4 Ways Managed IT Services Will Save You Money
03/29/2022 | by SandStorm IT
As a business owner, you never stop asking this question: Will this decision provide benefits that outweigh the cost? So what about managed IT? Is it a cost that will be a drain on your bottom line? Or is managed IT support an investment that’s actually worth it?
Compelling data shows that managed IT can result in significant financial benefits for your company. Recently, the IDC (International Data Corporation), which provides market research insights into technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets, conducted a survey of companies who had implemented managed IT. The results were compelling and we’ll explore some of them in this blog. Of the companies examined, they experienced a 224 percent three-year return on their investment.
Four Ways Managed IT Will Help Your Business
The IDC found gains in 4 distinct areas: user productivity, IT staff productivity, business productivity, and infrastructure cost reduction.
1.User Productivity
Managed IT has a significant impact on user productivity in two ways: more efficient processes and eliminating downtime. Among study participants in the IDC report, user productivity was found to have an annual benefit of $203,111 per 100 users.
Downtime Costs Your Business
Downtime can have a significant impact on the bottom line. In fact, the IDC report found that by eliminating or reducing the annual cost of lost productivity, companies were able to save $56,100 per 100 users!
How does IT outsourcing reduce downtime? Through prevention and proactive planning. Many downtime incidents can be prevented through proactive monitoring that identifies potential IT problems before they happen. Managed IT will keep hardware running at peak performance and a network protected from ransomware and malware.
When an incident does happen, having a plan already in place coupled with a quick response can significantly reduce the length of the downtime. That’s why managed IT providers like SandStorm IT offer 24/7 customer care with both remote and in-person support.
Downtime costs you money and a quick response is a valuable benefit. According to a study conducted by IDC examining downtime for small businesses, the average downtime cost for a small business per incident was anywhere from $82,200 to $256,000.
To estimate your own potential downtime costs use these formulas from Data Foundry:
Productivity cost = E x % x C x H
E = number of employees affected
% = percentage they are affected
C = average cost of employees per hour
H = number of downtime hours
Revenue loss = (GR/TH) x I x H
GR = gross annual revenue
TH = total annual business hours
% = percentage impact
H = hours of downtime
If you compare those costs to the cost of managed IT support, you may find that IT outsourcing more than pays for itself.
Optimizing Business Processes Can Increase Profit
In addition to downtime, optimizing business processes is one of the benefits of managed IT services. For example, SandStorm IT can migrate your business to Microsoft Office 365 to make your business run more smoothly. We can assist with setting up collaboration, file sharing, and cloud storage to make your data easier to access, while limiting access for security.
Have remote employees? A managed IT provider can help get everyone connected to the resources to make their jobs easier and more efficient and give your business greater flexibility.
2. IT Staff Productivity
Often businesses will retain some in-house IT staff while also implementing managed IT. This can often result in the best of both worlds. Managed IT allows your businesses to scale up or down for special projects or during times of business fluctuations, while in-house IT staff brings the benefit of institutional knowledge.
The IDC study found that businesses that implemented managed IT, saw a 42 percent increase in IT staff productivity with an annual benefit of $20,155 per 100 users. Companies that used managed IT services were able to provide IT services more quickly while at the same time reducing overall IT costs.
3. Business Productivity
The IDC study found that businesses that implemented managed IT experienced an annual benefit in business productivity of $6,256 per 100 users.
How exactly is managed IT support helping increase business productivity?
Indeed.com suggests these three steps to increase business productivity:
- Use new technology or techniques to improve operations.
- Review your current setup.
- Implement a continuous improvement mindset.
Often, business owners are just too busy or don’t have the expertise to implement these steps. However, with the ongoing support and expertise of a managed IT services provider, companies are much more likely to implement these three goals which can greatly increase their bottom line.
4. Infrastructure Cost Reduction
Managed IT has been found to reduce infrastructure costs with the IDC study finding an annual benefit of $146,801 per 100 users. This reflects both a reduction in physical infrastructure and costs of IT staffing. Managed IT can help your business reduce software costs, reduce the physical footprint of office space, and reduce IT training costs.
Learn More about Managed IT and How It Can Help Your Business
Now that you’ve seen the incredible financial benefits of managed IT services, you might be wondering how to find a managed IT provider. At SandStorm IT, we’ve been providing these types of services for more than 30 years, and we’d love to chat about your specific needs.
“SandStorm IT has been our IT consultant for many years. They are knowledgeable in the latest technology and security issues that companies face. With their managed services subscription, they monitor each of our servers and workstations to ensure that we stay current with updates and security features. All of the SandStorm employees are courteous and professional and always willing to help.”
Jennifer Morris, Rose Construction
As your partner, our team of experts will work to avoid disruptions in the first place, and if it does happen, quickly fix any issues. We provide remote as well as in-person support to make sure that your problem is fixed quickly and efficiently.
With our IT managed services, you’ll spend your time running your business — not worrying about your IT.
Managed IT services include:
- 24/7 monitoring services
- Customized Protection Package
- Managed Backup Protection
Give us a call today to get started or use our online contact form to connect with someone from our team.
