Reducing IT Costs Through Managed Services
By Keith Schoolcraft, President, aCoupleofGurus.com, LLC.

In his groundbreaking project management essay “No Silver Bullet,” Fred Brooks set out the principle of “buy versus build.”  He said, “Any [off-the-shelf software package] is cheaper to buy than to build afresh.”   The idea is simple: if someone else has gone to the effort and expense to create, test, and execute a task, you will save money in the long run if you buy their expertise or product instead of trying to replicate it yourself.  Your business probably already follows this principle with regard to software. Most companies write little or no custom code for their own use; they buy it.  It’s no great leap to carry this idea to another arena: IT systems.

In the case of managing your IT infrastructure, the question of buy vs. build is really one of hiring an expert IT staff of your own, or subscribing to managed services. To stay competitive, a company must have an up-to-date, well-performing IT backbone that supports business operations instead of getting in the way.  With the rapid advancements in hardware, software, security, and backup systems, it can take many highly-trained (and expensive) computer experts to keep things humming.  While it’s always important to keep some IT staff on hand to handle day-to-day support, subscribing to managed services is a smart way to get access to the high-quality expertise your business demands, without having to add to your payroll.

A managed service provider can help your IT systems stay on the cutting edge and in top shape.  Typical managed service plans include application and operating system patching, software license management, backup support, and security audits.  Such a provider may also have access to tools that the average non-IT business would be unaware of or unable to afford. For instance, they may be able to provide high-quality remote monitoring. Remote monitoring means you and your provider have detailed information about your systems 24 hours a day.  Often these systems can automatically notify a support person of serious issues.  These capabilities mean less time wasted troubleshooting and more consulting hours targeted at fast solutions, not to mention better up-times.  These advanced tools can also provide insight into intermittent issues – crucial for maintaining a finely-tuned infrastructure.

When deciding about choosing managed services, it’s important to consider your company’s IT needs.  First, assess your staffing levels for your current systems.  If your business is not primarily about IT, but you always seem to need more IT staff, managed services might be a good solution.  Your current staff can also provide a clue to the amount of support you need. With a reasonably experienced staff, you may only need help with the most advanced services. If you’re just getting started and have a one-person IT department, you may want to let a service provider handle nearly everything. Finally, of course, consider how much service you can afford, and how much of an IT outage you can’t afford.

Once you’ve decided that managed IT services provide a good return on investment, you’ll need to find a provider. Here are some factors to consider when weighing your options.

• When an issue occurs, what will be the turnaround time for someone to start working on it?
• Will an engineer be on call nights and/or weekends?
• How many hours of maintenance are included in the package?
• Are discounts provided for additional hours of service?
• Can they provide both on-site and phone support?
• Do they specialize in servers, workstations, or both?

Managed IT services are a great application of the buy versus build principle.  You can efficiently target your IT dollars at just the support you need to stay cutting-edge.  That frees up both time and money to let you focus on your business passions, and not your IT systems.

ACoupleOfGurus.com, LLC is a leading provider of customer-proven, real-world-tested infrastructure solutions and services. They combine the technology, services, and partnerships required to create solutions that are tailored to meet customers’ unique needs.  For information on their managed services or other offerings, send an inquiry to info@aCoupleofGurus.com or call (763)537-4504.

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