WHAT IS THE BLOG ABOUT?
- MSP IS CHEAPER FOR SME'S
- HARDWARE IS NO LONGER THE POINT
- MANAGED SERVICE IS ALL-IN-ONE
MSP, IT consultancy, turnkey infrastructure
MSP IS CHEAPER FOR SME'S
A trivial example: nearly 1.8 billion people worldwide, including more than 3 million companies, use Google e-mail. The Google provides the infrastructure, the user only needs a device connected to the Internet.
You don’t have to think much about the reasons: it’s convenient, reliable and cheaper than running your own mail system. If I want my own emailing, then I need a high-availability server, I need an email application, I need email protection, I need to manage clients, and it doesn’t hurt to have a professional who knows how to do it. The basic package, available at a price of EUR 5.75/user/month, is a guaranteed lower cost for a company with 30-50 users than creating and operating its own correspondence.
HARDWARE IS NO LONGER THE POINT
IT is no longer about hardware, but about services and serving applications. It is not in the interest of a 100-person accounting firm to have the most modern and secure servers, data backups, and firewalls in a server room at the end of the office. It is in their interest that the system always works and that users can safely access data, applications and Internet services. They don’t want to buy new hardware or employ new IT staff, for example, due to an increase in staff. A neither they want in the event of a reduction in staff the server room to hum loudly with the noise of unnecessary equipment.
Today, small and medium-sized enterprises are given countless alternatives to replace classic IT systems with advanced, cloud-driven solutions and services. Current IT solutions can be flexibly changed, operated simply and cheaply, and do not necessarily require huge initial investments. These are also available as a full-scale managed service, in an opex implementation, which the service provider provides as a monthly subscription or, in the case of hardware, with a long-term rental contract. By definition, here the service provider finances, plans, implements and operates, as in an all-in-one service.
Since a service provider can cover the entire IT infrastructure with managed services, the procurement method does not exclude the purchase of hardware infrastructure either. Physical assets, including licenses, are available as a capex expense, depending on the organization’s preferred budget.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND CYBER SECURITY FOR THE PRICE OF A PHONE SUBSCRIPTION?
Mostly yes! Let’s take an example of the opex approach! In the case of the above-mentioned 100-person office-based company, the purchase of a network infrastructure with enterprise-level capabilities and cyber security, as an opex, fully managed service, is 30 EUR/user monthly. And the part of the network infrastructure itself is only 10 EUR/user.
And then let’s see what’s in the package!
- Secure, remotely monitored network infrastructure at 1 site: next-generation firewall with security functions and sizing optimized for office environments, secure access point (client VPN) service, 10 WiFi acces points with cabling
- User protection for 100 users: next-generation endpoint protection, email and collaboration protection, DNS-based internet traffic filtering, user awareness development
- System design: on-site survey and coordination of business needs and technological expectations, preparation of a strategic plan with scalability options
- Financing and Procurement: in the case of full opex procurement, the provision of hardware in a long-term rental scheme, the procurement of system components and SaaS services from various manufacturers, and the central administration of the system
- Implementation and training: az installation and configuration of infrastructure elements based on needs and policies, support for the installation of user cyber security, training of L1 and L2 level support related to systems
- Operation: 6 hours per month of engineering operation with remote monitoring, remote L3 support, start troubleshooting within 4 hours, replacement of faulty device within 24 hours, management reports and suggestions and insight into statuses
Another advantage of managed services is that the service provider is able to respond and modify smoothly reflecting to changes in business needs. The development of the infrastructure can thus proceed according to the defined strategy, which can mean, for example, the problem-free connection of new sites. In the opex scheme, this only involves changing the monthly costs – proportional to the new elements included. The advantages of the method increase from here on. On the client side, there is no need to employ new IT professionals, the administration associated with devices and licenses does not increase, and the fee for remote operation does not change.
WHAT COMPANIES IS THE MANAGED SERVICE RECOMMENDED FOR?
Based on the above, large company-level managed services can be most beneficial for dynamically developing SMEs – regardless of industry. The goal of Syswind is to minimize the IT burden of companies and maximize the flexibility and efficiency of the IT infrastructure, which can be perfectly implemented in MSP solutions.
SUMMARY
IT won’t be cheaper in 2024 either. On the other hand, the costs of managed IT can be conserved – even several arguments in advance. The risk in this construction is assumed by the service provider, for whom it is a vital issue to ensure the service at a high level. Consequently, on the user side, in addition to IT stability, the real advantage over the classic IT approach is the ability to plan fixed costs.
