If 2020 has shown us anything, it’s how crucial resilience is for business survival. The ability to function during times of uncertainty, disruption, and global panic enables businesses to continue delivering, profiting, and performing for their customers.

One of the easiest ways to increase business resilience is through the use of managed services.

During this article, we’re exploring the top managed services for increasing your business’ resilience, including the key things to look for when considering providers.

What is a managed service?

A managed service is a subscription model where you outsource the responsibility for maintaining or operating a process or function of your business, for example, your printing.

A managed services provider (MSP) delivers the managed service in accordance with a service level agreement (SLA) for a monthly or annual fee.

How do managed services increase business resilience?

There are many time, cost, and performance benefits to using managed services. However, we’re interested in the biggest advantage of them all: resilience.

An MSP can increase your business resilience through:

Expertise

MSPs are experts in their field, giving you access to talent that would be difficult or expensive to recruit yourself. You also have access to this talent on a 24/7 basis, meaning that you need not wait weeks for a solution to your problem.

Capacity

An MSP gives your business increased capacity where you need it most, without worrying about increasing your headcount. This is especially useful if you experience a sudden surge in support demand, or you’re operating on a reduced workforce.

Operations

The main goal of an MSP is to ensure your business remains functional, whatever happens inside or outside your office. They will quickly identify and fix problems to ensure that your business suffers as little downtime as possible.

Risk

MSPs actively assess and reduce your business risks, making you less susceptible to cyberattacks, downtime, or complete business failure.

Technology

Finally, MSPs ensure that you have the latest technology to meet business requirements and pressures, and that it’s running optimally at all times.

What are the top managed services for business resilience?

There are many services and functions that you can outsource as a business. However, the top managed services for enhancing your resilience are:

Managed printing services

A managed print service manages all aspects of your business printing devices, processes, and outputs. This includes:

• Assessing your current printers, printer performance, and printing requirements.
• Sourcing the best printers, copiers, scanners, and fax machines for your business.
• Providing printer consumables, including paper, ink, and toner.
• Providing help desk support, technical service, and maintenance.
• Monitoring and assessing usage.

A managed printing service reduces the chances and impact of printing errors or downtime, enabling you to maintain printing output at all times.

Managed IT services

A managed IT service takes care of the maintenance and day-to-day running of your IT systems. This includes:

• Assessing your current IT equipment, performance, and requirements.
• Identifying the best IT equipment for your business needs.
• Providing employees with IT helpdesk support.
• Maintaining and updating all software and systems.
• Running regular data backups and recovery where necessary.

An IT MSP enhances your business resilience by equipping you with the latest technology necessary for your business and reducing downtime and errors through regular monitoring and updating. This is especially important if you’re running a small internal IT department.

Managed network services

Your business’ computer network is your lifeline. A managed network service ensures that your lifeline is always alive by:

• Optimizing your networks to create a fully connected environment.
• Regularly monitoring your networks.
• Quickly identifying and resolving network problems.
• Providing helpdesk support for any issues.

Outsourcing the management of your IT network protects your business against network problems that prevent you from operating or prevent your customers from using your services.

Managed telephony services

Being able to communicate with your employees, suppliers, and customers at all times is fundamental to business resilience. A managed telephony service achieves this by:

• Identifying the most cost-effective suppliers for your business needs.
• Enhancing connectivity and productivity using VoIP.
• Providing helpdesk support to solve issues quickly.
• Integrating your telephony with your IT systems and broadband.

Using an expert to manage your telephony service ensures that you stay connected wherever your business, employees, or customers are operating.

Managed security services

As technology continues to advance, so do the methods criminals use to infiltrate it. A managed security service helps you to stay ahead of cybercrime by:

• Analyzing your current IT, devices, data storage, and processes to identify vulnerabilities.
• Monitoring your systems to detect attacks quickly.
• Implementing methods for data security, encryption, and access.
• Completing secure back-ups of your data.
• Restoring systems quickly to minimize disruptions.

Your business’ resilience relies on your ability to protect systems and data from attack. A security MSP helps you to achieve this and stay on top of it.

Things to consider before using managed services

Before outsourcing any of these services, it’s important to find the right MSP for your business. Essential matters to consider when choosing an MSP include:

Expertise

Is the provider an expert in their service, and can they share customer testimonials to demonstrate the types of businesses they support?

Accessibility

Is the MSP accessible during the hours you need them, and is their helpdesk suitable for employees of all levels and understanding?

Remoteness

Can the MSP provide remote support, monitoring, and testing so that problems can be resolved quickly with minimum business impact?

Pricing

Does the MSP’s pricing model suite your business needs? Common subscription methods for MSPs include per-device, per-user, or all-inclusive.

SLAs

Finally, does the MSP provide an SLA that can be tailored to your exact business needs and requirements?

Wrapping up

An MSP gives you access to the knowledge, tools, and support you need to maintain business productivity, whatever comes your way. These top managed services for increasing business resilience are a great place to start but don’t forget that your managed service is only as good as your MSP.