Operating a small- to medium-sized business means you have to deal with more competition than larger companies. That goes double in a city like Tulsa, where your business depends on cultivating positive word of mouth to maintain a competitive edge. One proactive step business owners can take no matter what industry they work in is partnering with a managed service provider to improve overall efficiency—not just in your I.T., but throughout operations.
Here are a few ways managed services can help you to stay at the top of your game:
REACHING NEW CUSTOMERS
Reaching out to new website visitors and subscribers is how you grow your client base, and partnering with a managed service provider (MSP) can make it easier to reach those elusive new customers.
For example, an MSP can provide cloud-based traffic management services aimed at improving web performance by sending users’ DNS (Domain Name System) requests to the appropriate data center, thus reducing load times. Network monitoring and maintenance are also services that can help you keep your website competitive by ensuring your in-house network is running as smoothly as possible.
Traffic management solutions prevent outages by ensuring website availability while updates are being performed, as well as keeping your site running in the event of a data center outage by rerouting traffic to a new data center, content delivery network (CDN), or cloud provider. With consistently fast website performance, first-time users are more likely to stay on your site and learn more about what you have to offer.
IMPROVING CYBERSECURITY
This December, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter joined a bipartisan commission aimed at protecting consumers from synthetic identity theft, as reported by Patch.com. Synthetic identity theft refers to the practice of combining real social security numbers with false names and other information.
According to a recent report by the Aite Group, this type of fraud caused $820 million in losses in 2017 alone. Identity fraud is a major concern no matter where your business is located, and a managed service provider can help you take steps to protect both customer and employee data.
MSPs provide training to help employees identify and resist the most common types of cybersecurity threats, such as phishing scams and questionable emails containing worms or other malicious software. They can also help you meet compliance guidelines if you work in an industry such as healthcare or finance with strict compliance standards for security.
An MSP can help you assess security risks and provide suggestions about how to deal with them, as well as managing firewalls and security permissions. Make sure your MSP has successfully helped others in your field with their cybersecurity concerns.
ASSISTING WITH DISASTER RECOVERY
Tulsa’s News On 6 reported on December 27 that a rescue dog training facility in Grady County sustained damage to its roof due to high storm winds. Fortunately, none of the dogs were injured, but the incident shows that natural disasters can strike any company at any time. That means your business’s vital data could be lost if the facility housing your computers or servers were to be damaged in a storm or a fire.
Disaster recovery is one of the most vital services MSPs provide for their clients; it is often referred to as DRaaS, or “disaster recovery as a service.” These services help companies achieve their recovery time and recovery point objectives by backing up data on remote cloud servers so it can be accessed from any location.
A managed service provider can help your company to create and implement a business continuity and disaster recovery plan designed to minimize damage and keep your business operational in the event of a data breach or natural disaster.
Uncertainty is a constant, whether your business is a brick-and-mortar storefront in Tulsa, Oklahoma, or a virtual network of employees across the globe. Of course, there’s more to disaster recovery than just keeping the lights on. Your MSP can help you situate your business so you’ll be in a position to fulfill core responsibilities even if the worst should happen.
MANAGING NETWORK PERFORMANCE
MSPs improve network performance in a number of ways. First, 24-hour network monitoring allows I.T.
professionals to spot any connectivity problems before they affect your business. With a faster, more efficient network, your company can improve overall productivity and devote more time to helping clients and customers, and less to dealing with aggravating network outages.
Also, thanks to remote network monitoring, problems with your network connectivity can be resolved quickly—even if your provider is miles from Tulsa.
An MSP can also assist with your network needs if your business is in the process of expanding. For instance, your provider can configure the network to handle increased traffic. Switching to cloud-based servers is another major change many businesses are now embarking upon—as many as 93% of companies now incorporate some form of cloud computing.
Whether you’re opening a second location, moving to the cloud, or incorporating IoT devices, a managed service provider will ensure that your network is optimized for your needs.
COST SAVING
Switching to managed services is associated with an almost instantaneous return on investment, especially for organizations with an existing I.T. department. With those employees free to focus on projects that improve core competencies, they’ll be happier and more productive. When your MSP handles everyday headaches like network connectivity problems, your I.T. department can devote their energies to projects that will help your business succeed in the long term.
According to CompTIA, 46% of companies surveyed were able to cut their annual I.T. costs by 25% or more, and 62% of respondents said they plan to increase their use of managed services in the coming year. With so many local Tulsa businesses planning for ways to save on operations costs in the new year, managed services offer a valuable means of reducing expenditures.
Business owners need to stay informed about ways to stay competitive in the coming year and beyond. For more information about how an MSP can help your company stay ahead of the curve, call 844-44-JMARK, email us at jmarkit@JMARK.com or visit the Contact Us page of our website.
