Eliminate your IT and compliance worries with managed services

How much does your business depend on its IT systems? For most businesses, the answer is “a lot,” so you need to find ways to manage it correctly.

If you don’t have the resources to manage everything in-house, you may need to turn to a managed IT provider.

If this is something you’re not currently doing, it’s time to learn how the right managed services provider (MSP) can eliminate your IT and compliance worries.

Understanding what managed IT is

Managed IT involves outsourcing your IT tasks to an external team. In a lot of cases, this means the external team will handle your IT problems for a fixed-rate fee.

However, you can use an MSP for other more specific purposes too. For example, they may oversee your cybersecurity.

In addition to managed IT services, you can consider using a co-managed service.

Co-managed service providers work alongside your in-house IT team. They allow you to retain responsibility for some of your IT processes, so they’re not completely autonomous.

See also: 7 Advantages of Managed IT Services

How managed IT addresses compliance problems

Compliance is an issue in a lot of industries, especially those that concern handling personal data.

Let’s say you process customer payments using a card machine, for example. If those payments come from major credit card providers, you may need to remain Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant.

Last year, there was a 36.7 percent drop in PCI DSS compliance, so organizations that need to remain compliant may come under scrutiny this year.

There are a lot of factors that can influence whether you’re compliant

From assigning unique user codes to employees to the software you depend on, there’s a lot to think about.

Getting it wrong may result in you facing fines or even losing business if you have a data breach.

By outsourcing your compliance monitoring to a managed IT company, you’ll remain compliant without having to constantly check in on what’s happening.

A managed IT provider will also stay on top of the compliance changes in your industry. As a result, when those changes come about you will be prepared and you won’t face problematic adjustment periods.

How an MSP can reduce your IT stresses

Compliance aside, IT stresses come in lots of different forms. For example, cyberattackers are constantly trying new ways to breach your defenses.

In the first half of 2019, 4.1 billion records were exposed by cybercriminals. If you don’t want your organization to become a part of such statistics, you need to take a robust approach to keep it safe.

Cybersecurity can sometimes feel overwhelming. You need to go beyond the usual antivirus software and employ techniques such as real-time threat management, vulnerability assessments, and employee education.

If you feel as though it’s too big a task for your in-house IT team, letting an MSP take over can work wonders. With a dedicated team of cybersecurity professionals, it’s easy to assess threats and respond to them quickly.

Using an MSP is a useful way to handle other IT stresses too

For example, if you’re facing problems outside of normal office hours, you won’t want to wait until the morning for help desk support. With the right managed IT provider, that support will already be there.

Both compliance and IT stress become less problematic when you have the right MSP.

When you spend less time worrying about common IT concerns, you can spend more time focusing on other areas of your business.