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SMEs have aggressively followed technology to stay competitive. In the process, they have invested significant resources in building IT infrastructure and services. Managing these IT services is costly and has become a burden for many enterprises, draining essential resources from strategic planning and delivery. As per a report by Gartner, 70% of IT support services for infrastructure services can be managed from a remote location which can reduce labour costs from 10% to 50%, depending on the delivery location resulting in 5% to 30% overall net savings.

In a rapidly changing technology landscape, managed service providers can help enterprises remain agile, control costs, quickly respond to competitive opportunities and align IT with evolving business objectives. Here are the top five benefits of how outsourcing managed IT services can impact a company’s business goals and the bottom line.

Affordability and Fixed Monthly Cost

Outsourcing IT services to a managed service provider is extremely cost-effective. With managed services, enterprises can reduce operational costs, preserve capital budget and lower their IT operating expenses. Per a Capgemini study, 34% of SMEs in the UK find it challenging to invest in IT as the cost is always high, while 30% of SMEs spend less than 3% of their overall funds on cyber security. So, outsourcing IT support and services to a reputed managed service provider is the best option as MSPs offer comprehensive solutions at a very affordable and predictable monthly cost. Also, MSPs mainly operate on a subscription-based model where enterprises pay annual or monthly fees for services, which allows them to foresee if it is viable to remain within the target budget.

Improved Cyber Security

According to Statista, the cost of cyber-attacks on micro/small enterprises amounted to an average of £894 while for medium-sized enterprises it amounted to an average of £8,180 during the last 12 months. Enterprises have sensitive data and information worth stealing and attackers often take over one system as a platform to launch a cyber-attack on another system to cover their tracks. Per a report by Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, almost half of UK businesses including SMEs (43%) suffered a cyber-attack in 2017-18. Managed service providers (MSP) use remote network monitoring and clean backup protocols to prevent an attack and shorten the recovery time. Reputed MSPs provide cyber security services to help reduce and mitigate various forms of cyber threats by continuously monitoring dark web, offering end-user security awareness training, penetration testing and SIEM, among others.

Access to trained, qualified and certified experts

A painful fact for many small and mid-sized enterprises is the shortage of skilled IT professionals. The UK alone is estimated to have a shortfall of around 100,00 experienced IT security experts by 2022. When recruiting for an in-house IT role, they likely cannot differentiate a good applicant from a bad one and when in the post, it is challenging to assess their productivity due to the complex nature of IT services. But, with a managed service provider, even small enterprises can access highly qualified IT personnel without doing the tedious work of recruiting them. MSPs usually possess deep expertise in the field of IT, therefore giving enterprises the best services.

Disaster Recovery

When everything goes wrong, enterprises need confidence that data is backed up safely and securely.  Disasters may strike in different forms, but whatever event takes a customer’s site down, managed service providers are well-placed to help prepare for emergencies. Whether it’s a physical disaster such as a storm, fire or flood, or a deliberate one, like a ransomware attack, MSP plan carefully to help clients come out shining on the other side.

Per a report by Daisy Group, on average UK's SMEs experience 45 minutes of downtime each week which is approximately £500 per employee, per year, in lost productivity. Also, according to a study by IDC, 40% of small and mid-sized enterprises in the UK do not have a data backup infrastructure in place and if they do then around 50% of the backups are only partially recoverable.

Part of the reason to outsource services to a managed service provider is to prepare for those costly downtimes. An off-site managed service provider can provide remote backup and offer both local and cloud-based backup solutions to support business-critical operations during a disaster.

Access to latest state-of-the-art technology

Reputed Managed Service Providers (MSPs) use the latest technologies and equipment to deliver services. IT services are updated regularly with no additional cost to enterprises. MSPs bring the advantage of quickly implementing new technology into client’s businesses thus eliminating the risk of obsolete IT infrastructure.

“1 in 6 UK small and mid-sized enterprises fell victim to a cyber attack in the last 12-month duration. Of the enterprises affected, more than one-fifth stated that it cost the company more than £10,000, and 1 in 10 mentioned that it cost more than £50,000.” - Zurich SME Risk Index

The Cyber Essentials scheme is backed by the government to help companies protect themselves against cyber threats. Cyber Essentials helps organisations guard against the most common cyber threats by implementing cyber security best practices. Following are five clear benefits of Cyber Essentials.

Protection against cyber threats

According to a report by NIG, almost 80% of data breaches can be prevented by implementing Cyber Essentials which are simple security practices. Daily, hackers are trying to steal data, money or cause severe disruption to SMEs and mid-market companies. Following the Cyber Essentials scheme is the best way for businesses to approach cyber threats. The Cyber Essentials scheme includes highly effective precautions such as using stronger passwords, updating software regularly, limiting access to sensitive information, background checks of employees, among others.

Improves existing and potential customers’ trust

Per a report by KPMG, almost 60% of UK consumers would be willing to stop doing business with a breached enterprise. Enterprises rigorously following the Cyber Essentials scheme have a competitive advantage in comparison to competitors without accreditation. Cyber Essentials certified enterprises show its commitment to security, demonstrating to customers, investors, suppliers, and regulators that it takes cyber security very seriously. Cyber Essentials accreditation becomes even more critical for enterprises using and storing personal data like medical records, financial information and other sensitive data to build trust.

Cyber Essentials an essential step towards preparation for GDPR

GDPR is the new data privacy regulation which aims to give protection and control to the EU populace over personal data. Typically, the law will affect how businesses can collect and use personal data. By so doing, companies will be required to be more transparent when it comes to collecting and utilising data from customers. Cyber Essentials is a significant first step in preparation for GDPR as violators will have to pay a potential fine of up to €20 million or up to 4% of a company’s annual turnover.

Improves business efficiency

Without a coherent and consistent plan, a great extent of time, money and resources are spent on patching IT infrastructure and security as and when they arise. There is an inevitable loss in staff time during the restoration of services, particularly for IT staff. Implementing Cyber Security Essentials will allow both technical and non-technical staff to remain as productive and efficient as possible by focusing on core business without the need to fix bits and pieces of the company’s IT infrastructure.

Better chance of winning government contracts

The government is using the Cyber Essentials scheme as a step towards reducing the levels of cyber security risk in its supply chain. Since October 2014, the UK Government requires all enterprises bidding for contracts which require handling of sensitive and personal data or the provision of technical products and services to be Cyber Essentials certified.