October 1, 2008

Managed Services: Relief For Tech Headaches

I've written about managed services for a number of years and as business owners get smarter about growing their businesses and look for ways to save money, managed services is more and more attractive.

A managed technology environment gives you the peace of mind knowing that:

• Your technology is being proactively monitored for problems. Imagine that it's like the "check engine" light on your car. When that light goes on, your car will keep working, but it's best to have a technician look at it.
• When there is a problem with your technology, your managed service provider can resolve the problem before it gets to be a bigger problem and can often do this remotely.
• One of the benefits of a a managed service environment is that you pay a fixed fee for the upkeep of your computers and technology.

Through an acquisition, last year, Dell has been shifting away from simply being a primary seller of computer hardware to being a managed service provider. They offer a number of solutions here and recently launched a managed service offering, specifically for smaller businesses.

Right now this service is available to New York and Dallas customers only, but expect it to roll out nationally in the coming months.

Dell has a range of offerings which are economically priced from $10 - $60 per month, per computer. Pricing per server is a bit more.

Dell's managed services is NOT only for Dell computers but is for non-Dell computers as well.

Of course Dell is not the only managed service provider around. Right now the market is comprised of many local or regional providers. These solutions include companies such as http://www.cmit.com">CMIT Solutions which has franchises around the country who cover particular local segments. Others such as New York based GreenHouseIT are independent local resellers who provide a full range of managed support options for a fixed fee.

So, in summary.

All small businesses should have their technology (email, security, network and PC maintenance) on a managed services platform. There are smaller local solution providers (I'll be seeing hundreds of them at SMBNation) and national ones, such as Dell and CMIT Solutions.

If you are looking for a quick answer to a technical support question, such as how to connect your iPod to a computer or why your computer is so slow, check out a new offering, to be formally launched in a few days from PlumChoice and Smallbiztechnology.com

tags: cmit solutions , dell , managed services | 2 comments