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Three Boston IT Services Your Business Didn’t Know It Needed

    

Two Boston IT Services Your Business Didn’t Know It Needed

More and more businesses are turning to managed service providers (MSPs) to handle the complex IT solutions required to stay competitive in today’s marketplace. However, some still view the MSP as the guy who fixes the computers when they go down. The role of the MSP has evolved since the days of the single consultant who would come in and reconnect the printer or remove a virus from your computer. 

Organizations are turning to Boston IT services providers for cybersecurity, infrastructure management, cloud management, application implementation, and a host of other services that in-house teams don’t have the bandwidth, or the expertise, to handle. These MSPs offer a team of highly trained, experienced individuals to handle a wide spectrum of technology needs. However, three services that organizations don’t often realize they need from their MSP are directory and messaging services and managed backup services. 

The Value Your MSP Brings to Directory and Messaging

Some of the first things an in-house IT staff spins up are directory services and email services. Directory services, such as Azure Active Directory, often act as the foundation of your network. These services store employee information, provide them with their credentials, and even allow you to arrange users into business units and other groups. Email is equally important. Business is done over email messaging, and because today’s implementations often include a number of other applications such as Office 365 or G Suite, having your messaging services set up right away allows you to start doing business. 

However, not all IT teams are equipped to properly configure directory and messaging services. The result can be that you don’t get the full benefit and value from your solutions. In a worst-case scenario, a lesser prepared IT team could leave configuration errors open to vulnerabilities, and bad guys could exploit and breach your network.

Reliance on a trusted MSP means you get the most out of your directory and messaging solution. You can maximize the feature set that’s right for your organization, scale and grow, and ensure that your end users have the correct permissions and that their communications are secure.

Backup Services Done Right

Organizations that choose to rely on backups that reside on-premises often regret this decision. Natural disasters, hardware failures, cyberattacks, and human error have caused more than enough companies to lose critical data. So why is this mistake made over and over again? For two reasons. The first is that it is often cheaper, at least in the beginning, to set up a server to store backup data. The second reason is that your IT staff may not know any better. 

Bringing a Boston IT services provider in to evaluate your backup and recovery services may help you avoid an incident that does lasting damage to your company. The right MSP partner will provide you with secure, encrypted backups both at rest and in transit. They will also ensure not only that your data is backed up but also that you are able to recover your data when you need to by continually testing the process and solutions you have in place. 

When you rely on an MSP partner, you are adding people to your team who know the technology they are working with. They will have experience working with companies your size and in your industry. This means they bring more than their technical expertise; they bring technical advice. They are able to help you put the right technologies in place so that you aren’t overspending on features and things you don’t need, giving you room to grow your technology as you grow your business.

Moving to the Cloud

Cloud-based services are becoming more popular as organizations look to grow quickly without rapidly increasing costs. Choosing to move data fully to cloud storage or a hybrid cloud environment takes substantial planning and evaluation before the actual migration. Whether you operate a small business or a global enterprise, the cloud provides advantages for easy backup and recovery, increased automation, and data security.  

Trusted managed services providers have had years of experience helping businesses of all sizes make the move to the cloud, so they can easily identify and mitigate potential problems before migration. An MSP can help your business determine whether a public or private environment is appropriate, design a secure and scalable architecture, migrate to the cloud with minimal costs, and even manage your data once it is moved into the cloud. 

Originally published November 2019 and updated April 2020.

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