3 Reasons to Use an MSP for Remote Server Monitoring
Is your IT department overworked and outstretched?A Managed Services Provider (MSP) can provide cloud-based remote server monitoring to reduce workloads free up your IT resources. In today's business environment, keeping a network running smoothly is never easy, especially when one IT department is trying to manage every project. Here are three reasons to use a Managed Services Provider for remote server monitoring:
1) Cut costs
With options like Pay-As-You-Go, a cloud-based remote server monitoring can save you money while allowing you to scale your company up and down as much as you'd like. In addition, you won't need to hire expensive, highly specialized IT administrators to run your networks. A Managed Services Provider can do all this for you, making outrageous IT expenses a thing of the past.
2) Managed on-the-go
Get alerts and real-time updates about your network from your MSP. So now while you are on the road to a business meeting or conference, you can check on your network's activity without missing a beat. Stay in the loop no matter what by viewing your network at a glance from your mobile device. Just don't check your network and drive.
3) No-hassle setups
It only takes a few minutes for each workstation or server to be up and running with cloud-based server monitoring. Even better, there is no user downtime throughout the whole process, so your business can keep on running while everything is being setup. Worry-free installations can give you time to focus on your business while still having peace of mind that there won't be any software compatibility or vulnerability issues.
MIKE Program, a small nonprofit based in Portland, Oregon, uses mentorships to empower youth to make better health choices, but its makeshift IT system took up scarce staff time and bogged down workflow.Office 365 has revolutionized the nonprofit’s day-to-day work. The free, cloud-based suite now enables them to
write more competitive grant applications,
streamline board relations,
work with more volunteers,
increase their productivity, and
communicate with stakeholders from anywhere.
“It would not be possible to operate as we do now without it,” says Sherry Harbert, MIKE Program’s communications director and de-facto IT help desk. The cloud's easy-to-use features help the health nonprofit MIKE Program better communicate with the board, volunteers and staff.
"Office 365 allowed a central collaboration point for documents and tasks assigned to committee meetings, and it allowed everyone to see the calendar and updates in real time"-Dave Chapman, MIKE Program Board Member
Making a difference with better technology:
Grant writing in the cloud
Like most nonprofits, MIKE Program’s budget relies heavily on winning private grants. Collaborating on applications saved in the cloud helps them write stronger submissions, Harbert says.
With Office 365’s secure file sharing, edits made to documents are saved in real time, eliminating the confusion of emailing different versions back and forth—and the frustration of bounced attachment-heavy messages.
Communicating 24/7
“Like most nonprofits, we operate 24 hours a day because people expect communication in the evenings, mornings and weekends,” Harbert says. Office 365’s tools allow staff and volunteers to seamlessly stay in touch from a computer, tablet or mobile phone.
“If we’re out of the office or something is wrong with the IT host, we still have access to everything. We’re never shut down.”
Managing volunteers
Volunteers aren’t based at the nonprofit’s central office; more than 20 MIKE Program mentors travel city-wide as they lead health education programs and shepherd students to job shadow opportunities across Portland.
Office 365 emailing and cloud document sharing connects on-the-go volunteers to staff, regardless of what mobile device they use: They can view updates of schedules, participant rosters and curricula that can change at the drop of a hat—anywhere.
Bringing on the board
The board’s ability to work efficiently, make quick decisions and communicate is central to running a nonprofit, and MIKE Program streamlined its board work with Office 365. Instead of sending email after email of agendas, meeting notes, tasks and updates, board members use SharePoint, one of the suite’s most popular features, to sync projects.
“Office 365 allowed a central collaboration point for documents and tasks assigned to committee meetings, and it allowed everyone to see the calendar and updates as we go,” explains board member Dave Chapman. “It’s real time collaboration.”
Maximizing resources
Volunteer, time and financial resources are always tight at nonprofits, and the tools within Office 365 allowed MIKE Program to do more with less. “Switching to Office 365 freed up my time so I’m not struggling to do basic operations,” Harbert says. “I can now focus more on deliverables, the program itself, our mission, communications and getting the word out on our program.”
Becoming more efficient helped the staff nearly double its pool of volunteers, who logged 760 more hours per year after the transition to Office 365.
Building organizational capacity
“This technology’s help is both immediate for what we need day to day but also in the long term,” Harbert says. Because it allows staff to direct their energy to helping more students lead healthy lives—instead of wrestling with makeshift IT systems—the cloud-based suite sets up MIKE Program for a robust future.
“Office 365 is instrumental for our survival.”
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The Government Will See You Now: A Private Sector Solution for Public Sector Problems
There’s a long-standing belief out there that governments, and government websites in particular, could do a better job of providing access and information to the public. Fueled by their experiences with private industry, citizens no longer have the patience for anything less than immediate access to information and total visibility into the status of their inquiries. This can be a high standard to meet, especially for smaller governmental bodies, but the truth is these expectations are justified.
Here’s how a few forward-thinking government agencies are modernizing the way they do business and easing the customer journey in an effort to improve relations with their constituents.
The city council for Sunderland in the United Kingdom handles more than 700 separate services for its 280,000 citizens. Until recently, attempts to reach the correct city personnel required numerous calls, and citizens had to repeat their basic information and reason for calling each time. The process needed to be streamlined, but without reducing the number of services offered.
The city council found a solution in customer relationship management (CRM) tools that allow agents at the first point of contact to quickly confirm the caller’s needs and transfer the inquiry and pertinent personal data to the proper department. Multiple requests can be made in one call, and city employees can check on the status of any inquiry regardless of department.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, in the United States, the manual processing of individual event permits rapidly became outdated when the 2012 Democratic National Convention rolled into town, bringing with it 35,000 delegates and attendees. The city needed both automation and the ability to affordably handle large volumes of traffic—and a long deployment timeframe was out of the question.
Opting for a scalable, cloud-based, and self-service permitting portal was the clever choice. Now when large events are hosted in Charlotte, extra server space can quickly be allotted to meet demand. Equally helpful is the new central event management knowledge base, which allows city employees to quickly answer event-related questions and save past event parameters for the next time an organization comes to town.
From water to electricity to waste removal, every department in the US city of Grand Rapids, Michigan has long striven to put the people first. The problem was, each department had worked out its own system over time, resulting in longer hold times and higher administrative costs across the board.
Declaring “One Call to City Hall” their new motto, local authorities replaced their disparate old systems with a unified, CRM-driven solution they call Grand Rapids 311. Now citizens and staff have access to a unified knowledge base covering all departments. Since their CRM implementation began, Grand Rapids has seen answer times plummet from 6 minutes to 22 seconds, leading to a budgetary savings of more than $600,000 in the solution's second year.
From public safety to healthcare and education, government entities now have access to tools capable of easing public access to services and streamlining workflows to the highest private sector standards. If you’re looking for a solution that can reduce stress for your citizens while helping your department be leaner and more responsive, check out the tools available from Microsoft Dynamics CRM. And for a more in-depth perspective, read our white paper, Engaging and Serving Citizens.
Managed Solution Helps Customers Embrace the Cloud Through Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Program
The Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Program allows Managed Solution to provide direct billing, sell combined offers and services, as well as directly provision, manage and support Microsoft cloud offerings.
San Diego, CA - June 30, 2015 - Managed Solution, a highly honored and tenured managed services company and pioneer in managed, utility-based cloud computing, today announced its participation in the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Program. The program is designed to strengthen customer relationships and expand cloud sales opportunities by enabling partners to provide direct billing, sell combined offers and services, as well as directly provision, manage and support products and services.
Starting today Managed Solution owns the complete customer lifecycle, allowing it to easily sell Office 365 and Windows Intune subscriptions and helping customers take advantage of cloud services by owning the entire billing process and directly managing support.
"From creating a mobile workforce to driving culture through internal platforms, we are seeing tremendous success from customers implementing cloud technologies," says Sean Ferrel, president and CEO, Managed Solution. Our cloud solutions are customized specifically for each customer and focus on driving internal productivity, collaboration and culture - which provides valuable business outcomes. Joining the Cloud Solution Provider program allows us to build stronger relationships with our customers and provide them with the best cloud solutions to empower their business,” says Ferrel.
“To meet the growing demand of our cloud-based solutions, we’re thrilled to expand the capabilities for cloud partners under the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Program,” said Phil Sorgen, corporate vice president, Worldwide Partner Group at Microsoft Corp. “ By joining the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider Program, partners will deepen customer relationships and expand business opportunities in the cloud.” We’re seeing a huge – and growing – demand for Office 365 from businesses that want to be more productive, collaborative and mobile. Joining Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider program allows us to build stronger relationships with our customers and partners, and provide them with the best cloud solutions to propel their businesses.”
Managed Solution makes moving to the cloud simple, with industry specific solutions designed to meet the compliance, security and performance needs of regulated organizations.
About Managed Solution
Managed Solution is the premier provider of outsourced IT support and managed services for small to large size businesses. 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. Managed Solution continues to deliver award-winning services paired with leading business technologies to assist clients in running their business efficiently.
