Blog
The Benefits of Managed IT Services
Tue Jun 21, 2022
The rapid pace at which technology is evolving has brought with it a slew of new systems. You’ve got the ever-present cloud, trusty authentication, and data backup. All are helpful, but that doesn’t make them easy to manage. It’s tempting to want to hire someone to work internally to be the “go-to” for your technology. But as well-intentioned as this approach may be, sometimes the answer lies beyond our internal team.
Right now, there are over 44,000 companies that belong to the Canadian Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) sector. A large majority of these, (over 40,000) fall within the software and computer services industries (Statistics Canada). These incredible numbers continue to grow yearly. Technology is our greatest friend and co-worker. But it’s also our biggest troublemaker.
Businesses, both within the ICT sector and beyond, rely on technology. It’s a great asset to our work. But when a system comes crashing down around us, it causes a lot of chaos. The worst of which are unwanted interruptions. Each interruption is draining for your team to experience. While an in-house IT employee can help resolve problems as they happen, what you really need is to have a managed IT service team who can create an action plan that will prevent problems from happening.
We’ve compiled information on the costs of interruptions from technology troubles, and why choosing to have a managed IT service team is the solution.
What Are Managed IT Services?
Before talking about its benefits, it’s helpful to know what managed IT services are. In essence, a managed IT service provider is a team of IT professionals that monitor and manage your systems. Most people who work for these teams have several years of experience in the technology industry.
With this vast amount of knowledge, a managed IT service team comes prepared to confidently troubleshoot a company’s technology problems. Companies, like yourself, sign an agreement with the third-party group and pay a flat rate for all the services provided.
This can include:
- Managing Infrastructure
- Providing Cybersecurity
- Assisting with Cloud Storage
- Backing Up Data
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Disaster Prevention & Recovery
Managed IT teams are often available 24/7, with options for remote support monitoring systems that help eliminate data security risks and equipment failure. This proactive approach to IT can be crucial for companies.
So often, our internal approach to problems is a reactive one. Everyone in the office is busy, after all, with their own responsibilities. That’s why when a system fails, it can have cataclysmic results on our day-to-day operations. Small hiccups in a system are easy enough to ignore. But these seemingly insignificant interruptions can spiral into massive intrusions on our work lives.
Internal IT is meant to address those issues as they come. Not before they happen. That’s where Managed IT services differ for the better. Easy-to-ignore problems won’t slip through the cracks. Instead, there’s a group of people dedicated to keeping the operations of your technology running smoothly without interruptions to your day.
These small, quick fixes might seem easy enough to manage internally. But what a lot of companies don’t consider is the butterfly effect this can have. So, let’s talk about it.
Bugs In the System Cause Swarms of Problems
Teamwork, creativity, focus, and productivity are the four pillars of good work. Any task that’s done well requires a combination of these crucial elements. All that hard work is done in our systems; uploaded documents are reviewed by peers, emails are sent off, schedules are organized, and spreadsheets are completed. But what happens when an unexpected wrench is thrown into the mix?
Increased downtime and decreased productivity.
These two threats to our workflow are increased when our systems crash on us. System failures create more downtime. There’s not much your employees can do when their work is dependent on uncooperative technology. Every minute that passes without your tech up and running is money lost.
Reduce Your Risks of IT or Network Downtimes
IT or network downtimes can cost businesses. Every minute that passes is approximately $5,600 dollars’ worth of wasted money. This can equal out to well over $300K per hour (Gartner). Data has also shown that technology downtime impacts our overall productivity in the workplace as well. The average business will lose 14.1 hours to annual IT downtime, with 546 hours of staff productivity lost because of IT outages (Small Bizz Trends).
Time must then be spent resolving the issue. Every incident can take almost 200 minutes of IT downtime before a resolution is achieved (Small Bizz Trends). And it isn’t isolated to your internal IT management either. Employees themselves have to take time out of their days to fix PC problems, spending almost 30 minutes each week trying to resolve issues on their own (Small Bizz Trends). At the lower end of the spectrum, all this downtime can equal out to a loss of approximately $140,000 per hour, or as high as $540,000 (ZDNet).
Each incident also extends beyond its start and end time, with the effects of interruptions decreasing cognitive function in employees by 20 percent (The New York Times). It can then take an employee 23 minutes and 15 seconds on average to return to where they left off (The Washington Post). Interruptions to work continue the unfortunate trend of lost money for a company. The author of the book “Overload! How Too Much Information is Hazardous To Your Organization” Jonathan Spira, estimates that all these interruptions can take away 28 billion hours of productivity from employees, causing a loss of almost $1 trillion to the U.S economy (The Washington Post).
Within the financial services industry, interruptions were studied by a man named Edward G. Brown. He found that on average each interruption can take up to 238 minutes a day, plus 84 minutes of “restart time,” and another 50 minutes for momentum loss, do-overs, or errors due to stress and fatigue. All this added together equals out to 372 minutes. 6.2 hours a day. 31 hours a week. Overall, these numbers are equal to almost the entire average work week for one employee (The Washington Post). These are precious hours of wasted productivity that can never be regained. Upsetting numbers like this make the situation feel hopeless.
Technology is critical for our work. It isn’t something we can just remove and be done with. We’ve closely stitched our lives together with our computers, phones, and printers. You know the saying “it takes a village to raise a child?” Well, it takes an entire fleet of technology to support an employee.
How can we spare our employees from interruption and save companies money?
By implementing better systems that will safeguard them against these failings.
Managed IT is Here to Save the Day!
It’s impossible for one person to avoid every speed bump, prevent every storm, or be prepared for each unexpected emergency. But what we can do is turn to a knowledgeable team to make conscious decisions that will lift the weight of the world off the shoulders of our employees. Instead of worrying that they’ll come into the office every day, expecting to deal with a troublesome bug in their technology, employees can rest assured that they’ll be supported when their company has managed IT.
A team is there, on standby, looking out for you and your teammates. They’ve got your back, every second of the day, as you power through tasks. When you have managed IT services you get boosts in productivity, save on money, and have endless support from a group of experts in the technology industry.
If ever a problem arises, our team is there 24/7 to support you! Anything from glitches in a system to unexpected bugs, UniTech’s managed IT services are ready to problem-solve and get your systems back on track.
Our team at UniTech is dependable and each member is an expert in the technology industry. We understand just how important every minute of every day is for your team. You shouldn’t have to fear dreaded computer crashes or network failures.
UniTech is here for you. Reach out today to learn more about how our managed IT services can benefit you.