Digital-transformation-

You’ve finally realized how critical it is for your business to be at par with modern technological trends, and, so, you’re on a digital transformation mission. Some of the elements you’ll have to consider are IT equipment, such as computers, network hubs, telecommunication devices, and software updates, such as accounting, time tracking, customer relationship management, and communication software.

One effective approach in this regard is to have an in-house team of full-time employees tasked with managing your IT systems. Alternatively, you can hire a company with a professional team of experts to oversee your IT needs. If you make the right choice, partnering with a reliable Toronto managed IT services provider can solve issues ranging from system breakdowns to setting up new computers, conduct expert diagnosis, and troubleshooting. They’re referred to as managed IT service Providers, and here are the benefits of having such in your business:

1. Reduced Operating Costs

Hiring full-time IT experts requires you to pay monthly salaries and other benefits, like health plans and insurance. You also need office space for the entire team, and you can agree that renting large offices is getting more and more expensive by the day.

However, by going for managed IT services, you only need to pay a fixed monthly fee without any other benefits. Also, you don’t need office space for them since they do most of their work remotely. They only briefly visit your office when it’s necessary, and, then, go back to their workplace. Reducing costs this way is helpful for the financial health of your business.

2. Unlimited Expertise

Truth be told, you can’t have an in-house team that’s adequately knowledgeable in all aspects of IT. Information technology encompasses numerous areas of specialization, including, but not limited to: 

  • Computer programming
  • Quality assurance testing
  • Web development
  • System analysis
  • Network engineering
  • User experience design
  • Database administration
  • Software engineering
  • Data analytics
  • Cybersecurity
  • Computer hardware engineering

For your team to be termed competent, you’ll probably need 50 people in the IT department, which is evidently challenging if your business is small or medium-sized.

For managed service providers, you can be sure that they have an expert in virtually every IT field. Furthermore, their team members regularly undergo training to update their skills and ensure that they’re conversant with current trends and emerging issues. So, by hiring their services, you’re guaranteed help no matter how complex your IT needs may turn out to be.

3. Boosted Security

It’s alarming how millions of businesses worldwide get hacked every year. And, the cybersecurity landscape changes rapidly by every dawn of the day. Software that worked effectively a few months ago may already be outdated by now, given that cybercriminals work round the clock to learn how to bypass the newest security measures.

The odds are evidently against you if you suppose that a firewall and antivirus protection will do the magic. What you need is a dedicated team of experts that continuously keeps abreast of the latest protection methods, and that’s what managed IT is all about.

4. Better Compliance With Government Laws

Some of the most critical laws you have to consider for compliance include:

  • Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance: To ensure the security of credit card transactions
  • Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: To protect the privacy of student education records
  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA): To guard protected health information from leaking to unauthorized persons
  • The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX): To protect investors by ensuring corporate disclosures are more accurate.

While most of these guidelines were drafted several years ago, the responsible regulatory bodies keep updating them, and you might not be sure whether or not you’re compliant. In actual fact, a greater percentage of businesses isn’t compliant. If you’re caught pants down by the authorities, you risk paying hefty fines, serving lengthy jail terms, or having your operating license revoked. To avoid such calamitous eventualities, you’d want to hire managed service providers that know all it takes to comply with all these laws.

5. Effortless Scaling

If your business expands its operations, the IT needs obviously become bigger. You’ll need more IT equipment and devices, as well as software with bigger user capacity. Having a managed IT firm in place makes it easy to realize such growth without any hitch. You may only have to add more money to what you already pay monthly, unlike having an in-house team, wherein you’ll have to get more office space, as well as hire and train new IT staff.

Conclusion

Hiring managed IT services is a sure way to spur your digital transformation. It’s more efficient, convenient, cheaper, and scalable than an in-house IT department. What you need to do is shop wisely to ensure that you get a reliable firm with vast professional experience. Also, go for a company that you can afford to, at least, avoid getting into financial strain.