What Are Managed IT Service Providers And How Can They Improve Your Business Efficiency?

The revenue from global managed services will reach $356.24 billion by 2025.

The demand for these types of solutions has grown exponentially in recent years. This is because they carry some unique benefits for organizations.

In this post, you’ll learn:

• How managed IT service providers can help your business
• How much they may cost you
• How to choose the most suitable partner for you

What Are Managed IT Services?

Managed IT services enable businesses to delegate their IT operations to a third-party provider to ensure peak performance for their IT systems, improve business operations and cut expenses.

The primary goals of these types of solutions are to:

• Assist a business that has little or no internal capabilities
• Support experienced IT teams that have too many responsibilities

For a fixed monthly fee, organizations can outsource ongoing support where the vendor will be responsible for:

• Handling the organizations’ IT infrastructures and workstations
• Proactive monitoring and maintenance
• Managing the entirety or portions of their IT systems
• Providing priority support and user and device management

The partnership between the vendor and the client is agreed upon a Service Level Agreement (SLA), a contract that documents the exact services offered by the managed IT service providers, including availability, responsibilities and cost.

Top 10 IT Managed Services Companies Of 2021

These are the best IT managed services companies that can provide you with IT support:

#1: Switchfast Technologies

Switchfast Technologies is an Illinois-based IT consulting and managed services provider, focused on serving small businesses across different industries like healthcare and finance.

The agency offers long-term solutions to help organizations solve their challenges and maximize their ROI.

Their key services include:

• CIO services and IT consulting
• Cybersecurity
• Cloud integration and support
• Remote and onsite support
• Network setup and support
• Disaster recovery
• Internet and VoIP

Switchfast Technologies offers help desk support with 24/7/365 coverage.

Pricing:

The company’s solutions come at a custom cost. Request a quote on their website for more info.

#2: Cyberduo

Located in California, Cyberduo is a leading IT and cybersecurity consulting agency helping small and mid-sized businesses stay protected from internal and external cyber threats.

The agency has served over 500 clients across various sectors like healthcare, wellness and finance.

Cyberduo engineers are highly trained and certified engineers by vendors like Amazon, Microsoft and Cisco.

Their core services include:

• 24/7 systems monitoring and support
• <one minute issue response time
• Managed cloud security
• Managed endpoint protection
• Managed EDR
• Managed firewall
• Email security
• SIEM and log management

Pricing:

Contact the agency for a custom quote.

#3: Sirius Computer Solutions

Sirius Computer Solutions is a Texas-based IT company that serves businesses across sectors like education, government and finance.

The agency employs a certified team of sales and technical professionals who are committed to helping brands become more secure, innovative, agile and responsive to their industry needs.

Their solutions include:

• Managed infrastructure services
• Managed cloud services
• Advanced application services
• Managed security services
• Managed resiliency services
• Enterprise colocation and Sirius data centers
• Aggregation services

Sirius Computer Solutions has partnerships with many tech giants like Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, IBM and Lenovo.

Pricing:

Contact the agency for custom pricing.

#4: Magna5

Headquartered in Texas, Magna5 is a nationwide provider of managed IT services for clients across different industry segments, including finance, education and healthcare.

The agency offers a 24/7/365 fully managed operations center with highly trained, experienced and qualified resources.

Their core services include:

• Monitoring and management
• Data backups and disaster recovery
• Managed security
• Help desk
• IT consulting

Pricing:

To see Magna5’s pricing you need to request a custom quote on their website.

#5: CompuData

Based in Pennsylvania, CompuData specializes in managed IT solutions critical to business operational growth and profitability.

They offer customized solutions for various industries, including eCommerce, finance, technology and manufacturing.

Their service offerings are:

• Backup & disaster recovery
• EDR
• Hybrid Infrastructure
• Virtual desktops
• Patch management
• Managed network
• Managed security
• Managed support

Pricing:

CompuData offers custom pricing plans.

#6: Realnets

Realnets is an Illinois-based IT managed service provider that works with clients in the healthcare, manufacturing, nonprofit and public sectors.

For more than 20 years, the agency has been connecting organizations with their right technology to help them improve efficiency.

Some of their services include:

• 24/7 advanced performance monitoring
• Preventative maintenance and network
• Realtime optimization
• Security and backup management

Pricing:

Contact Realnets for a custom quote.

#7: ScienceSoft

ScienceSoft has over 31 years of experience in IT services and employs more than 700 IT specialists among which:

• Microsoft certified professionals
• AWS certified solutions architects
• AWS certified SysOps administrators
• AWS technical professionals
• Red Hat certified system administrators

They serve clients in a range of industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, insurance, retail and telecommunications.

The agency can assist you with:

• Managed application services
• Managed IT support
• Infrastructure managed services
• Managed security services
• Help desk services
• Managed software development
• Managed QA services

Pricing:

ScienceSoft offers three pricing plans:

• Basic
• Extended
• Extended Plus

The cost for each plan is customized, so you need to contact the agency for a quote.

#8: Framework IT

Framework IT is an Illinois-based provider of managed IT services whose proactive methodology brings efficient and scalable growth to businesses.

They work with organizations of all sizes and across various industries like healthcare, manufacturing, logistics and legal.

The agency’s managed services include:

• Support
• Strategy
• Security

Pricing:

Contact Framework IT for a custom quote.

#9: SugarShot

SugarShot is an IT agency based in California. It works with customers across different sectors like logistics and legal.

The company offers robust cybersecurity measures to maintain business continuity as well as 24/7/365 emergency response.

Their core services include:

• Servers, networks and cloud storage
• Disaster recovery
• Software and licensing
• Antivirus and network monitoring
• Server maintenance and IT support
• Security and compliance
• Machine and computer procurement
• Remote and onsite IT support
• IT consulting and intelligence

Pricing:

Contact SugarShot for a custom quote.

#10: TeachMD

TeachMD is a California-based company that helps small and medium-sized businesses with instant IT support and on-site IT services.

They work with clients across various sectors, including finance, nonprofit, legal and construction.

TeachMD can assist you with:

• Help desk
• 24/7 proactive monitoring
• On-site assistance
• Business intelligence

Pricing:

TeachMD offers custom plans, so you need to contact the agency for a quote.

What’s The Difference Between Managed IT Service Providers And Cloud Services Providers?

Cloud services refer to a range of IT services provided via a network, such as:

• Public cloud (the infrastructure is shared with other clients)
• Private cloud (uses an internal intranet and the client’s own IT team manages the cloud environment)
• Hybrid cloud (some environments are controlled by the client’s IT team and others by cloud services providers)

This is a type of partnership where the service providers are less concerned with their individual customers, and instead, they focus on controlling the infrastructure, applications and operating system of the cloud.

Managed IT services, on the other hand, provide clients with the kind of support that an in-house IT team would normally manage, including:

• Monitoring security
• Maintaining hardware
• Keeping software up-to-date

In this case, organizations have a specific server assigned to them and their managed IT service providers will monitor the server and solve any issues that may arise.

Simply put, in cloud services subscriptions, you pay for specific services, like renting a server, whereas with managed IT services, you get the desired service, like server support, but also a team who will manage your server.

Common Responsibilities Of IT Managed Services Companies

The number and type of services that an organization needs from IT managed services companies will normally depend on its internal resources and capabilities.

However, these are the most common types of support that these professional agencies offer:

• Help desk: This is a great solution for organizations that have no IT resources in-house. The service includes remote support, where a customer has access to an on-call IT specialist who can address issues quickly without affecting the organization’s productivity.
• Security management: Considering that more than 155.8 million individuals were affected by data exposures in 2020, data breaches show no signs of slowing down. This indicates that the need for data security is more important than ever, especially for organizations that store huge amounts of sensitive information. IT managed services companies can assist their clients with various security processes, including monitoring application compatibility, network intrusion detection and prevention, and virus and spam eradication.
• Disaster recovery and data backup: Organizations manage data critical to their business operations. However, disasters can happen, and managed IT service providers can come in handy. They can provide you with secure backups and data recoverability for both small files and entire databases, ensuring the safety and integrity of your vital information.
• Monitoring and maintenance: IT managed services companies monitor and maintain organizations’ systems and networks to ensure consistent uptime. This will keep their computers and technologies up-to-date, minimize the risk of financial loss and keep the business productivity at its peak.
• Reporting and analytics: Managed IT service providers provide their clients with detailed monthly reporting that measures the status and the health of their IT systems and networks. After they evaluate the performance of these systems, these experts also offer suggestions and recommendations for their improvement.

How Much Do Managed IT Services Cost?

There are several key factors that affect the cost of managed IT services, including:

• The type of services provided
• The level of involvement required from the managed IT services team
• The complexity of the client's infrastructure
• The industry the business is in
• The amount of data that needs to be backed up
• Whether the business already has an IT team

In general, businesses could pay between $100 and $150 per person per month.

However, if you need more advanced services, such as security and consulting, then the cost of managed IT service packages can jump at $200-$250 per month per person.

While per-user pricing is the most common, some IT managed services companies may also offer per-device costs.

In this case, the service provider will charge you based on the number of devices your business uses, including computers, laptops, mobile devices, switches and servers.

For this type of pricing, you will be charged based on the device type and can expect to pay between:

• $120-500 per server
• $30-120 per workstation
• $25-100 per firewall
• $10-50 per switch

5 Reasons To Use Managed IT Services

Whether you are a small business or a well-established company, managed IT services can help you stay focused on expanding your business core competencies and better cope with time-consuming IT projects.

These are the key reasons to call on professional IT managed services companies:

#1: Work With Highly Qualified Experts

One of the biggest benefits of working with managed IT service providers is getting access to an entire team of highly qualified and experienced IT professionals at a flat monthly rate.

These experts have the necessary training and certifications specific to your industry, so they are competent and comfortable working with specific systems suitable to your business.

In addition, IT managed services companies have access to the latest technology on the market that they can implement solutions easily and quickly.

So, they are knowledgeable and equipped to keep your systems up and running while unlocking their full potential.

#2: Get Support With Data Compliance And Security

The data companies manage is subject to a set of regulations created to keep it secure.

Organizations need to sift through the hundreds of current standards to see which ones apply to their specific businesses and industry and then meet various strict rules to ensure their data is maintained safely.

Some of the most widely applicable standards are:

• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
• Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX)

While some organizations are not familiar with these regulations, others don’t have the time to follow up with them due to their many obligations.

However, these rules are important to follow as they can minimize the risks associated with maintaining client data, credit card numbers and other vital information.

There are also certain consequences for violating these that might bring businesses a lot of trouble, like reputation damage and hefty fines.

This is where managed IT service providers can come in useful.

They understand and can handle the complexities of compliance, ensuring that your organization meets all of the requirements and regulations.

This will ultimately save your business a lot of money in the long run.

#3: Enjoy Predictable Monthly Costs

Investing in IT systems is not only expensive, but this practice also requires calculating upfront expenses.

However, predicting the cost can be difficult, especially as your business grows.

When outsourcing managed IT services, this cost is consolidated into a fixed set of operating expenses, meaning that the solutions provided by the vendor are calculated into your operational budget.

Because IT managed services companies typically operate with fixed monthly payment plans tailored to the organizations’ needs, the clients know how much and what they are paying for, based on a written contract.

So, you don’t have to worry about any unexpected costs or additional fees.

#4: Minimize Downtimes

The Global Server Hardware, Server OS Reliability study conducted by ITIC shows that 88% of organizations reported one hour of downtime to cost them $301,000 or more in 2020.

40% of them said that hourly downtime costs exceeded $1 million.

Servers can fall and computers can malfunction due to various reasons, including electrical disruptions and unintentional human error.

No matter the cause, downtime can cost businesses a lot of money. This indicates that organizations need to do their best to minimize system downtimes.

Managed IT service providers can make a difference since these experts know the best ways to reduce potential risks of system malfunctions.

They take a proactive approach to maintenance and have the know-how to identify and troubleshoot potential problems before they turn into a nightmare.

#5: Increased Efficiency And Competitiveness

Managing IT services in-house requires technical expertise and takes research, development and implementation time.

This not only increases costs but may also decrease employee productivity.

Working with managed IT service providers, on the other hand, is beyond any doubt cheaper and more effective. It means having your issues fixed quickly and keeping your systems healthy at all times.

These experts serve as an extension of your team. They are not only a resource you use when something breaks, but they are also a valuable partner who ensures peak operations performance, increased business efficiency and competitiveness.

How To Choose The Best Managed IT Service Provider

The success of your IT projects can often depend on whether you have suitable managed IT service providers that deliver services and capabilities critical to your business.

With so many options on the market, choosing the best company can be a tricky process. However, the following factors can help:

• Technical expertise and certifications: The company you hire should be competent and have the relevant expertise to handle your project. To ensure you have the right experts by your side, look for vendors with the right qualifications and certifications. This will help you understand how technically inclined they are but also discover their strengths and weakness areas.
• Industry experience: The experts who have previous experience in working with clients in the same or related industry can serve your business better. They have unique insights into the IT operations that organizations like yours run and can foresee potential issues successfully. This can be the key to cutting on costs and improving efficiency.
• References and reviews: You can verify these companies’ skills and reliability by asking them for some client references. IT projects involve handling highly sensitive information, so you need to make sure you hire a trustworthy partner before you hand over your IT functions. Checking their reviews is also recommended since it will give you additional information on their flexibility, transparency, communication skills and culture.
• Responsiveness: The response time of the prospective managed IT service providers is another key factor to consider. If some issues come up, you don’t want to wait a long time for a resolution because it may cost you money. No matter how big the problem is, these experts should be available on short notice and be able to provide solutions quickly. A good tip here would be for the provider to give upfront estimates of response times which will be included in your contract. This will give you an idea of how long it will take them to respond and fix issues in the future.
• Contract: The partnerships between organizations and managed IT services vendors rely on a Service Level Agreement (SLA). However, to ensure you get what you pay, make certain that the partner you hire offers a contract that includes all of the services your business needs. Other vital information that these legal documents should include are:
  • Plan of action when issues arise
  • Response time
  • Warranties and legal pointers
  • Performance agreement
  • Termination circumstances

15 Questions To Ask IT Managed Services Companies Before Hiring One

1. What are your core competencies?
2. What relevant certifications do you have?
3. Can you provide me with some client references?
4. Have you worked on similar projects?
5. How can you help me reduce my business costs?
6. What security services do you offer?
7. What is your disaster recovery plan?
8. What compliance frameworks do you support?
9. What is included in the legal agreement?
10. What sort of response time can I expect?
11. Do you offer after-hours support in case of emergencies?
12. How often will you do backups?
13. What is the estimated cost?
14. Can your service provision expand as my business needs grow?
15. Will you provide me with analytical reporting on the health of my IT environment and how often?

Takeaways On Managed IT Service Providers

Managed IT service providers can help your business better manage IT projects.

They offer various types of solutions and the most common are:

• Help desk
• Security management
• Disaster recovery and data backup
• Monitoring and maintenance
• Reporting and analytics

IT managed services companies may cost you between $100 and $250 per month per user.

The key reasons why you should invest in these type of agencies are:

• Work with highly qualified experts
• Get support with data compliance and security
• Enjoy predictable monthly costs
• Minimize downtimes
• Increased efficiency and competitiveness

To choose the best partner for your IT project, consider the following factors:

• Technical expertise and certifications
• Industry experience
• References and reviews
• Responsiveness