At some point in your company’s growth, you need someone to take care of your IT support. Users need help with technical issues, new hardware must be installed, and hackers are always targeting small businesses for their poor cybersecurity defenses. The best IT support model for 10-80 employees is partnering with a good managed service provider (MSP). Not only does partnering with an MSP take away most of the IT overhead, but you also know your infrastructure and cybersecurity are done right. Here are a few common MSP support models to help small businesses.
Completely Outsourced MSP IT Support
Not every business has overnight staff, but it’s common for staff to work late nights or early mornings. If any of your staff travels, they might need support during off-peak hours. Most small business owners don’t stop work when they clock out. Small business owners are on-call days, nights and weekends. At some point, you need support for your IT infrastructure, and you might not find it if you don’t have dedicated support.
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Whether you need off-peak hours support or simple help with your infrastructure during working hours, an MSP is there to help. A good MSP has a 24/7 helpdesk to answer low-priority calls, but high-priority critical issues can be handled with onsite support. If you need new installations, an MSP’s onsite support will work with you to figure out the best solution, deploy it with minimal interference of business operations, and maintain it with upgrades and patches.
Should your network suffer from an outage, an MSP will work with you to get it back up and running as soon as possible. Every MSP has a set service level agreement (SLA) that determines a timeframe for response and resolution. For example, you might be promised a 15-30 minute response for critical issues so that you have immediate support for a fast resolution. You also have the benefit of skilled professionals familiar with IT issues and how to fix them.
Outsourcing your IT support to an MSP gives you help with anything software and hardware related. If you have no one with IT experience, this model might be the best choice.
Pros:
- Better support and 24/7 helpdesk
- Faster resolution for critical issues
- Cost effective compared to dedicated onsite staff
Cons:
- Takes time for professionals to understand company specific products
Co-Managed IT Support
For businesses with at least 50 employees, you might prefer to have at least one onsite dedicated IT staff member. This staff member has a relationship with the people working in the office, and it’s easy for employees to quickly ask questions from the person sitting in a cubicle down the hall. A dedicated staff member seems like the more productive choice after your business has several dozen employees.
A single staff member can’t handle every issue that presents itself, so you either hire more IT staff or use a co-managed IT support model. For most small businesses, engaging with an MSP is the answer. It’s more cost effective, and it provides help to a small IT department. IT support requires network monitoring, network maintenance, and constant updates to both staff workstations and networking equipment. The entire process of monitoring and managing a network becomes overwhelming for one or two IT people.
Having a co-managed support model is a nice balance between onsite staff and expenses and relying on an MSP to remediate critical issues, monitor for any issues, and bring professional support that onsite staff might not have, like cybersecurity, cloud management and deployment, and disaster recovery. The MSP works directly with your onsite dedicated staff and acts as an extension of your IT support team.
Pros:
- Takes over for overflow when onsite staff are overwhelmed with work
- Helps onsite staff work through issues that might not be their area of expertise
- Accelerates the remediation of critical issues
Cons:
- Requires good coordination and communication between the MSP and onsite staff
On-call for Intermittent Support Only
For very small businesses with less than 10 employees, full-time MSP support might not be necessary. You might have very little IT infrastructure and don’t need support but once or twice a month. If you have little need for full-time support but still need help every once in a while, a more casual contract might be the best option. You still need a contract with an MSP, but you can pay as you go or pay only when you need support.
This IT support model has several pitfalls, one of which is that it can get expensive if you need help with a critical issue that takes days to remediate. For example, suppose that you have a major data breach from ransomware. You need help with containing the threat, finding out what happened, and eradicating it from your network. Most businesses also need help with recovering data, if at all possible. Without disaster recovery plans in place, you could lose your data altogether, which is why professional help should be a proactive thought rather than reactive.
A good MSP will work with your budget and decide which IT support model is best for your business. If you are thinking about this model, here are a few considerations.
Pros:
- Can be cost effective if you only need support rarely
- Leaves you to handle basic issues and the MSP handles major issues
- Gives you a feel for how an MSP works
Cons:
- Expenses add up if you need support several times a month
- Critical issues that take days to remediate can cost more than other models
- Unforeseen costs when you need onsite support
What MSP Model is Right for You?
Every business has its own requirements, and these requirements are what you should focus on when you choose an IT support model. For businesses with a budget, you should carefully consider the right model, and look for an MSP that gives you a flat-rate monthly cost based on metrics like users. It might take you time to find the right provider, but Corporate Technologies can help you find the right IT support that suits your budget and your requirements.
Contact us today to see what we can do to help support your IT infrastructure.
FAQs
Yes, depending on your MSP and the contracts they offer, you can get 24/7 helpdesk support.
Yes, some MSPs will support IT issues when you need it, but costs can add up when you have a critical issue and need several days of onsite support.
An MSP can save you money if you have a small business, but businesses with over 50 employees might benefit from co-managed support with a local IT employee and an MSP.
An MSP can be the best resource for ransomware and help businesses prepare with a disaster recovery plan and backups.
For small businesses, MSPs charge per-user and can be more cost-effective than hiring a full-time staff member.
