Slick, shiny, well-oiled, and fully functional. Is that how you would describe your business? Or are you merely dreaming of comprehensive IT managed services that reduce risk and control costs?
Is your IT department overworked and fails to cope with the operational demands? Then you should consider switching over to the managed services delivery model.
What Is the Managed Services Delivery Model?
Many people suppose that managed service is just a fancy name for outsourcing. Not quite. With outsourcing, you hire someone outside of your organization to perform a specific service.
Managed services, by contrast, involve the provision of a comprehensive range of IT services. You also get operational support over a wide scope of IT applications and services in either one or several technology domains. Managed IT services provide a more holistic approach, if you like.
It is successful because managed service providers, or MSPs, rely on a whole team of IT experts to deliver the services you need.
In other words, you get an end-to-end IT management service tailored to your business. If it sounds good, it's because it is good. It is also cost-effective and so helps to give you that all-important competitive edge.
Tailoring services to your business operations involves knowing what options exist. So it's time to run through a few acronyms, and what services they cover when it comes to managed IT services or information technology in general.
Acronyms Used in Managed Services Delivery
Cloud models usually offer three types of delivery models:
- PaaS – Platform as a Service
- Saas – Software as a Service
- IaaS – Infrastructure as a Service
The PaaS software delivery model depends on a cloud provider giving developers access to development tools, operating systems, and infrastructure. PaaS makes web application development and backend management straightforward for developers.
Stratos, Apache Stratos, OpenShift, Heroku, Magento Commerce Cloud, Force.com, and Windows Azure are all examples of Paas.
SaaS
SaaS is a software delivery model. Here, hosting applications is the responsibility of a third-party service provider. The provider uses the internet to make these applications available to customers. With SaaS, the provider hosts the client’s software and then delivers it to approved end-users via the internet.
Salesforce, Slack, MailChimp, ZenDesk, Hubspot, BigCommerce, Dropbox, Google Apps, and DocuSign all follow the SaaS model.
IaaS
Infrastructure includes pay-as-you-go storage, virtualization, and networking. With IaaS, users get cloud-based alternatives to the clunkier option of on-site IT infrastructure. IaaS is flexible and scalable, and easy to replace. Businesses can also access IaaS platforms and monitor them if they wish.
Google Compute Engine (GCE), Digital Ocean, AWS EC2, Rackspace, and Magento 1 Enterprise Edition are all examples of IaaS.
Managed infrastructure and managed IT services are less expensive than the old-style in-house IT department. Let's have a look at the advantages.
Benefits of Managed Services Delivery
Having a number of integrated platforms in-house is not as efficient, effective, or reliable as using an end-to-end managed service provider. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) involves a series of complex tasks. This is what makes EDI managed services the kind of streamlining solution your business needs to get ahead.
EDI managed services will succeed while many integrated platforms managed in-house are likely to give you problems.
IT managed services following the managed services delivery model deliver tailored value. This is because its solutions are usually bundled into a single low-cost system.
The MSP's end-to-end service creates a single consolidated resource for all your organization's technical needs. Your IT processes are streamlined as a result and easier to manage and improve or upgrade.
Managed services benefit from the seamless integration of all aspects of your system. This leads to greater efficiency and reduces the likelihood that you will have gaps in your security. Being able to ensure tight security of your system is a huge commercial advantage. It is also the new benchmark for anyone operating in the digital world.
One last benefit is that your business becomes more scalable and you manage resources better.
Resource Management and Scalability
The managed services delivery model offers a business the kinds or utilities it needs as and when these needs arise. This is an obvious advantage over the old way of having to upgrade independent solutions from time to time. As a result, your business will be more stable and suffer less disruption to its day-to-day operations.
MSPs provide regular IT fitness checks to ensure that your organization is using the most appropriate and secure applications. They also ensure that your system functionality is optimized all the time.
With a managed services delivery model you get all the technology you need in one consolidated space. As your business develops a relationship with your MSP, you will get more value for your money. This is because you will be better able to leverage the technology they have.
All this will give you a streamlined infrastructure that is cost-effective and, above all, secure.
Find the Right Managed Service Provider
Finding the right managed services delivery model is essential if you want to achieve a high-quality outcome that suits your budget and time frame.
As a business owner or manager, you could start using managed services with one type of delivery model, and then find that you need—or want—something much more comprehensive. MSPs can implement this type of change with relative ease.
Conclusion
The type of managed services you settle for will depend on the complexity and size of your enterprise. Have a look around at our other IT management and technology articles like this one on the managed services delivery model to see what resonates with you. You're bound to find the solution that will help to make your business slick, shiny, and more agile than those around you. Visit the Tech section of Bootstrap Business right now!
The type of managed services you settle for will depend on the complexity and size of your enterprise. Have a look around at our other IT management and technology articles like this one on the managed services delivery model to see what resonates with you. You're bound to find the solution that will help to make your business slick, shiny, and more agile than those around you. Visit the Tech section of Bootstrap Business right now!
