What is a Managed Service Contract?

A managed service contract frees you up to focus on your business…

Because you are outsourcing time, administration and problems to an experienced IT support company who proactively manage your IT systems, services and accounts.

A managed service contract provides assurance that your IT environment works well and you experience fewer disruptions as you are paying a company to manage, monitor and maintain it, not waiting for issues to arise and deal with problems that cost you time.

A managed service contract gives you peace of mind that key security policies are being followed, leading to enhanced information assurance, reducing the risk of a cyberattack in your business.

A managed service contract provides unlimited remote support for your workforce for a fixed monthly cost, allowing you to budget for your IT investment.

ITGUYS is a Dell Premier partner and EE/BT reseller, allowing us to procure hardware very quickly and at market rate, again reducing the amount of time your company spends on internal processes and administration.

What does that actually give my business? What does it look like day-to-day?

ITGUYS managed service contracts are designed to reduce the amount of time your organisation spends internally on IT related tasks because they do it for you. ITGUYS removes the stress and worry of managing and protecting your IT systems to give you peace of mind to focus on running your business. We are working behind the scenes to make sure your IT is safe, secure and available without disrupting your workflows.

All ITGUYS-managed devices have a software agent that constantly monitors the system and alerts us when there is an issue. Many of these are automatically resolved, but in the case that requires our input, we can often solve these remotely without disturbing your team.

ITGUYS uses a sophisticated ticketing system that alerts the support team when one of your team requests assistance. Our support app allows your team to request support from the desktop as well as via an email into our support queue. All tickets are recorded and collated into a case history, allowing ticket and issues-review by our tech team and you, if required.

Clearly, a managed service contract includes fixing issues with your user’s technology, such as a non-functioning core application, but did you know that we can add value by taking over and managing on-boarding and off-boarding processes?

When a new user starts at your company several IT related tasks are created. Does the user have a computer to work with? Do they need a work phone? What about an email account? What data do they need access to on the company’s internal systems – such as a server, shared drive or SharePoint site?

And when a user leaves the company what happens then? Are their accounts disabled or deleted? What happens to their mail and data? Does it need to be archived? Deleted? Transferred to their replacement? Rather than having to manage this yourselves, letting your managed service company do it instead means you can focus on your company.

ITGUYS has a slick onboarding and offboarding process that comes as standard on all our managed service plans. These can be tailored to the precise requirements of your organisation.

Most of our clients use this process as a one-stop-shop to fully onboard a new team member. So, what does this look like for a managed service client when they take on a new team member?

1. An authorised team-member, such as an office manager, fills in their company-customised onboarding form.
2. They specify a user-type (for example a graphic designer who needs a high-spec iMac or an admin assistant whose needs are more modest). They may need a company smartphone, which ITGUYS can quote for as well.
3. Details about the new user, what systems, apps and access they need are also requested.
4. An appropriate device, if required, is quoted for by ITGUYS.
5. Once approved, the new device is delivered to ITGUYS.
6. ITGUYS tech team sets up and configures the device with the apps and accounts as directed in the onboarding form.
7. Once completed, the device is dispatched to the end user at their office or home.
8. Once received, the new user contacts the ITGUYS support team who will get the user logged in to the new device and confirm that they are able to access all systems.

How does this save time?

1. One form, which doesn’t take long to complete, covers virtually all the steps in the process and after that your business gets on with its day job and ITGUYS take care of the rest of the process.
2. ITGUYS orders the equipment.
3. ITGUYS deals with deliveries.
4. ITGUYS can efficiently configure the new device, customising it precisely for the end-user in question.
5. Once installed ITGUYS sends the device to the user.
6. The user contacts ITGUYS support team who can ensure the team member is able to access all systems requested.
7. Your company is not wasting time on admin and procurement – they are able to focus on the job they are supposed to be doing.
8. Your company is not wasting time setting up accounts and managing access to systems.
9. Your onboarding process streamlines your workflows.

Similarly, our offboarding form and process allows you to securely remove access to your company’s intellectual property after a team member has left and re-deploy tech equipment and licenses to their replacement (if there is one) or to cancel services if they are no longer needed. This means that, at any time, you know who has access to what services, what equipment is being used and by whom and that you are not paying for services that you no longer require.

What other benefits are there to a managed service contract?

1. The device will be secure and configured precisely as required.
2. ITGUYS is obsessed with IT security and is fully aware of the latest threats, we know how quickly new exploits and vulnerabilities can have devastating consequences. ITGUYS will proactively contact you when action must be taken to protect you.
3. ITGUYS knows exactly how your systems are set up, enabling rapid response support.
4. Your whole team is introduced, by way of a sequence of welcome emails, to their tech support team (ITGUYS) which explains how they can ask any questions they have regarding their device or IT in general.
5. ITGUYS provides comprehensive reports about the state of your tech devices.
6. ITGUYS provides a monthly report on issues that have been detected and what has been done to resolve these issues.
7. ITGUYS encourages regular communication with our clients so we can address any issues or questions you have about your systems and to understand your business needs and find the best solutions to help you with plans for change in the future.
8. The more you talk to us about your business challenges, the more we can help you with solutions and strategies to overcome them.