When you were just starting out with a handful of employees, it probably made sense to get IT help on an as-needed basis. Your IT needs were limited to getting someone to help you set up your computers and network initially, maybe help you implement business or industry-specific software, and someone to call when you ran into errors. But as the technology landscape has evolved and as your company has grown, are you outgrowing your break-fix partnership?
A few questions to consider: Where is your company today and what are you trying to accomplish? How big is your company now? How many new employees are you adding and how often? Are you expanding in location? Do you have new or emerging compliance regulations? What technology are you using or do you need to implement soon?
If you have a break-fix partnership now, you’re dealing with small, reactive IT help. There is a fundamental conflict of interest between you and your IT firm under this model. The IT services company has no incentive to stabilize your computer network or to resolve problems quickly because they are getting paid by the hour; therefore, the risk of unforeseen circumstances, scope creep, learning curve inefficiencies, and outright incompetence are all shifted to YOU, the customer. Since you don’t have someone maintaining, much less optimizing your infrastructure, every “fix” gets more and more expensive.
Whether you are looking to stabilize your IT spending, are growing as a company, or want to ensure your operations and data are more secure as cybercrime rapidly evolves, you need a more mature approach to IT. A higher quality, more professional, more proactive, more cost-effective IT partnership looks like Managed or Co-Managed IT Services.
Through Managed Services, you are outsourcing your IT support in an ongoing partnership that allows us to do routine work to maintain your security, your backups, and your environment without the downtime. Regular maintenance reduces issues, but when an issue does pop up, you can have confidence in a quick resolution. Under a Managed services agreement, you are under constant care with a team of expert resources available.
Pearl Solutions Group offers four levels of managed IT services to help you affordably right-size our partnership:
- Basic: This level provides basic IT support and a professional resource your users can call for assistance. We will monitor your computers, servers, and firewalls for any issues, ensure Windows and 3rd party patches are being applied successfully, and provide basic anti-virus and anti-malware protection for your users.
- Essentials: At this level, we begin proactively supporting you as an organization, including unlimited remote assistance to your users and live 24/7 support if needed. We actively monitor and fix problems with all of your IT systems and include reports so you have visibility into how you are being supported. Essential items like 1 TB of data backup, critical security tools and resources, and design and administration of Microsoft applications are included.
- Complete: A robust partnership of both Managed Service and Managed Security Service solutions, this includes everything from basic & essential with added cyber-security and a strategic approach to IT. You will have a dedicated client success manager and hands-on application training to increase collaboration and productivity. You can count on the latest cyber tools installed to protect your business from evolving threats.
- Co-Managed: A flexible partnership where we come alongside your current IT team to provide customized, ongoing services and expert-level support to fill in IT resource or talent gaps. We take on what you cannot or do not want to manage to help you save money, give you more efficient IT support, and protect against turnover, downtime, and cybercrime.
Ready for a more mature and secure approach to IT? Schedule a discovery call.
