Without the right processes, it’s impossible to drive business innovation. Increased costs, problematic change management, and underfunded IT security can all hamper progress. In fact, 63 percent of SMEs cite cash flow as the main barrier to growth.
But what if you could outsource your IT and focus purely on growth and innovation? That’s exactly what managed IT services are for. Let them improve cash flow by reducing costs. Let them keep your business secure and manage change. All you need to do is watch on as your outsourced IT team delivers the exact functionality you need to reach your business goals.
Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of managed IT services.
Managed IT services free up time to focus on growth and innovation
Working with a managed IT service provider will reduce the time and money your IT team spends managing and maintaining core systems. This enables you to concentrate on business growth and innovation. It’s a challenge to stay on top of technical issues 24/7, so why not let someone else handle it?
Downtime costs the average UK business 3.6 million pounds a year. But managed IT services can improve the availability of your servers and increase the time you have available to develop your business.
“The need to innovate is what drove me to a decision to outsource,” says Melody Collet, COMDA’s senior vice president of IT & Operations.
They scale with you
It can be hard to find the right talent to sustain business growth, especially for in-demand IT hires. However, if you use managed IT services, you have the flexibility to grow your business without the restrictions of manually building your IT department. Collet continues,
“When we began our transformation, I knew I needed help from the outside, I couldn’t build an internal team fast enough.”
Don’t let the UK-wide IT skills gap prevent you from accelerating your digital transformation efforts. An outsourced department will handle the day to day activity while you focus on creating the next big idea.
IT security is paramount for a growing business
When your business is growing, it’s inevitable that you’ll become a bigger target for corporate hackers. The average cost of a breach is 2.4 million pounds, so don’t underestimate the importance of IT security.
A managed IT service provides the extra level of security that a growing business needs. An example of this is backup and disaster recovery solutions tailored to meet your needs and objectives.
The rate of IT innovation demands specialists
To assure growth and innovation, it’s important your business uses cutting-edge IT tools. However, it takes a specialist department like an IT service provider to stay abreast of industry developments. Chatbots, AI, machine learning – these are all difficult concepts to integrate without the right level of expertise.
With experience in IT specialisation, managed service providers are best-placed to road-test IT innovations and then bring them to life in your business. Consistently re-training your IT department (which is costly, difficult and time-consuming) is the only way to do this in-house.
Re-invest cost savings in growth and innovation
Cutting costs is a key tool for freeing up the time and money needed for growth and innovation. It’s also another key benefit of working with a managed IT service provider. According to Global Cloud Managed Services Market Insights, IT service providers offer
“Less costly alternatives to traditional on-site management services to handle data access and storage.”
Enjoy the cost savings managed IT services pass on, so you can invest more wisely in the future of your business.
Give your business the room to grow
Only 50 percent of businesses were ‘innovation active’ in the UK government’s recent report. And if your business isn’t innovating and growing, it could meet an untimely end.
Using managed IT services can help you keep your business in good health. In an age of constant disruption, ensuring your IT remains safe, flexible and cost-effective will give your company the room it needs to grow and prosper.
