Chat with us, powered by LiveChat

Mapping IT Maturity: Does Your Business Use Reactive or Managed IT Services?

managed IT services toronto

As more and more businesses in Toronto eliminate unsustainable in-house IT costs, especially among smaller enterprises, the cost-effective and responsive solutions posed by managed IT services are becoming the top choice of savvy business owners in the city. Adding to cost-saving measures is the need for an improved system security, which is a growing concern as operations essential to businesses (such as data storage, applications, and even sales) migrate to digital platforms.

But not all outsourced IT support services were created equal. While many business owners in Toronto have made the smart choice to shift to managed IT services, some are still caught in a less proactive manner of handling tech support, usually only for incidental needs. The question is, where does your business fall under – a reactive or proactive use of outsourced IT services and support? Only one of them espouses a smart and sustainable use of technology to facilitate business in Toronto today.

Reactive IT Services

You may have eliminated the use of aging and expensive hardware, as well as a convoluted organizational structure that still relies, though minimally, on in-house IT support. But without a managed IT services plan in place, your use of IT is reactive at best. While it’s more cost-effective to subscribe only to on-demand services such as IT relocation, mounting, and computer repair, there is a whole suite of necessary IT services your business in Toronto misses out on, due to the absence of managed IT services.

Some businesses opt to purchase a large block of hours to be used up only in the event of IT emergencies. Others even resort to paying an IT support provider by the hour for responding to network and device failure, as well as system destruction and loss of data caused by viruses and malware.

While this break and fix philosophy sounds more affordable at first – because what are the chances of a system breakdown occurring everyday? – the downtime that occurs while systems are repaired actually cause your business to lose more. On the contrary, allocating a small portion of your business’ monthly budget to managed IT services allows your IT provider to spot potential errors and resolve them, even before they occur. When studied, paying emergency hourly rates actually turn out to be more expensive than regular preventive maintenance a managed IT services plan would fit your business with.

Managed IT Services

Managed IT services are akin to preventive maintenance, with routine system checks and constant updates to ensure that your business uses the latest and most secure technology. This way, it’s easier to avoid system failures and downtimes that slow down your business in Toronto, and cost you profit when your systems are inaccessible for transactions, customers can’t place orders, and your team can’t respond to questions or follow up on leads.

While some business owners are skeptical of allocating IT expenses on a monthly basis due to their seemingly incidental nature, managed IT services plans actually allow you to save more in the long run. IT providers offer options for tailoring monthly service plans around your routine IT services and support needs, ensuring that you only pay for tech and services you actually need.

A managed IT services provider fits your business with a secure network to avoid online vulnerability, while posing little to no downtime due to quick response teams in the event that a system failure does occur. It’s like having IT support on retainer – there’s a minimal, regular maintenance cost, but it’s a small price to pay knowing that there’s little or nothing that can stop your business from running day in and day out.

You’ve outsourced your business’ IT needs, but are you sure that you’re doing it the right way? Choose managed IT services in Toronto today, and reap the benefits of using tech smartly. Call us at (416) 250-1040 to design your unique monthly service plan.

Skip to content