Are you adamant about having your company move forward, get and retain new customers, and scale your business? Well, in that case, you need a trusted ally that everyone is turning to these days – a managed service provider for your IT security.
Since you are here and reading this article, you’re aware there are many benefits to leveraging managed IT services. Those include slashing costs, better response times, lowering risks, etc.
If you are thinking about moving your IT needs to an outside team, you need to learn which kind of IT managed services exist. Read on to find out, and then make an informed decision afterward!
What Exactly are Managed IT Services?
To put it simply, managed IT services are like an outsourced IT department. These businesses provide third-party service concerning your IT infrastructure and similar technical support.
The services they provide can be vastly different going from company to company. They can cover cybersecurity issues, data backup, VoIP solutions, and more. What you should keep in mind when choosing a provider is that they offer a flat monthly or yearly rate. Another benefit of outsourced IT assistance is working with IT experts to tailor a package of services suitable for your needs.
All of this does not mean that you should let go of your in-house IT team. Rather, allow the need for managed IT services in Boston to work with your internal departments for access to more excellent and advanced expertise. Plus, the team may provide round-the-clock assistance to tackle some burning issues.
Now, let’s jump in and explore the various types of managed services that are offered these days.
5 Different Kinds of Managed IT Services for Security
As we’ve said, many different useful managed services help with your cybersecurity. As you pick a service provider, you will be able to mix and match services that fit your requirements. Of course, you can also pick the full package that deals with fully managed IT solutions where most of the IT functions are outsourced to the providing company.
Without further ado, here are the most frequently offered and used managed services.
Vulnerability Testing and Penetration Simulation
Vulnerability testing consists of combining simulated hacking attempts and software scanning to find weaknesses in your system. Only then can such flaws be fixed, allowing for the installation of more advanced hardware and software systems that are more suited to safeguarding your company’s data assets and network. Vulnerability testing doesn’t normally entail a network-wide security review but instead focuses on the perimeter and hackers’ ability to get access to systems without authorization.
Vulnerability testing doesn’t normally entail a network-wide security review but instead focuses on the perimeter and hackers’ ability to get access to systems without authorization.
Penetration testing, on the other hand, can be scheduled ahead of time. IT firms use a comprehensive process that incorporates periodic random testing to gain a better understanding of your network’s strengths and limitations over time.
Assessing Risk
No matter the scope of the package you pick, your IT services should include risk assessment. This feature is significant since it lets your company understand its risk standing when it comes to key assets, systems, databases, policies, and employees.
With good risk assessment, you will be better informed when sharing data outside the company, and you will be able to tackle emerging cyber threats more successfully and in a problem-solving manner.
End-User Service
What would IT service be without adequate support methods for employees and customers?
When you strip it down to the basics, end-user service has an IT service desk or helpdesk solution where users can have a team of IT experts who helps them resolve a technical issue. Those issues can stem from mobile devices and operating systems, apps and their updates, connectivity errors, etc.
Some bigger companies can afford big in-house teams for these cases, but startups and other forms of SMEs (small and medium-sized businesses) don’t have the teams, bandwidth, and resources to do it all themselves. Thus, they outsource their support desk team. This way, the remaining tasks of their internal IT team are focused on more important and urgent tasks or those that are generating revenue.
As technology continues to evolve, so do end-user expectations grow. That is why lots of companies are now offering IT automation, desktop as a service, BYOD policies, and more.
Data Analytics
And what better way to secure yourself from possible security breaches than with the help of data analytics?
If you are looking for data management services, then data analytics are a part of those. They provide business intelligence to target trends and make roadmaps for better business performance.
Your provider should oversee servers with specific and sensitive data. They should also have a data center for backing up the said data, as well as a disaster recovery initiative. That both improves IT security and lowers expenses.
Remote Compliance Tracking
This form of managed service revolves around software that continuously scans the network for abnormalities, flagging those that are odd or do not comply with your company’s policies.
That is a useful feature to have, as cyberattacks become more common, even often coming from inside the company! So if a system administrator allows himself or herself more access, for instance, the access level will be immediately highlighted if it is too high for the job roles that the individual would need to undertake.
Final Word
A managed service provider will provide businesses with analytical tools to assist them to track security incidents and develop automated solutions to prevent future security issues. You can also adjust your workflow model as a result of this.
Working with a cloud service provider could be the next step for your company. A competent managed IT service will increase your IT security, business productivity, and overall growth by offering you a wide range of cloud services.
