Technology can help your business thrive, but only if it’s working the way it should. Your team should be able to access their data readily, and, if proper security measures are taken, remotely. Providing access to business information has game-changing advantages. If a management or sales team is truly valuable to the business, and you want them to come up with new ideas to encourage revenue growth, as well as additional services or new product lines, then having more eyes on the information and metrics can inspire new thinking.

It works the same way with IT support. When small- to mid-size businesses look at how they manage their IT, they may figure that, with recent growth, there’s enough work to hire an IT manager on staff to keep things up and running, helping out when problems arise, and taking care of software updates and patches. It’s definitely a great advantage to have an IT manager who knows the systems and is thinking about that network around the clock.

But just creating a new role and filling it may not be the best solution for every business, and in some cases, using a managed services provider has distinct advantages. Here’s why.

With a managed services provider you have a business looking after you, around the clock. Sure, you can call the IT manager after hours when things get wonky (it always seems to happen then!), but what about when he or she wants to take a little vacation with the family. Overseas. Suddenly time zones are a factor. With a managed services provider it’s different. The on-call engineer can sort your problem out whenever you need.

Another advantage of a managed services provider is that the good ones hire people with a passion for the technology. At Axis Computer Networks, our engineers stay up to date on the systems and hardware that are out there, and they talk to their colleagues. The result is a wider knowledge base: Multiple brains mean different takes on a business system and when problems arise, it is this vast hive intellect that is brought to bear on finding a solution.

Still another advantage, managed services providers track their clients’ systems and keep records of what hardware and software are on their respective networks. It’s important to review that inventory, particularly when security weaknesses are identified in combinations of hardware, operating systems, and software. Making a suggested software update or hardware upgrade, or failing to, could expose a company’s data to nefarious actors. With so many systems updating on an irregular basis, one person may not keep up with it all.

Best of all, managed services providers make sense even if a business has an IT manager. Many clients at Axis Computer Networks serve as a support team to the staff and work hand-in-hand to provide an added dimension of service, consulting on any issues that arise, and helping develop strategies to help head them off.

Ask your IT manager to contact Axis Computer Networks and set up an initial call. Since we don’t require long-term contracts, it’s easy to start slow, and add services as you determine that you need them.