Coffee, Tea, or Managed Services

If your office pantry has a barista-quality coffee machine, you’ll notice that it is almost entirely managed by a third-party service provider. This arrangement ensures consistent product quality, boosts employee satisfaction, and eliminates the worry of an asset that could potentially affect productivity—or at least the coffee (or tea) lovers among us.

Likewise, office technology is best experienced when it performs smoothly, seamlessly, and, in the background—allowing employees to focus on their main tasks. With the rise of remote working and hybrid workplaces in today’s digital-first world, the demand for managed services has skyrocketed.

But what is managed services, and how exactly does it work? Well, grab a cup of coffee (or tea) and let’s take a closer look.

What is managed services, and why do you need it?

Managed services refer to the practice of outsourcing IT administration and management responsibilities to a third party. This definition covers a wide range of services, including supply chain management, marketing strategy, and call centre operations. However, managed IT services is the most common type of managed service and it will be the focus of this article.

 

According to a survey by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), 33% of companies that engaged a Managed Services Provider (MSP) saved up to 49% in annual IT costs.

CompTIA, 2018

For businesses that lack the IT budget to access the latest technology to stay competitive and achieve sustainable growth, managed services can be a way for them to level the playing field with mid-market and enterprise-level organisations without overextending themselves. That’s not all, though.

Top five reasons for choosing managed services

Here are the top reasons why more businesses are investing in managed services.

1. Meet changing needs while staying focused on goals with a flexible service model that empowers you to determine the level of support you require.
2. Access scalable and flexible IT support when you need it, including a team of technical, functional, architectural, and training consultants that can help you reduce the average effective rate and expand your resource pool.
3. Protect your business from costly downtime with managed service partners (MSPs) that proactively maintain your IT systems and catch potential issues before they escalate.
4. Streamline your IT processes with a trusted managed services team that understands your company and business solutions—led by a single customer success manager (CSM), who helps ensure a clear and simplified end-to-end process.
5. Ensure security and compliance with expert consultants that can work alongside your risk management and legal teams to securely maintain your data in compliance with relevant industry regulations.

Key takeaway: Managed services help you streamline your IT processes, save costs, ensure compliant data management, and scale your business more efficiently.

Why trust Ricoh as your managed services provider?

With numerous players in the managed services market, why should you choose Ricoh as your trusted partner?

At Ricoh, we work based on clearly-defined service level agreements to ensure that the performance of your IT systems meets your expectations. We understand the need for businesses to expand and upgrade their technology systems in a cost-effective manner and support business growth without overloading their IT teams.

Through the power of Ricoh Managed Services, you gain access to cutting-edge solutions, strategic partnerships that fast-track high-priority tickets, as well as a dedicated team of consultants and technical experts that offer IT support and value-added services. You can have peace of mind knowing that your systems and processes are tightly and efficiently managed, enabling your teams to focus on driving organisational success.

Learn more about Ricoh Managed Services and how we can help your business thrive.