Managed service providers providing IT outsourcing services were born in the 1990’s. Back then, few customers had serious technical knowledge, but it was the dawn of an age in which computers, data storage solutions, and a variety of business software applications were essential for the small business to be competitive.

Today, IT outsourcing offers a wide array of products and services, ranging from SaaS or cloud-based software applications to a complete, fully-functioning offsite IT department. Like most businesses, profit margins are slim. IT outsourcing vendors now have to offer more services plus better services in order to compete in the tight market of managed IT services. Download the white paper: Managed IT Services For Small Businesses to learn how this can help your small business.

Offering Holistic IT Outsourcing Services

Unless you’re a tech startup, you likely don’t have the skills it takes to manage increasingly technical business products like virtualized desktops, cyber security, software-defined data storage, and software-defined networking. IT outsourcing vendors offer to step in and become the small business’ go-to IT department, performing for them all of the tasks that a much more expensive, difficult-to-manage in-house IT department would.

These services include modern business essentials like mobile device management (MDM), network security monitoring, backup and disaster recovery services, cloud-based storage, and other services that require multiple skill sets and a wide range of hands-on experience.

Providing Personalized One-on-One Service

There are plenty of off-the-shelf “aaS” products, but few come with technical advisors who can guide the small business when it comes to selecting the products and services most relevant to their needs. For example, businesses that cater to the healthcare community need to be HIPAA complaint, while law firms and CPA firms have their own sets of industry regulations and security concerns to consider.

The difference between an IT outsourcing agency that can provide all of a small business’ IT needs versus a single product is huge. It enables the business to forge a single partnership with a vendor they can trust, instead of trying to piecemeal their IT products and services here, there, and everywhere.

Customizing Their Offerings to the Client’s Specific Needs

As we touched on briefly, what a law firm needs is different than the needs of an accounting business or a doctor’s office. IT outsourcing vendors need to work with the client personally, one-on-one to determine their exact needs and develop a customized solution that answers all of their regulatory concerns, as well as their industry-specific operational issues. A holistic IT outsourcing agency does this far better than those companies that merely offer a single product, like backup services or an SaaS application.

You can learn more about how IT outsourcing for small business helps you tailor IT solutions when you get your complimentary copy of Greg Hanna’s book ‘Computers Should Just Work!’

Working With Customers of All Technical Skill Levels

Finally, today’s small business owners have wildly differing levels of technical skills. Most are comfortable with using a computer for daily operations, but few are familiar with the technologies that power and enable the cloud, mobile devices, and other modern technical innovations. An IT outsourcing firm must be able to guide clients of all technical skill levels to the right products and services for their needs.

Do you have the right IT outsourcing partner for your small business? It’s more affordable than you think.