What Is Managed IT?

Publication date: Jul 02, 2018

Last Published: Dec 13, 2022

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Managed IT Services are defined as the practice of outsourcing a wide array of technology services to a Managed Services Provider (MSP).  The MSP is typically responsible for providing proactive management of an organization’s technology systems and for implementing strategies which will improve and streamline operations, and potentially decrease costs. MSPs work proactively by focusing on prevention of network and security failures, providing ongoing systems monitoring, delivering regular maintenance of the Client’s IT systems, assisting with IT Security Policy development, and providing IT expertise for strategic planning.

The overall concept behind managed services is to improve service delivery and provide better IT outcomes by shifting the burden of IT maintenance and support from the Client to a single Managed IT Services provider. Placing responsibility for Client IT operations with an MSP provides direct benefit to the Client by allowing their internal IT staff to focus on core business functions and ensuring that they receive best-in-class support and strategic consulting delivered by a dedicated team with deep technical and strategy expertise.

Managed IT Services is an evolution of the 1990s “break/fix” or Reactive IT support model, where providers performed on-demand services and billed the customer for the work done on a task basis. In contrast, Managed Services is a subscription based support model in which the Client has a binding contract with the MSP. The service contract specifies service level agreements and a scope of work to define the terms of engagement.

Written by: Payam Pourkhomami, President & CEO, OSIbeyond

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