Managed IT services Roseville

Choosing a managed IT services partner in Roseville

The managed IT services industry provides SMBs with a hassle-free way to organize the prompt and effective maintenance of their basic IT infrastructure. For it to work at its best, however, you need to choose the right managed IT services partner for your organization. With that in mind, here is some guidance on how to choose a managed IT services partner in Roseville.

Be clear on what you can and cannot expect from managed IT services

A managed IT services vendor’s job is to take care of regular maintenance tasks. Anything else is passed on either to the client’s in-house IT operations team or (these days more likely) to another vendor, usually IT support. This means that if you’re looking for a managed IT services partner in Roseville, then you may well need to hire an IT support partner in Roseville as well. You’re also going to need to pay them for any work they do and you’ll need to keep this fact in mind when considering how much money you can afford to spend on managed IT services.

For the sake of completeness, managed IT services vendors expect companies to have their systems in good working order before they are handed over. As a minimum, you will need to keep up-to-date with all the maintenance tasks you expect your managed IT services partner to take over. You may even need to upgrade your infrastructure to meet a managed IT services partner’s (higher) standards.

Map out your needs and wants over at least the next five years

You’re presumably hiring a managed IT services partner to make your life more convenient (as well as more cost-effective) so it makes sense to save yourself the hassle of having to find a new managed IT services partner a few years down the line, because the one you picked first time can’t support your needs as your company develops. Five years is really the minimum length of time you should be planning ahead, longer is better but may not be practical for SMBs.

In addition to thinking about where your company is going, take this opportunity to see what legal and regulatory changes are in the pipeline. They are usually announced long before they need to be implemented. You might also want to do some research on what way the legal winds are blowing to see if there are any strong indicators of changes that might be made further down the line. When it comes to data protection, for example, it’s probably safe to assume that rules are going to become more strict and sanctions more rigorous.

Always remember that legally and ethically you are responsible for any sensitive data with which you are entrusted. This includes the personal data of your employees. It is therefore down to you to ensure that any vendors who work for you are fulfilling any legal/regulatory obligations with which you must comply. You can, of course, (and should) make these contractual obligations and you should make sure that, if need be, you can actually enforce your contract (otherwise it is completely useless).

That being so, it’s a good idea to check whether or not any company offering managed IT services in Roseville is actually located in Roseville (or at least near Roseville) or if they are (legally and/or physically) based elsewhere. This distinction is important as it could have serious implications for your ability both to supervise your managed IT services partner and your ability to hold them legally to account if they let you down.

Be cautious when setting your budget

The vast majority of managed IT services providers offer four pricing models – per user, per device, per service tier and ad hoc. They may go by different names but essentially the idea is the same. As a rule of thumb, only the very smallest SMBs are likely to benefit from per user and per device pricing (although for them the simplicity of these models can be very welcome). For larger SMBs, however, it’s usually best to go for a service bundle supplemented by ad hoc services.

In principle, putting as much as possible on a service bundle is the more economical way to go. In practice, however, a contract is only value-for-money if you can actually afford it. You might therefore want to start on a basic subscription and see how things go and then upgrade later if you’re sure that you can afford it, bearing in mind that you may well need to reserve budgets for projects and will definitely need to have a plan in place for dealing with break/fix issues.

If you’d like to speak to a reputable and experienced managed IT services partner in Roseville, please click here now to contact Salient IT.

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