Extract the powers of your MSP and become an IT Super Hero

A recent article* described Managed Service Providers as Super Heroes and revealed their four special powers.

Our blog turns this notion of the MSP as a super hero on its head. We demonstrate how the IT department can use their MSP to elevate their own reputation across the business and achieve super hero status for themselves.

According to the article, there are 4 powers that make Managed Services Providers super heroes.

1. They have X-ray vision into your network

MSPs pay for a really important tool called a Remote Management and Monitoring tool and employ someone specifically to monitor and check on your network at regular intervals. So without being inside your server room or even logged into your server, they can determine when your systems are down or when important items need to be executed.

That’s great – because it means that unplanned down time is significantly reduced, business continuity is enhanced, and your end-user community receive higher levels of availability. The MSP can make sure that you have documented evidence of regular testing of the disaster recovery and business continuity plans, and that any required mitigation is placed on the risk register.

2. They have invisibility powers

Managed Services Providers can fix 90% of your issues without you even seeing them in the room. Not exactly because they’re invisible, but because they have remote support tools as well. The percentage of time that technicians spend on site with these types of tools is miniscule, which means that your helpdesk is almost always “invisible” – but in the best way possible.

So with the helpdesk working out of sight,  dealing with the “high volume” hassle of the day to day BAU IT, your internal IT team is freed up to spend more time on projects that will truly add value to the business. Your CEO finally gets to see some progress on those all-important IT transformation projects.

3. They have super strength.

An established MSP will only bring on employees with an absurd amount of brain strength. That comes in the form of decades of experience managing networks, varied experience in different industries and certifications in every program and application that they service.

Acquiring and retaining talent is a constantly moving target for your HR department. Let your MSP make that specialised investment on recruiting the brain power, carrying out the necessary on-boarding, training, security vetting, certification and on-going development. This will keep your HR department and your FD very happy as it will remove this heavy burden from their own remit.

4.  They can predict the future

A really great MSP is not just fixing your network, but they’re helping you plan predictively for your proactive IT refreshes like server, workstation and firewall replacements. They’re keeping up with changing technology and making recommendations like Office 365 migrations or cloud strategies.

Leverage the wealth of experience that an experienced MSP brings to the table. Use their ICAP in the form of IT Advisory services to help guide you through the myriad of technology offerings. Or maybe you just want an “outside-in” point of view to give you a more informed decision making process.

Conclusion

Relinquishing your services to a provider offers you a fabulous opportunity to change the way you deliver IT services by freeing up resources and operational costs. Use this inflexion point to drive business value projects back in to your customers. Don’t inhibit your organisation’s growth aspirations – enhance their IT agility. Be seen as a business enabler.