6 Ways Managed Network Services Makes IT Simple

Smaller businesses often struggle to find the right mix of expertise and infrastructure to meet their network security needs.

As an IT service, managed networks are almost always a cost-effective way for SMBs to achieve better security at a lower cost. 

Here are six ways a managed network can give your SMB a boost.

Lost or Stolen Data

Cybersecurity threats have been increasingly rapidly. Ransomware is a growing “industry” for cybercriminals, estimated to be worth $5 billion dollars (not sure how ransomware is a threat to your business, read about it here). Do you know what would happen if your business had a security breach – whether from data loss or a hack that cracked open your network security? Threats come from anywhere – malware, hackers, phishing attacks, internal employees (mistakes or malicious action), and server failure.

Managed Network Benefit: Network security experts create a comprehensive plan and network security solution to minimize the chance of a data breach.

Unpredictable Budget

Are you being nickel and dimed and having to pay by the hour with an existing managed IT partner? Or are you stuck on the break/fix treadmill of never knowing what your IT spend is going to be from month-to-month?

Managed Network Benefit: A managed network partner with an all-you-can eat approach to service equals predictable budgeting. Quarterly reviews means a constant state of planning so that your IT needs never lag behind and can be budget for.

Large Recovery Costs

Do you have a plan in place to recover from equipment failure, an outage, or a disaster? 

Managed Network Benefit: A managed network provider has redundant systems and processes in place to recover quickly from any business disruption. Instead of risking lost business, managed network services minimizes any impact on your operations or bottom line.

More Downtime

No one likes to have their IT help desk ticket ignored. What happens now when your network slows down or something isn't working correctly? Do you have to wait days for a response and resolution? 

Managed Network Benefit: Every call is answered by a person. We have an IT help desk system in place that automatically bumps important issues to the beginning of the line. Read about it here.  Plus, your managed network partner will consistently refresh hardware as needed, minimizing the need to even contact the help desk.

Reputation Damage

The hidden danger of a network failure or a security breach is your customers losing trust in you or lost business from being down for days.

Managed Network Benefit:  Proactive management and regular maintenance minimize the risk of an outage and provide everyone peace of mind that things will work.

Peace of Mind

How much more could you and your IT accomplish if you didn't have to worry about your servers or if your IT staff was going to be able to update your software with the latest security patches?

Managed Network Benefit: When you don't have to worry about your network crashing or security being breached, you can focus on improving your business.

While information technology infrastructure improves every year, it will never be perfect.

It's a fact of life that something will go wrong. The only question is “when”?

When something goes wrong, are you prepared? Working with a managed network partner ensures that you'll have a plan in place that minimizes the chances of unexpected downtime. Together, you should work with a partner to identify your risk, how much data loss is acceptable, and how long you can be offline without serious damage to your reputation or bottom line. Once those parameters are established, then a plan can be developed that prevents data loss and ensures uptime.