MANAGED SERVICES

Understanding Managed Services

As a definition, Managed Services allows a business to offload IT operations to a service provider (MSP).  The managed service provider assumes an ongoing responsibility for 24-hour monitoring, managing and/or problem resolution for the IT systems within a business. 

We utilize software to monitor your network to achieve two major goals:

• Everything on your network that will result in a user symptom or risk will send an alert before or when it happens, and we’ll know about it
• Every alert is something important that needs to be addressed

Managed Services vs The Break-Fix Mentality

Managed Services are also a philosophical change in the way that a business deals with its technology.  Instead of following the old-school tradition of break-fix (literally meaning wait until the server, desktops or other critical networking devices fail, then scramble to fix them), a business operating with a managed service focuses on the prevention of these issues before they disrupt employees, management or clients. 

In many small businesses, IT resources are limited and can be quickly overwhelmed.  If you fall behind in keeping up with things such as backups, patches and security, the odds greatly increase that you’ll face an IT outage or another problem down the road that will negatively impact your business.  For instance, if your Email server, financial application or network goes down, you will likely face substantial productivity and revenue losses as a result. 

Why Break-Fix is no longer good enough for your business

A Break-fix maintenance service fixes problems as they crop up.  This means that something needs to go wrong before you receive any service, resulting in an inevitable reduction in IT system performance while you wait for the problem to be fixed. 

Today, no business can really afford the risk and uncertainty of relying on a “Break-fix maintenance service” because your business is too dependent on having a reliable IT system.  Furthermore, having separate suppliers responsible for different parts of the system puts you in the difficult position of trying to decide who should be delivering the service you require.  You simply do not have time for this.

Do Managed Services Cost More Than Traditional Break-Fix Services?

Actually no!  Surprisingly most managed services cost less than traditional break-fix services, especially when including the true cost of downtime.  Remote monitoring, remote maintenance and the prevention of major issues allow us to be more efficient than a similar break-fix company who is constantly rolling out a truck to visit customer sites.  Therefore we can offer a “better” service without charging more. 

The Real Benefits of Managed Services

Put in simple terms – one of the biggest benefits of Managed Services is discovering and fixing problems before they can negatively affect your business.

A well maintained, proactively serviced computer network will always run better than the alternative.  With proactive network monitoring, patch management and desktop optimization performed on a regular basis, you will notice a tremendous difference in operations…and you will reap the benefits of preventing fires, rather than fighting them. 

OUR STANDARD MAINTENANCE PLAN

There are many services that are included in our standard service plan and you just pay one flat fee per month.  There is a plan limit of 15 hrs per month but that is usually enough for most businesses.  If this plan is not a good fit for you, don’t worry – we’ll customize a plan that works for you. 

MONTHLY COST:              $50 per computer if computer is less than 4 years old

                                                      $75 per computer if computer is older than 4 years

                                                      $165 per server

                                                      $165 per network device (i.e. firewall, router, switch)

SETUP COST:                      $499 One-time fee

SUMMARY OF INCLUDED SERVICES: 

• Monitoring of workstations and servers
• Application level monitoring
• Backup monitoring
• Onsite and Remote support
• Anti-virus and Anti-malware monitoring
• Patch management
• Vendor Liaison
• Asset Management
• Desktop Support
• Network Management
• Purchasing Assistance

TAKE A PROACTIVE APPROACH.  MINIMIZE DOWNTIME.