, the IT Department is responsible for providing the infrastructure for automation, access to data, and collaboration. It implements, monitors, and maintains the network and operating systems to keep them secure and prevent downtime.

They are instrumental in assisting other areas of the company by providing them the functionality they need to properly execute their tasks in a secure way. Your IT personnel research and purchase the hardware and software that they then configure for your workforce. They also handle any issues and troubleshoot problems as they arise.

The IT Department should also work with executives and legal advisors in defining policies regarding access, sharing, security, and data retention. They implement and enforce the governance policies and necessary standards to keep the workforce and organization in compliance.

 

The Role of an MSP

An MSP (Managed Service Provider) is a company hired to act as your company’s IT Department or collaborate with them to fill in the gaps.

Depending on the level of involvement you define, they handle it all or take care of whatever is defined in your agreement. It may be that you need help monitoring your network and keeping it secure, managing licenses (such as Microsoft, Office 365, Citrix, Cylance, etc.) and software, supporting Office 365, hosting your accounting systems, or providing user support.

It may seem odd to give outside source access to your servers and protected information. Here is where reputation and experience come into play. This company must be reputable and reliable, and you should be able to verify this is the case.

Managed IT Services are usually contracted on a yearly multi-year agreement that lays out the full delivery and scope of work included for your IT network.

 

Managed IT Services VS an IT Department

Usually, as a company grows, more resources can and need to be allotted for IT. Growth and IT go together.

An internal IT Department sounds nice. All access and information are kept internal. There is some comfort in knowing they are employed by your organization. BUT, there are three major limits:

  1. Employees with IT expertise are pricey.
  2. An IT guy cannot be an expert in all things IT, so you need a whole team.
  3. When emergencies and issues occur, users may experience downtime and long waits since extra resources are not available.

With a Managed Service Provider handling your IT, you get a broad range of expertise based on the engineers employed by the MSP company. There is an entire team available for day-to-day operations and emergencies to make sure users are taken care of quickly and downtime is minimized. In most cases, you pay less for this benefit than you would for your own IT Department.

In general, it costs more to employ the amount of manpower needed in an IT Department than to outsource this service. A good MSP will get to know your users and systems and feel like a part of your team.

Here is the beauty of it. You can have the best of both worlds.

 

Managed Services AND Internal IT

Growth, security, monitoring, backups, helpdesk. In-house controls and cost savings. All the benefits. This would be an executive’s ideal scene.

With no regard to your business size, you can have both: your internal IT Department and Managed IT Services. Here is why.

An MSP has all the tools to handle all scenarios within the current “state of affairs” in the cyber world. They are up to date with current fixes and patches, what is happening and how to overcome any issues – this is where they are a secure bet.

You can focus your internal IT Department to handle more specific affairs while they collaborate with your MSP to monitor and protect your networks, service your users, or do special projects.

In the event of a crisis, man-made or natural, you will have your own IT and a group of specialized engineers backing you up to recover in no time.

In terms of cost-efficiency, your CFO will love the chance to reduce costs by choosing Managed Services. Usually saving an average of 25%.

 

Managed IT Services with Sequentur

As an executive, you don’t want headaches and you don’t want to be bothered with technicalities. You need practical solutions, and you need them quick – that’s what Sequentur provides: peace of mind, reliable IT support, quality service, and, of course, no downtime.

We also know “one size fits all“ is not the right approach, and that is precisely why we have tailor-made IT Services for small businesses, mid-sized companies, and enterprises – with or without an internal IT department.

We have been getting the job done right since 2007 and our current clientele is a testament to our top-notch service and the expertise we have in all IT-related needs.

This is what you will get too. Reach out and get started.

Tampa Bay Office: (813) 489-4122, Washington D.C. Office: (800) 959-5731

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