What IS a Managed Service Provider?

TECHIES is a Managed Service Provider (MSP). So are about two dozen other companies in the Twin Cities. We are all in the business of managing computers and networks for our clients. Typically this means we will not only set up your computers and network but also monitor them for problems, help you with issues that come up and provide additional services (like spam filtering) so that you can focus on running your business.

It makes sense, really. Most businesses don’t have employees taking turns washing the windows, cutting the grass or taking out the trash. It’s not that you couldn’t. But by paying a company to do those sorts of things, you ultimately save money.

1. There’s no need to buy extra equipment – things like vacuums and lawn mowers and squeegees.
2. When your office hits the busy season, you don’t have to worry about trash piling up. You keep doing what you do best and the other stuff “just happens”.
3. You don’t to worry about keeping someone on staff who knows how to maintain that equipment.
   

Ultimately, a lawn service (cleaning service, etc.) can get the job done in much less time for less than it would cost you to do it yourself.

Managed Service Providers are really the same sort of thing – but for your computers. Face it: even if you know about computers, you don’t want to spend your day messing around with the problems that come up. (And with computers, problems always come up!) By hiring a company that does only that, you can keep everyone focused on doing what they do well. Even if you have a lawn at home, you get that it would be a waste of your time to cut the grass at work.

The REAL advantage for your business here is that downtime with computers is expensive.

When your customers aren’t getting your emails or you can’t get the credit card machine to process, you are losing money. You know how quickly that starts to add up. They name of the game is keeping things running. To do that well, you need someone who knows what they are doing to focus on your network and computers. You could hire a full-time person. But at a certain size, that doesn’t make sense. Bigger businesses have gardeners on staff. A small business has a service that comes to take care of those things for them.

What size should my company be to think about hiring a MSP?
It depends. Different MSPs will give you different answers. The short answer that most people can agree on is: one or two employees and you are probably too small to justify the cost. Fifty or 100 employees and you’re going to start asking yourself why you don’t hire your own people full time. Somewhere in the middle, though, and it costs you money to NOT have a MSP.

Is a Managed Service Provider the same as a computer repair shop?
No. Computer repair shops fix computers after they break. Often on their own schedule. Managed Service Providers try to maintain your systems to keep things running smoothly. They are usually monitoring your network and blocking your spam. They will often have a help desk who can solve problems right away rather than making you wait for an appointment (or making you unplug your computer, put it in the car, bring it to the store, drop it off, wait, and put it all back together again.) Most importantly, most managed service providers will allow you to pay a regularly monthly fee for service so you can budget for them.