Being a maverick comes in handy when dealing with certain aspects of business, but not when it comes to your IT operations. Handling the ins and outs of your own IT management not only ties up company resources, but it also takes away time and effort that could be spent on core priorities. Managed IT services let you leave your company’s IT responsibilities in the hands of seasoned experts.

While delegating IT responsibilities to a trusted managed service provider (MSP) frees your company to focus on other areas, it’s also a strategy fraught with risk. Any of the following mistakes could spell disaster for your company if you’re not careful:

• Choosing the lowest bidder – No two MSPs are the same, nor do they offer the same approach to solving your IT issues, which often makes accepting the lowest bid a dangerous choice that proves costly later on. Instead, choose your MSP based on the vendor’s experience and managed IT strategies.
• Ignoring location issues – The Internet makes it possible to choose MSPs based practically anywhere on the globe. However, language and dialect barriers, culture barriers, different approaches towards conflict resolution, and local infrastructure issues can put a wrench in any outsourcing plan.
• Outsourcing the entire department – Dumping all of your IT services on the MSP can lead to gridlock and misunderstandings between the MSP and your company’s managers. Some IT services that are within the company’s core competencies, such as the help desk, are better left in-house.
• Expecting a sharp drop in costs – Cost reduction is one of the biggest reasons why business leaders turn to third-party providers for their IT needs. Shifting towards managed IT services will eliminate certain expenses, but you won’t see a sharp drop in your IT budget. You may even see costs briefly increase due to post-outsourcing training and technology purchases.
Some mistakes are unavoidable, but the mistakes listed above are easy for any business to avoid with the right research and attention paid to detail. To learn more about managed IT and how it can benefit your company, contact Atlantic Business Systems today.