Why Do I Need Managed Services?

Posted on Apr 28, 2011 | 0 comments

This is an important question to ask when you have a business full of computers, servers and employees.  What do I get with managed services that I couldn’t get with a break-fix solution?  I think this question is more important, and more poignant to the topic, as it drills down past the jargon and straight to the simplified truth of the matter.

Is it the remote access/management capabilities?  We provide that at no additional charge to our customers.  Is it ticketing, billing and help desk management?  Nope.  We do all of that as part of our service as well.

What managed services really does is to automate the mundane tasks that users can and should do, but often overlook.  This includes virus updates, software updates and patches, backups, monitoring and inventory auditing and control.  It also can do some things that users cannot do, including network monitoring, and endpoint security, however the main purpose of manages services is automation of trivial tasks.

With that said, we can readdress the question: “Why do I need managed services?”.  Well, the answer is you might not.  If you are a user or group of users that is diligent with ensuring that software updates are installed, do not have a formal server, and do not need monitoring, auditing or additional security, then managed services would largely be an unnecessary expense.

The important thing to keep in mind with managed services is that it is preventative maintenance, not preventative breakage.  What I mean is that while managed services can perform automated tasks such as alerting when a backup as failed, pushing out patches, monitoring systems and generally optimizing the working environment, no amount of preventative maintenance can avoid hardware failures, database corruption, software crashes, or some virus/spyware intrusions.  Managed services is about shifting the odds against a catastrophic failure into a more favorable position, so that if a catastrophe does occur, backups will be verified and current, an inventory of the systems can be referenced, and repair time and data loss can be limited.

Many have misinterpreted managed services with an insurance policy against hardware/software failure, and much of this is due in part to managed services providers not being forthcoming about their services, and instead trying to get customers to sign monthly agreements so that they can collect monthly streams of revenue with little to no effort on their part.  A good managed services provider should clearly explain what they will receive, and more importantly, what they WILL NOT receive as part of a managed services contract.

A common scenario is a customer who has been paying a monthly charge for managed services of their desktops, laptops and servers, only to find that when the inevitable failure occurs, those charges were not to “insure” against a failure, instead a significant cost to repair the damage is incurred.  Now, this is not a malicious act on the part of the provider, as managed services is not intended to prevent failures, just to keep systems up to date and monitored so that small errors can be quickly corrected, and a complete profile of a network can be maintained.  However, the MSP is culpable in that the provider did not set the proper expectations for the customer, that being even with manged services, significant additional repair costs may be required when a failure occurs.

I am seeing more customers becoming aware of the pros/cons of managed services, unfortunately usually the hard way, and I think it’s important that MSP’s become more responsible with educating customers instead of just chasing recurring revenue.  Managed services is an excellent tool, and I think many customers do themselves a disservice by not utilizing such a solution.  However, it is important that a provider also be able to provide rapid-response break-fix services as well so that when the inevitable failure occurs, the customer is not blindsided by unexpected repair costs, excessive downtime and lost data.

So the next time an IT professional or MSP asks you about managed services, be sure to ask questions, not just “why do I need managed services?”, but “what happens when a managed system fails?”, and “how quickly can you fix my failed systems?”, and “how much will it cost me when a failure occurs?”.  These questions should ensure that you are taking actions to protect your business and it’s computer assets, and will be ready to make a fully informed decision.