Research shows that IT executives are challenged to build IT departments that are more strategic, serviced-oriented and engaged with the business, but they’re dealing with employees who lack the skills to make the transformation. By using a blended IT workforce, you can leverage the abilities and expertise of a much larger and technologically-diverse team to tackle issues that your full-time staff may not be equipped to handle. Finding in demand technology skill sets can be challenging, so explore a blended IT solution that involves using a mix of full-time employees, independent contractors and temporary workers.
How an MSP Can Help Your Company Get Its Groove Back
By JD Sartain written on CIO.com
Managed service providers (MSPs) are rapidly becoming the gold standard for outsourcing the day-to-day management responsibilities and operations of corporations worldwide, so the IT staff can focus on R&D, new products and better customer service.
An MSP headquartered in London has been providing real-world managed services to its clients since 2001. Moneycorp is an independent foreign currency exchange broker in the U.K. that completes 2.4 million customer transactions and trades 11 billion pounds in foreign currencies a year. These two companies came together because one was experiencing real-world issues and the other could offer immediate solutions. Read more about their success using a blendedIT workforce here.
Contact us for more information
Managed Solution is a full-service technology firm that empowers business by delivering, maintaining and forecasting the technologies they’ll need to stay competitive in their market place. Founded in 2002, the company quickly grew into a market leader and is recognized as one of the fastest growing IT Companies in Southern California.
We specialize in providing full managed services to businesses of every size, industry, and need.
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Why businesses are turning to managed IT services
More organizations are turning over certain IT functions to managed service providers, freeing internal IT staff to focus on strategic IT projects
Organizations are increasingly turning to managed service providers (MSPs) to handle elements of their IT needs as part of a collaborative arrangement with the internal IT department, according to new research from IT industry trade association CompTIA.
MSPs have been around for a long time, but adoption has been relatively low. As late as last year CompTIA found that only 3-in-10 organizations had any of their IT in the hands of an MSP, says Carolyn April, senior director, Industry Analysis, at CompTIA. But more than two-thirds of companies surveyed for CompTIA's Fourth Annual Trends in Managed Services Study, released Monday, say they have used the services of an outside IT firm within the past 12 months.
Companies have become more familiar with managed services and are turning to them for management of certain IT functions, particularly email hosting, customer relationship management (CRM) applications, storage, backup and recovery and network monitoring.
"While one-time projects account for some of these engagements, a significant portion is ongoing management of one or more IT functions by a managed services provider," says April, who is also author of the report. "There is a much higher degree of familiarity with the term 'managed services' and greater adoption."
Top MSPs extending their reach
Some upper echelon services are offering managed services around data analytics, business intelligence (BI) and advanced application monitoring — and April says there is increasing demand in those areas — but most MSPs have yet to extend beyond their heritage in managing network infrastructure and basic software infrastructure.
"I think mobile is an area where the channel is getting some traction but they're really not tapping the full opportunity there," she adds.
Part of the awareness problem in the past has been a definitional one, April says. In these days of software-as-a-service (SaaS), the customers (and sometimes providers) remain unclear about what actually constitutes a managed service.
"I think the definitional issue is an enormous one," she says. "It's one of the things that has made it extremely difficult to market size the managed services space and determine adoption rates."
The MSP community hasn't done the best job communicating the benefits of managed services to end users, April notes, though the fact that usage has nearly doubled in the past year suggests they've begun to do better.
Partners, not replacements
It is also important to note that while companies are increasingly relying on outside providers for part of their IT needs, MSPs generally complement rather than replace internal IT.
"Very few of these companies get rid of their IT staffs just because they join up with an MSP," April says.
Instead, especially in larger companies, bringing an MSP into the mix frees up existing IT staff to focus on more strategic projects.
"It elevates the IT staff and brings them out of the shadows within the organization," she says. "It allows them to focus on a custom app dev project or cloud initiative — something highly strategic. I think that's a win-win for your IT staff."
That also highlights that the reasons that organizations turn to MSPs have begun to change. In the past, April says, cost savings were seen as the primary benefit of MSPs. Now, she says, cost benefits are considered table stakes and customers are looking for additional benefits like generating revenue and helping the company become more efficient. Even security has evolved from being considered a roadblock to using MSPs to a reason for doing so.
April explains that companies have shifted their views over security as it has become clear that security problems are often the result of human error by internal staff.
Why IT turns to MSPs
CompTIA found that improving the efficiency and reliability of IT operations was a main driving factor for going with an MSP for 56 percent of companies with 100 or more employees and 47 percent of companies with fewer than 100 employees.
Enhanced security and compliance was a driving factor for 38 percent of companies of all sizes. ROI/cost savings was a driving factor for 33 percent of companies with 100 or more employees and 28 percent of companies with fewer than 100 employees.
The trade association found that six-in-10 respondents that consider their technology usage advanced are using an MSP for physical security services. Also, 63 percent of the same group are using an MSP for application monitoring. The managed services that are lowest in demand to date are videoconferencing, mobile device management and audio/visual services.
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Why Modern Business Turns to Blended IT
More and more companies are discovering the benefits of employing a blended IT workforce, which can benefit your company in a number of ways. Below are some reasons why modern business is turning to a blended IT workforce.
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CIOs are under pressure to boost business results and develop customer-facing applications.
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Hiring Managers and CIOs complain that they lack the kind of IT staff that drive business results.
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27% of modern IT and business leaders would remake their company's IT departments from scratch, according to a recent IDGE survey.
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Companies need to have deep expertise in all of the many technologies and tools available today.
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Full-time staff may not be equipped to tackle larger technology issues.
The blended IT workforce is becoming more and more popular because it involves utilizing a mix of full-time employees, independent contractors and temporary workers. This approach has resulted in increased productivity and decreased overall IT spending.
More Information on Blended IT >>
Contact us for more information on how to blend you IT team with ours
Managed Solution is a full-service technology firm that empowers business by delivering, maintaining and forecasting the technologies they’ll need to stay competitive in their market place. Founded in 2002, the company quickly grew into a market leader and is recognized as one of the fastest growing IT Companies in Southern California.
We specialize in providing full managed services to businesses of every size, industry, and need.
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Why Modern Business Turns to Blended IT
More and more companies are discovering the benefits of employing a blended IT workforce, which can benefit your company in a number of ways. Below are some reasons why modern business is turning to a blended IT workforce.
- CIOs are under pressure to boost business results and develop customer-facing applications.
- Hiring Managers and CIOs complain that they lack the kind of IT staff that drive business results.
- 27% of modern IT and business leaders would remake their company's IT departments from scratch, according to a recent IDGE survey.
- Companies need to have deep expertise in all of the many technologies and tools available today.
- Full-time staff may not be equipped to tackle larger technology issues.
The blended IT workforce is becoming more and more popular because it involves utilizing a mix of full-time employees, independent contractors and temporary workers. This approach has resulted in increased productivity and decreased overall IT spending.
More Information on Blended IT >>
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A Global Leader in Aging and Brain Health Wins Big with Blended IT
Healthcare Institutions Save Time and Reduce Development Costs by up to 90 Percent with Cloud-Based Portal
A global leader in aging and brain health, Baycrest wanted to more easily share resources with other healthcare organizations in Canada and around the world. By using a blended IT approach and working with a Microsoft Partner, Baycrest developed eHealth2Share, a cloud-based portal based on Microsoft Office 365 that allows hospital workers to share information and expertise. By reusing software applications and electronic forms, eHealth2Share will help healthcare institutions save weeks of employee labor time.
Baycrest offers a comprehensive system of care for aging patients and one of the world's top research institutes in cognitive neuroscience. The organization wanted to improve efficiency by sharing information and expertise with other hospitals in Canada and around the world. Healthcare officials realized that cloud technologies could help Baycrest develop a centralized information hub without investing a lot of time or money.
Blending forces with an award-winning Microsoft Partner, Baycrest built eHealth2Share, a centralized information portal that allows healthcare providers to share a range of information, including electronic forms, policies, software applications, training programs, and best practices. Baycrest developed the portal by using Microsoft Office 365, which provided an affordable way for organizations to access and share documents using the Microsoft Office applications that most employees are already familiar with.
With eHealth2Share, healthcare organizations can save time and lower development costs by as much as 90 percent by downloading software applications and electronic forms that other institutions have already produced. They can also improve care by more easily sharing knowledge and expertise with colleagues at other institutions. In addition, employees can save time by sharing electronic forms, policies, best practices, and employee training programs.
“It can cost [US]$10,000 to $40,000 every time a healthcare institution needs to develop an electronic form,” says Terrie Tucker, Director of eHealth at Baycrest. “By sharing standardized forms on eHealth2Share, hospitals can download forms that already exist, make the minor edits needed, and have a customized form and associated workflow ready to go, with substantially less investment in staff time and effort.”
By utilizing a blended IT workforce, developing the portal made it possible for Baycrest to create eHealth2Share quickly and at low cost. “We wouldn’t have done this if we had to maintain it internally and had to worry about security, access, and all those types of things,” Tucker says. “The fact that it’s in the cloud and someone else is managing the servers is what made it all possible.”
More and more companies are discovering the benefits of employing a blended IT workforce. This approach includes using a mix of full-time employees, independent contractors and temporary workers. A blended IT solution provides for the best possible financial and strategic business outcomes.
Already, Baycrest is seeing the benefits of eHealth2Share. Employees are saving time and labor by downloading documents developed by other institutions and then customizing these documents to meet their specific needs. Baycrest has posted several software applications to eHealth2Share for other institutions to download free of charge, potentially saving them thousands of dollars in development costs.
“By openly sharing best-in-class electronic forms and e-learning modules, healthcare institutions can save weeks—and even months—of time that it takes to create them,” says Tucker. “It’s all about sharing resources and saving public taxpayer dollars.”
To date, about 40 healthcare providers at 40 institutions have subscribed to eHealth2Share, including all the major teaching hospitals in the Toronto area. Baycrest eventually hopes to extend the portal to healthcare institutions around the world. Tucker believes the portal will be especially useful for smaller healthcare organizations and those in remote areas that don’t have the same resources as larger, urban-based institutions. “This is truly an innovative use of cloud services in the healthcare sector,” she says. “It presents a huge opportunity for knowledge exchange and relationship building. Ultimately, this has the potential to save healthcare institutions a lot of time and money.”
Source: https://customers.microsoft.com
For more information on creating a strategic IT Department with our Blended IT solutions, call 800-313-2109 or complete the contact form below and we will be in touch.
Managed Solution is a full-service technology firm that empowers business by delivering, maintaining and forecasting the technologies they’ll need to stay competitive in their market place. Founded in 2002, the company quickly grew into a market leader and is recognized as one of the fastest growing IT Companies in Southern California.
We specialize in providing full managed services to businesses of every size, industry, and need.
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Infographic: What is Blended IT?
Many IT executives are challenged to build IT departments that are more strategic, serviced-oriented and engaged with the business--but they're dealing with employees who lack the skills to make the transformation. By using a blended IT workforce, you can leverage the abilities and expertise of a much larger and technologically-diverse team to tackle issues that your full-time staff may not be equipped to handle.
For more information on Blended IT, call 800-313-2109 or complete the contact form below and we will be in touch.
Managed Solution is a full-service technology firm that empowers business by delivering, maintaining and forecasting the technologies they’ll need to stay competitive in their market place. Founded in 2002, the company quickly grew into a market leader and is recognized as one of the fastest growing IT Companies in Southern California.
We specialize in providing full managed services to businesses of every size, industry, and need.
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Blended IT is Best for Strategic Business Outcomes
Blended to Perfection
Many IT executives are challenged to build IT departments that are more strategic, serviced-oriented and engaged with the business--but they're dealing with employees who lack the skills to make the transformation. By using a blended IT workforce, you can leverage the abilities and expertise of a much larger and technologically-diverse team to tackle issues that your full-time staff may not be equipped to handle.
More and more companies are discovering the benefits of employing a blended IT workforce.
This approach includes using a mix of full-time employees, independent contractors and temporary workers. A blended IT solution provides for the best possible financial and strategic business outcomes.
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Reduce Overhead
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24/7 Access to Expert Support
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Round out Your Technical Strengths
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Increased Situational Experience
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Speed up Projects
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Reduce Waste
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Increased Operational Flexibility
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Decrease Overall IT spending
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Reduce Turnover
According to a recent IDG Enterprise (IDGE) survey of 696 senior IT and business executives, more than half of respondents said IT must be business-savvy (61 percent), collaborative (53 percent), and innovative (50 percent). The only problem is that finding "hybrid" staff--those with that combination of tech skills and business savvy that CIOs covet--remains a problem.
Contact Us!
For more information on creating a strategic IT Department with our Blended IT solutions, call 800-313-2109 or complete the contact form below and we will be in touch.
Managed Solution is a full-service technology firm that empowers business by delivering, maintaining and forecasting the technologies they’ll need to stay competitive in their market place. Founded in 2002, the company quickly grew into a market leader and is recognized as one of the fastest growing IT Companies in Southern California.
We specialize in providing full managed services to businesses of every size, industry, and need.
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