Businesses are leaning on managed IT services more than ever to handle key elements of their IT functions, but they’re doing it for different reasons than in the past. A few years ago, cost savings were the primary driver of Managed IT service adoption. Today, cost savings are viewed as bare essentials and business operators are looking for additional benefits, such as enhancing efficiency and generating new revenue.

Demand for information is growing, and the ways businesses and their customers use it have exploded.  Cloud technologies, smart phones and social networks are all woven together in an intricate and complicated dance that has users accessing, harnessing and leveraging their communications in complicated and evolving ways to meet their individual needs. The result?  An IT landscape that’s growing rapidly beyond its traditional behind-the-scenes technical support role.  As new capabilities and more productive means of interacting with colleagues, partners and customers clamor for ever more rapid adoption, businesses are faced with an increasingly dizzying array of technologies and platforms that place a premium on their ability to integrate new systems and have the “smart hands” to support and maintain them.

Doing all of this in-house has become a costly time drain that strains IT personnel and distracts them from higher-value projects such as custom app development or cloud initiatives. To offset this strain, organizations are turning to managed services firms to handle many of the time-consuming and repetitive IT tasks related to email hosting, server management, firewalls, storage, network monitoring, and backup and recovery, among others.

Even security has evolved from being a roadblock to a driver of managed IT service adoption, according to the 5th Annual Trends in Managed Services report by CompTIA, a leading tech association for IT professionals. Nowadays, organizations rely upon managed IT providers to improve their security posture and compliance levels. This is especially important for organizations operating in the regulated education, healthcare and financial sectors, but it also affects a much broader world of small and medium-sized business (SMB) owners that offer e-commerce on their websites and are subject to PCI security standards. Falling short on the due diligence required to provide adequate security can have disastrous impacts.

SMBs are undergoing digital transformation just as surely as their larger competitors.  Data is a critical asset today that can’t be ignored because of its insights into key business metrics, marketing and customer interactions. Protecting that asset has become paramount, as a data loss can happen at any time and have a devastating impact. Working with a company like TPx to protect critical information from internal and external threats, and developing a strong business continuity plan can minimize downtime, safeguard computer systems and ensure that data remains accessible should the worst happen.

While the drivers for managed IT service adoption are changing, so is the conversation. In most scenarios, we’re talking less about the technology and more about how we can help customers advance business objectives. To that end, TPx has developed a suite of eight managed IT services that can be mixed and matched as needed by customers to support their unique business imperatives:

• ITx for WAN – Monitoring and management of SD-WAN network
• ITx for LAN – Monitoring and troubleshooting of core network infrastructure/equipment
• ITx for Office – Microsoft Office 365 and managed services
• ITx for Datacenter – Colocation of IT applications
• ITx for Network Security – State-of-the-art firewall monitoring and management
• ITx for Servers – Monitoring and management of server environments
• ITx for Workstations – Monitoring and management of user workstations
• ITx for Backups – Server backup and recovery service

These innovative solutions are managed by a TPx team with more than 50 years of experience managing IT services.  A dedicated team of TPx experts composed of top ex-military, defense and cyber security experts supports them 24×7 from our state-of-the-art Security Operations Center (SOC) in St. Louis.

Looking beyond internal resources helps companies manage the unprecedented pace of IT evolution.  Managed IT service providers like TPx use the best technologies and equipment on the market and are continually upgrading it to unburden customers from constantly having to play catch-up. The right Managed Services Provider can enhance security and continuity, reduce the weight of compliance and ever-changing regulations, and drive down IT support costs.

The value proposition for using managed IT services is simple – it lets companies that wish to remain competitive focus on their core business objectives: generating leads, growing sales, keeping customers happy and tapping new sources of revenue instead of having to focus on growing their technical staffs. Today’s managed IT is a critical part of successful business strategies that give companies the resources and focus they need to compete effectively and grow.

About the Author

Matt Mair is a Senior Product Marketing Manager for ITx Managed Services. His role includes marketing and communications for TPx’s suite of managed IT offerings including Managed SD-WAN, LAN Monitoring, Office 365, Workstation and Servers Management, Colocation and Server Backup solutions. Matt holds an MBA from Michigan State University’s Broad School of Business and resides in Los Angeles.