10 Times It Makes Sense to Consider Managed Services

Managed services make the most sense when you need to outsource specific tasks or skill sets, day to day operation or implementation of IT services. Your need may be short-term, long-term or somewhere in between, but there’s likely a managed services provider that can fill it.

Here are 10 signs that your business should seek the help of a managed services provider.

1. You Need to Fill the Skills Gap. It’s not your imagination: it’s still hard to find staff skilled in big data, machine learning, AI, cloud, and analytics functions. Managed services teams can help teach skills to your current staff and manage projects until internal teams are ready to take over.
2. You Need an Experienced Team to Take the Lead. Even when you know the business goal you’re trying to achieve, you may not know the right path to get there. Experienced managed services teams bring years of experience to the table and a portfolio that shows they’ve implemented similar strategies before.
3. You Need Additional Hands to Make Your Project a Success. Some projects simply need a short-term push to achieve the required timeline for completion. Managed services teams can add the extra hands required to get the job done.
4. You Need Help to Keep Your Team on Track. It makes sense to bring in managed services when your IT team needs to focus on the core business rather than on specialized IT projects or operational concerns. This is a good business move when your current team simply doesn’t have the available hours to give to short-term projects.
5. You Need to Maximize Savings. Subscription or project-based managed services can create cost savings by reducing steep learning and staffing needs. This type of outsourced assistance can lead to lower operational costs, prevent capital expenditures and keep internal IT teams lean. Examples include outsourcing standardized operating systems and applications, cloud or hybrid infrastructure and network consulting and device management services.
6. You Need More Support to Sustain Scaling Efforts. If your IT team can’t keep up with a business growth spurt or a short-term need that demands growing the IT team or infrastructure, it may be time to add a few outsourced professionals to your team. They can stay on board until your internal teams are ready to manage the growth or stay on long-term to keep your core team focused on other business goals.
7. You Need to Manage Risk. Digital transformation, mergers, acquisitions, expansions—each of these represent massive organizational change and come with their own unique risks. With an experienced managed services vendor, that risk is reduced by relying on experienced professionals who have navigated these large operational changes before.
8. You Need to Keep an Eye on IT Budgets. Every smart enterprise keeps a close watch over its IT spending. Using only the managed services you need to keep your business thriving can help you stabilize operating costs and channel that energy into growth instead.
9. You Need to Master New Technology. Call in experienced professionals when you need to take advantage of a new technology, but you don’t have time to train your in-house IT teams or add new staff. Keeping up with the latest AWS, Azure of Google Cloud releases or the latest SD-WAN solutions can be an uphill battle for any IT staff.
10. You Need to Compete Against Your Peers. If you work in a sector with thin margins, being competitive isn’t an option, it’s a requirement. Outsourcing IT functions helps level the playing field against larger competitors who may have bigger, more experienced in-house IT teams.

Managed services can be the answer to many of the most pressing conundrums faced by today’s enterprises. They help address IT complexity by offering proven experience to simplify and streamline IT services.

Get maximum value from your IT investments by tapping outside professionals when you need them most. Learn more about the host of managed and IT consulting services offered by CenturyLink.

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