In the modern world that we live in, approximately a staggering 95% of businesses rely on IT to function – and as businesses get bigger, how much they rely on IT increases as well. This is fine and dandy, but with more and more IT needs which must be met, it’s incredibly common for the cost of hiring staff to pile up – and pile up very high.

This has led many businesses to start hunting for a cheaper alternative to hiring their own in-house IT department, and one of the solutions they came across was working with a Managed Service Provider – an MSP. If you’re unsure what that is, you’re in the right place – read on for a simple look at what they can do for a business, and whether they really can encourage the growth that every business needs.

MSPs made simple

You can think of an MSP as being essentially a premade IT department. MSPs and in-house IT teams both deal with the same kinds of IT tasks that many businesses need doing, the difference is, an MSP isn’t on your payroll, or stationed on your premises. It’s shocking how simple it can be to start working with an MSP. It’s not uncommon to have an MSP set up and giving you all the support you need in less than two weeks since you discovered them.

In most cases, an MSP will be working with a lot of companies at any given time. The high level of experience and energy a team needs to accomplish this means they won’t have any issues adding your company to their list with speed.

When you start working with an MSP, you will most likely be paying them monthly, receiving a package deal of both IT maintenance and support. As I mentioned earlier, these teams are usually very experienced and flexible, but don’t let that fool you into thinking they’d be extremely expensive. Since they work for so many companies at once, they can afford to keep costs as low as they can, whilst still being able to pay all their staff, who do all the incredible work.

So that was a quick look at what an MSP actually is. Next, we’ll have a look at what this all really means for a business, and whether a managed service provider can actually help you experience growth. 

MSPs help keep expenses low

The costs of running a modern business can soon pile up – that’s common knowledge. Those costs only increase when a business is running a recruitment drive. Did you know that it’s approximated that the costs of filling a single IT role – that includes costs such as fees, on-boarding, the resources lost, and staffing – can add up to a whopping £3000? If you were to hire a team of 3 people, that’s £9000 gone before you even pay for their training, or any of their wages.

If you were to opt for an MSP, and start outsourcing all your IT needs, you can avoid the hefty costs of on-boarding. Even more amazingly, MSPs will often take on all the work needed to frictionlessly fit into your business free of charge. 

At any rate, the choice is yours. Would you rather drop £9000 immediately and choose to hire an in-house department – or choose to work with an MSP, saving that £9000, which could then go towards other worthwhile endeavours, such as advertising, developing new products, research, or anything else that could drive growth? The decision seems obvious!

Can growth be encouraged by IT itself?

Let’s say you make the decision to work with an MSP, and enjoy a great month of being able to put more money into sales, product development, and marketing, all in an effort to experience some growth. You may still be wondering, can’t growth be driven by IT itself? You wouldn’t want to go to the effort of setting up a relationship with an MSP, only to receive a team who only does the simplest tasks, and isn’t seriously invested in your business. This could possibly happen – but can be avoided if you do the right research.

The number of MSPs you have to choose from is extremely large, and a chunk of them won’t be worth your time – but many of them are well worth it, and much more. A good MSP will have supported companies in their hundreds – this means they’re bound to have the most up-to-date knowledge of all your options when it comes to IT technology.

You never know what might be the next move to set the stage for exponential growth. Should you implement SD WAN? Will MPLS increase use of apps based in the cloud? How would a hosted telephone solution help out your account managers? To answer questions like this, you need to be able to communicate with someone who has the most current knowledge. It’s not always in their usual deal, but some MSPs do offer services like this, and if they do – it’s usually at a reasonable price.

Choose an MSP that helps you grow

The two things that are usually needed for a business to grow are expertise and money. MSPs bring knowledge and expertise by the bucket load, all while letting you hold on to your cash. Whoever you decide to go with, however, ensure that you know for sure that they’re going to give you what you need.

It is always a great idea to question an MSP about whether they have experience working with many companies which are similar to yours. Comparing what your goals are in terms of growth is also a good plan, in order to ensure they can keep on supporting you, and aren’t left in the dust when your business starts growing like crazy. As long as any MSP you work with has a solid understanding of your business, yourself, and all of your goals and plans, they will surely be a brilliant asset.