journey. However, it’s far from an easy one. New challenges constantly spring up both internally and externally, and you’ll need to be prepared to handle whatever comes your way. Thankfully though, you don’t have to do it all alone. Instead, consider small business managed services as a solution.
“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.”
-Halfrod E. Luccock-
While a long-term partnership with a managed service provider (MSP) might sound like a step your business isn’t ready for, this is a widely held misconception. In fact, partnering with an MSP is the exact type of play that can differentiate your organization and put you miles ahead of your competition.
Developing a strategic partnership with a managed service provider will help you cover gaps in your operations, allowing you to focus on the most important aspect of your business: delivering an excellent product or service.
Partnering with an MSP early in the life of the organization will set your small business up for long-term success by establishing a foundation of comprehensive strategies that align daily operations with future goals.
Download Impact's client success case study showcasing how a start-up title company became a Chicago industry leader through a strategic and comprehensive MSP partnership.
What Are Managed Services for Small Businesses?
There are a wide variety of managed services that businesses use all around the world. With so many options falling under this umbrella, it’s good to have a general definition of what managed services actually are.
Managed services are ones that an organization chooses to outsource entirely. This includes strategic planning, implementation, anticipation of future needs and trends, and ongoing maintenance. For instance, cybersecurity is often an area that organizations address through a managed service provider because they lack the expertise or budget (or sometimes both) to develop a comprehensive solution and hire the necessary personnel internally.
By partnering with an MSP though, an organization can rest assured that they have a team of experts to rely on who won’t leave any gaps in their cybersecurity efforts, without needing to hire an entire department yourself.
Cybersecurity services are just one of the many managed services from which your small business can benefit.
Another good example is in the digital transformation space. It’s more important than ever to offer a high-caliber customer experience through connected and mobile-friendly platforms. Choosing to partner with an MSP when working through your digital transformation roadmap will help you meet your audience where they are and create seamless workflows for your employees.
Some Benefits of Partnering with an MSP
Comprehensive managed service providers also understand how several managed services can fit together. They will work with you directly to build a custom set of solutions based on the specific needs of your organization.
There are many benefits that stem from partnering with an MSP. One of the strongest arguments in favor of an MSP partnership is that it offers organizations complete operational coverage in vital areas that otherwise go neglected, without over-stressing the budget or hiring a full team.
Complete operational coverage includes access to a team of experts, strategic planning and consulting, and ongoing monitoring. Whether it’s marketing and branding, digital transformation, cybersecurity, or anything else; partnering with a managed service provider puts you on a path toward fulfilling your business goals, no matter how lofty they may be.
Another major benefit small businesses can reap from an MSP partnership is embedded in the ongoing monitoring stage. The rate at which technology is advancing makes it almost impossible for any organization to keep up with on its own.
However, by partnering with an MSP and its staff of experts, your organization can sift through industry noise more effectively and pinpoint the most valuable tech initiatives that are worth pursuing and implementing.
Common Managed Services
As you can imagine at this point, almost anything can be a managed service. That doesn’t mean it needs to be managed in your organization, though. Conduct an internal audit to identify weak points in your small business that could be improved through an MSP partnership.
After conducting your internal review, start looking for an MSP whose offerings are aligned with the needs of your small business.
Below are a few of the most popular services that small businesses seek through an MSP partnership to stay relevant and competitive in the modern digital world.
IT
As mentioned earlier, IT services are becoming more and more important for businesses to utilize almost weekly. With more and more operations happening digitally and a larger than ever consumer base that spends their time (and money) in online environments software, platforms that seamlessly work together and networks that can handle large user volumes are invaluable in the modern workforce.
Similarly, your network needs to be fast and clutter-free while also scaling alongside your business.
Partnering with an MSP for your IT solutions guarantees you’ll be able to meet the needs of your workforce and customers in the digital era.
Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity came up earlier, but as a managed service, it truly does go hand-in-hand with IT solutions.
It’s imperative that employees have access to the company network from wherever they may be working, but it’s even more important that your network is protected from malicious users.
Cybersecurity is an ever-evolving market and requires intense technical knowledge. An MSP partnership reduces the cost of building this expertise in-house and ensures that your cybersecurity standards will always be up to date with industry best practices.
Marketing and Branding
As a small business owner, there are likely areas you still feel a little uncertain about. How you tell your story, market your products and services, and speak to your audience might be a complete work in progress.
Bringing an MSP into your marketing and branding strategy can catapult your efforts forward and ingrain modern marketing best practices into the foundational fiber of your small business.
Managed marketing is particularly beneficial because the usual alternative for small businesses is working with an agency on a one-off project. When doing that, agencies won’t see it fits appropriately into your overall strategy, do the research to understand how it will impact your audience, or monitor performance in the real world to adjust as needed the way a managed marketing team will.
Print and Documents
Despite the digital era leading to rampant technical integration on a global scale, printing remains a major operation for many businesses today.
However, many organizations are still relying on outdated printer and office equipment that don’t do their materials, or their brand, justice. These outdated machines could also be costing more money, misusing funds that could be spent more effectively elsewhere.
Partnering with a managed service provider to address your printing operations will bring your document practices into the 21st century, help reduce unnecessary office waste, and outfit your office with the modern printing technology it needs.
Digital Transformation
With rapid advancements in technology, it’s simply not feasible for you to stay on top of the latest tech trends while also successfully running and operating your organization.
Even so, being digitally friendly is almost non-negotiable in today’s market. Letting experts guide you through the digital transformation process boosts the chance of success, eliminates the guesswork, and helps generate legitimate buy-in from leadership and employees alike. This makes digital transformation a great area for a small business to seek managed services.
Wrapping Up on Small Business Managed Services
Managed service providers sometimes get the reputation of specifically catering to larger businesses. Think the Fortune 500 list. In reality, though, a comprehensive and high-quality MSP can make the perfect partner for a small business looking to round out its fundamental strategies or supplement its in-house expertise in any given area.
An MSP like Impact Networking will work with you directly to custom-fit a set of solutions that attend to the specific needs of your organization and align with your ultimate vision.
There’s no cookie-cutter formula for running and growing a small business. Download the Janus Title client success case study from Impact to see the effects of developing and integrating a custom set of managed solutions from the get-go.
