What is ITaaS? And why does it matter?

The way organisations purchase and consume IT and software services is changing…and there is a popular shift away from traditional models of purchasing and maintenance towards subscription based delivery models. Opex is now the new norm. Mid-market organisations and large enterprises alike are now demanding the latest technologies and features, inherent security, predictable costs and the highest levels of service – delivered under a subscription model. Which is where ITaaS comes in. IT as a Service allows you to outsource key aspects of your IT operations to a third party. Why would you do that? Here are 5 great reasons.

24x7x365 support coverage

Modern business never stops. Systems need to be up-and-running 24x7x365 to serve a demanding customer base. But that also means employing enough people to man the company helpdesk round the clock. If your business comes from a traditional 9 to 5 working day, that could mean tripling headcount. Which could mean a threefold increase in the IT wage bill. ITaaS allows you to outsource many support and maintenance functions. You benefit from 24x7x365 coverage and the ITaaS provider picks up the recruitment bill.

Access to in-demand skills

The IT industry is currently experiencing some severe skills shortages, particularly in disciplines like security. Your business cannot afford to go without these experts – but it cannot afford to pay the spiralling salaries attached either. ITaaS providers have their own team of experts covering a broad range of disciplines. Again, they shoulder the cost of hiring experts, while subscribers (you) get to enjoy the benefits of a highly-trained IT team, available on demand.

Proactive maintenance

The in-house IT team is often caught up in fighting fires or trying to complete strategic projects. This leaves little time for fault-finding performance issues or carrying out the routine maintenance tasks that will prevent more serious problems – including outages. ITaaS services – particularly those from Acora – include proactive maintenance as standard. As well as dealing with immediate issues raised via the helpdesk, engineers are constantly monitoring your systems, looking for the warning signs that precede a more major problem. Often these problems are fixed long before your in-house IT team realise there was a problem.

Boosted security

Applying security patches and software updates is another time-consuming task that is often overlooked – or delayed unnecessarily. “Keeping the lights on” consumes the time and attention of your IT staff, so other tasks are incorrectly relegated in importance. Using ITaaS, your business can call upon additional resources to apply these updates without tying up your own team. In this way, you can help to boost the baseline security of your systems, prevent data loss and avoid becoming a victim of cybercrime.

Subscription pricing

Outsourcing using ITaaS is incredibly cost-effective. As outlined above, you can prevent over-resourcing without compromising the quality and efficiency of the service provided to your stakeholders for instance. And like other “aaS” services, ITaaS is billed on a subscription basis. This means all support services are bundled into a single monthly fee – far cheaper than paying out multiple salaries for a complete in-house team.  It also means that your business can begin and end support contracts much more quickly too.

What more can you expect from ITaaS?

The five benefits outlined here are relatively generic – every business can expect to gain from them. Due to the unique nature of your business and its operations, there will be other advantages available – get in touch today to learn what they are.