Managed Service Provider - Research Paper Example

?Managed Service Provider Before going into the discussion regarding managed service providers, let us get a better understanding of what a managed service provider actually is. White (n.d.) states, “A managed service provider supplies businesses with information technology needs via the Internet”. Through the above statement, it is clear that the major role of a managed service provider is to fulfill the IT needs of the businesses. These needs may range from network monitoring and remote data back to creation of Voice over Internet Protocol Services and Virtual private Networks. Companies outsource their IT based business processes to the managed service providers because it costs them very less as well as increases the reliability of the outsourced business processes. “A business will contract with a managed service provider to fill certain needs that are met more cost effectively by outsourcing than by purchasing and supporting equipment in-house” (White, n.d.). Managed service providers use the concept of cloud computing to provide reliable and cost effective services to the client companies. Schauland (2011) states, “Cloud computing is used to allow services used in everyday practice to be moved onto the Internet rather than stored on a local computer”. Cloud computing facilitates people and helps them perform their IT related tasks by eliminating the need of any specific place or a particular computer system. Some of the major tasks, which managed service providers, perform for the client companies include virtual private network, IP telephony, managed firewalls, messaging and call center, and monitoring or reporting of network servers. Unlike traditional business applications, managed service providers eliminate the problems of hardware and software installation and maintenance for its clients. In traditional settings, companies need to install, configure, test, and run every hardware and software application on their own. Nevertheless, with managed service providers, companies run their business processes in the form of clouds where they do not need to worry about any technical failure or information misuse. Using managed service providers, companies can enjoy a considerable amount of workload shift because the service providers perform many of the IT based tasks. Computers, which are used locally, no longer need to perform heavy workloads because applications are kept online and the service providers handle the networks of such applications. Managed service providers assist companies in many areas. Some of those areas include network monitoring, network security, and information management. They also provide many other facilities, which may include alerts, data backup and recovery for different client devices, and patch management. For companies, some of the main advantages of using such services include no requirement of ease in running applications, ease of integration with proprietary systems, low capital investment, and intuitive interface of software applications. Some other advantages for the companies, which make them switch to such services providers include low security risk and improved organization of IT related business processes. Service providers make use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) that use such security protocols, which do not remain the same forever rather they continue changing their protocols in order to ensure more protection against hackers. This feature of VPNs attracts a large number of companies towards managed service providers. Such companies find it easier to ensure network security by using the VPNs provided by the managed service providers. Some other benefits, which the companies gain by using the VPNs of managed service providers, include reduction in time and money consumption. Companies just need to pay for the virtual networks; they do not need to spend their precious tie and money to get the services of virtual networks. “The managed service provider assumes ongoing responsibility for monitoring, managing and/or problem resolution for selected IT systems and functions on your behalf” (McCabe, 2009). The service providers are very much concerned about their business reputation and in order to maintain that reputation, they perform the IT based tasks of the client companies very efficiently and competently. Many of the companies outsource their IT based tasks to the service providers just because of the reliability and quality that they can get from those service providers. Network monitoring and network security are two such tasks, which need extreme care and intelligence related to network design and management. Not every company is able to manage these tasks on its own. Even if a company chooses to design and administer such tasks on its own, it is a very high cost job. Therefore, such companies need to outsource such tasks to the service providers in order to achieve excellence at a very low cost. “Basic services often start with a monitoring service, which notifies you of problems, which you resolve on your own” (McCabe, 2009). There are many companies, which find it difficult to monitor network related problems on their own. Managed service providers assist such companies by providing them with low cost but highly efficient monitoring system, which makes the companies aware of all kinds of network problems by sending alerts to the companies. Based on the alerts, some companies choose to tackle the problem on their own whereas some companies outsource this task to the service providers, which put their efforts to diagnose and overcome the problem much more effectively and efficiently. Taking steps to ensure network security is very important for a company. If a company overshadows some key issues, such as, creation of backups, patches, and maintaining network security, the odds are that the company will face an IT outage or other similar problems, which will ultimately affect the credibility of the company’s business. For example, if the e-mail server, information system, or the Customer Relationship Management system of a company stops working unexpectedly due to some major fault, the company is likely to face critical situation, which may last for hours, for days, or even for a week if the company does not use the services of some IT expert company. With the contract with managed service providers, companies are not likely to face such situations because the service providers are liable to deal with the problems in the shortest span of time. “The right managed service provider will have highly trained representatives who are experts in their industry” (Simpson, 2010). Summing it up, the major role of a managed service provider is to fulfill the IT needs of the businesses. Companies outsource their IT based tasks to the managed service providers because it not only costs them very less but also increases the reliability of the outsourced tasks. In return, managed service providers provide a range of high quality services to the companies that ensure excellence for the companies at a very low cost. References McCabe, L. (2009). What are Managed Services, and Why Should You Care?. Retrieved from http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/testdrive/article.php/10728_3840706_/What-are-Managed-Services-and-Why-Should-You-Care.htm Schauland, D. (2011). What is Cloud Computing?. Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cloud-computing.htm Simpson, E. (2010). Managed Service Providers Keep Your Data Safe. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/?Managed-Service-Providers-Keep-Your-Data-Safe&id=4082931 White, D. (n.d.). What are Managed Service Providers?. Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-managed-service-providers.htm Read More