CIRRUS Information Technology Resources

Managed service providers (MSPs) support a company’s technology needs through ongoing IT support that may include setup, installation, configuration, and monitoring of a company’s networks and endpoints. Unlike the reactive IT services of the past, modern MSPs will proactively assess a client’s IT infrastructure for potential threats and opportunities for improvement. They will then provide a plan of action, which may include a combination of software solutions and services, to improve their digital architecture and security posture. 

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MSPs typically offer services at a flat, recurring rate in tiered levels. As service levels increase, clients receive greater automation and management per their specified service level agreement (SLA). Customers, or end users, can commit to the level of service that meets their business needs, but always have the opportunity to shift their service packages as business needs or demands change. 

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IT managed services enable partners to run their businesses more smoothly and efficiently than otherwise possible. Additionally, they offer software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based solutions at a price that in-house options can’t beat. 

Contrary to popular thought, managed IT services do not necessarily make internal IT professionals obsolete. For the end user, an IT professional can act as an endpoint liaison who manages the relationship, delivers feedback, and analyzes the reports the MSP provides. In the context of outsourced NOC or SOC services, the MSP works as an extension of the main team, helping to address issues and accelerate service delivery without the end user even knowing.

Because the MSP completes most of the routine work, the internal IT professional can tackle more extensive, complex projects they would otherwise not have the time or capacity to handle. Freeing up these workforce resources makes MSPs a valuable resource to businesses of any size and during any stage of growth. Co-managed services also add another dimension to this, with the teams being able to work together to resolve issues in many cases.

At the outset of enterprise computing, information technology services and management operated on a break/fix model. A technician would fix computer systems only after they stopped working. Often, this technician was the same person who built or installed the computer system. 

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This method of maintenance was time-consuming, labor-intensive, costly, and reactive. It left little room for the technician to grow their business or take on new clients without massive investments in labor and infrastructure. 

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Over time, the number of computers in the overall marketplace would continue to increase exponentially year after year. The gap between technicians and the number of computers they could reasonably service grew wider and wider.

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As a result, managed IT services emerged to meet this need in the early 2000s, upending the traditional break/fix model. This new approach to IT centered on proactive maintenance, upgrades, system monitoring, and issue resolution on a routine basis—preventing problems before they start.

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Efficiency, consolidated resources, and client satisfaction—coupled with fixed rates, the ability to offer greater service offerings, and the capacity to take on more clientele—led to managed IT becoming the industry-standard approach to managing computer systems large and small for SMBs.