Top 5 Reasons Professional Services Firms Should Use Managed IT Services
Posted by: Chad Massaker / Category: Best Practices, Computer Networks, Managed IT Services
There is some common business wisdom running around that says “Focus on doing what your business does best and outsource the rest”. I could not agree more. When it comes to information technology, this philosophy can be quite hard to comply with because everyone has some level of expertise with IT in today’s world. However, being able to fix a simple printer issue for an employee is a far cry from un-corrupting an Exchange email server database. And yet, it can be the “simple printer repair”-type issues that can eat up so much of your time without you even realizing it, to say nothing of the more complex errors sprinkled throughout this continuum of “Do It Yourself” to “Oh My God, HELP ME, the server is on FIRE!”.
If you are a professional services firm, your product is time. It is “inventory” that once it passes is gone forever (much like an unused hotel room). As such, for employees whom are billable, they need to devote as much of the workday as possible to billable activities. None of this should be very surprising, but if you observe many professional services firms you’ll see these billable employees doing everything from accounting to human resources to IT. If you work in a professional services firm, I encourage you to keep a very detailed log of every minute of your work day to see for yourself. Odds are you are getting caught up in all kinds of stuff that is better handled by someone else… who isn’t billable.
For accounting: get a book keeper or outsourced CFO. For human resources: try a full service PEO firm such as HR Outsourcing. For information technology management: enter into an agreement with a managed IT services provider. Here is why:
- MSPs Are More Cost Effective: You can outsource the entire support of your network for a flat fee, including: monitoring, unlimited helpdesk hours, anti-virus software, anti-spam service, email archival and more, for only a few dollars per user per day (or less than 10% of one billable hour per day – assumes a network of 100 or less workstations)
- MSPs Make You More Productive: A managed IT services firm will generally charge a flat fee for services rendered. This means that your firm will be more productive because it is in the managed IT service provider’s best interest to keep the network fully operational (each trouble ticket or monitoring failure eats into their profit margin).
- MSPs Provide More Value: MSPs frequently bundle many other services into their managed services offering such as monitoring, anti-virus software, anti-spam service, email archival, and off site backup.
- MSPs Are Better Than an In-House IT Manager: Managed IT service providers cost about ½ – 1/3 the cost of a full time employee. Unlike employees, managed IT service providers don’t get sick, don’t take vacations, come with their own insurance if they screw up, come with their own suite of software and services (e.g. anti-virus, monitoring, etc.) and don’t need to be equipped with laptops, mobile phones, etc. Besides, why would you put something as crucial as your business network in the hands of one man? A managed services provider will also have more skills sets and experience at their disposal.
- MSPs Are Better Than a One Man Band: As with the In-House IT Manager, “Why would you put something as crucial as your business network in the hands of one man”? There are many talented one-man IT companies. But… What if something happens to him? What if he gets mad at you? He can’t very well monitor your network if he is helping another client. What if you have a network emergency and he is with another client and can’t come to you right away? A managed services provider will also have more skills sets and experience at their disposal.
In summary, outsourcing management of you IT and other areas of your business can create massive leverage and allow your firm to bill more time. Now who does not want that?
Tags: billable time, certified public accountant, consulting, consulting firm, cost effective IT, cpa, financial planning, financial services, lawyer, legal, Managed IT Services, productivity, professional services
