A managed services provider (MSP) allows an enterprise to outsource the design and management of its IT systems, and receive ongoing technical support for upgrades and issues. They are particularly advantageous to small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), owing to the affordable monthly fee that gives them access to cutting-edge technology and expert monitoring and maintenance.

What is a managed services provider (MSP)? One way to think of them is from the vantage point of a client of managed services. The MSP takes care of the setup, installation, and configuration of the client’s IT equipment. The MSP configures this equipment to best practices, provides ongoing patching and monitoring, consolidates configurations for best security perspective, fine-tunes settings for performance, and dynamically changes configurations to meet business needs.

Many companies, especially small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), have realized that partnering with a managed IT services provider (MSP) raised their business to the next level. An MSP serves as an outsourced IT department that helps companies focus on growth, address pain points, and scales to meet new challenges and opportunities.

There are many ways for the technology you use to match and exceed the expanding needs, challenges, and goals of your evolving business. Outsourcing your IT functions by partnering with an IT services expert or managed IT services provider (MSP) has become an exemplary way to do so.

The most compelling advantage of partnering with a managed services provider (MSP) is increased efficiency. We’ll explore this in detail later, but first, let’s define what an MSP is.

Every company today is a technology company. Modern businesses can no longer thrive without technology like data, social media, and cybersecurity.

Partnering with a managed services provider (MSP) provides enterprises of all sizes with many benefits. Not least among them is the IT support and services that help manage and protect the network of hardware, software, and data an enterprise uses. The following describes how an MSP transforms a firm’s business technology into a more efficient asset.

Technology will always have a habit of going wrong. Hardware can fail without warning, hackers can strike when you least expect it, and overlooked vulnerabilities can leave your entire technology infrastructure open to failure or, worse still, a data breach.

By now, most professionals have achieved at least a basic level of competence when it comes to technology skills. However, while many will agree that, from an end-user perspective, technology is getting easier to manage, its inner workings are more complex than ever before.

Every technology trend comes with its share of professionals...and greenhorns. Cloud computing is the most recent example, and some small business owners struggle to distinguish between providers that know what they’re doing and those who are taking advantage of the spike in demand.

The ugly truth is that succeeding in today's market is almost impossible without reliable technology. As much as some business owners prefer to take a DIY approach or rely on hourly contractors, they need a team of IT professionals who know the ins and outs of tech.