Raleigh is rapidly cementing its position as an innovation and business hub that attracts talent from all corners of the country. Besides tech giants like Citrix, Cisco, Red Hat, and IBM, Raleigh is home to a host of small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) employing a significant number of workers in the city.

With the Research Triangle Park providing a solid foundation for the city’s economic prosperity and innovation, businesses need to tap into these resources to foster entrepreneurial growth. One way of doing this is by taking advantage of managed IT services. 

Having the right IT infrastructure and support is essential for any business that wants to scale up. If you outsource your IT services to a Managed Service Provider (MSP), you get access to high-end tools and services and skilled support whenever you need it. If you’re not familiar with what managed IT services entail, let us break that down for you in this article.

What Are Managed IT Services?

Managed IT services involve outsourcing critical IT tasks to a third party. You may hire a managed IT service provider to take charge of some or all of your IT needs, such as network monitoring and security, infrastructure management, cloud storage, data backup and recovery, authentication, and system administration.

You can choose fully managed IT services for your on-demand IT tasks, or adopt hybrid managed IT services where your in-house IT team takes care of some tasks, and you outsource others to an IT service provider. Whichever approach you take, managed IT services can offer a range of benefits to Raleigh businesses. 

What Does a Managed IT Service Provider Offer Raleigh Businesses?

Often, businesses hire Raleigh IT Support providers when they lack the budget for an in-house IT team with the expertise to tackle their IT needs. Businesses may also lack funds to purchase state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, opting to contract an MSP to access the infrastructure in a more cost effective manner.

Your MSP doesn’t necessarily have to be located in Raleigh itself, as they can provide IT services remotely through cloud-enabled systems. Here are some of the IT services that your MSP may offer:

Managed Security Services

With the increase in the magnitude of cyber security threats, you may consider engaging your managed service provider for malware protection, crucial cyber security updates, or patch management. Most MSPs provide these services remotely and cost-effectively.

Managed Support Services

This entails your staff contacting a remote IT support center when faced with challenges related to programs, protocols, prompts, and IT systems. An IT help desk offers advice, guidance, and solutions for fixing specific IT problems to minimize your downtime and increase your employees’ productivity.

Managed Software as a Service

Your MSP can manage subscription-based IT solutions like anti-virus software, Office 365, and other universal communication tools. This way, your in-house IT team can focus on core business processes as your MSP takes care of patch management, upgrades, and updates to SaaS tools to give you unlimited access to their benefits.

Managed Cloud Infrastructure

Your MSP may help you migrate to cloud computing or shift to cloud-based data storage. Your provider may also offer visualization services for applications, software, and operating systems.

Mobile and Wireless Computing

Hiring a managed IT service provider helps you synchronize your systems for easy and efficient sharing of files among your teams across a variety of devices. This helps you achieve a hybrid working arrangement where some employees can work remotely without compromising their productivity or the safety of your systems and data.

How Can Raleigh Businesses Benefit from Managed IT Services?

Hiring an IT managed service provider is beneficial to any business, but it can be particularly impactful for SMBs. With managed IT services, you can focus on core business tasks as your MSP ensures your IT needs are met adequately and cost-effectively.

Keeping up with the demand for skills that match emerging technologies can be challenging, and may call for new hires or frequent training of your IT team. However, you can access game-changing IT talent for your business in Raleigh from MSPs like Electric. This will keep your IT operations updated, even if you already have an in-house team with general computing skills.

Outsourcing your IT services enhances your employees’ productivity. Your employees may need constant IT support that the internal team can’t provide, especially if the in-house team is working on other projects. However, if they have a dedicated help center managed by an IT service provider, there will always be someone available to handle IT issues raised by your employees, leaving the internal IT team to work on other productive tasks.

Managed IT services ensure round-the-clock, lightning-fast support. While your internal IT team has a definite working schedule with days off, MSPs are available whenever you need them. This increases your uptime, which is critical for your productivity and enhanced user experience.

Modernize Your IT

Do you want to modernize your IT with flexible technology and support in Raleigh? Reach out to Electric. We offer unmatched, full-suite, real-time support and centralized managed IT services. Contact us today to learn how your SMB in Raleigh can benefit from our IT solutions.