Introducing the Service Level Agreement

  • Published byadmin
  • June 1, 2018

Introducing the Service Level Agreement

Every business will face a major technology problem at one time or another. Whether it is because your server just decided to quit on you, or you have received a not-so-friendly worded letter telling you to stop using a piece of software, managing technology for a whole organization is difficult. In cases like this, partnering with a managed service provider can be a real benefit. If you are going to choose to outsource some or all of your IT management to a provider, you will likely have to sign a service level agreement (SLA). Today, we look at the purpose of a SLA and how it works to benefit both parties of the agreement.

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What Every SMB Should Know When Selecting an IT Service Provider

  • Published byadmin
  • December 29, 2017

What Every SMB Should Know When Selecting an IT Service Provider

Identifying a qualified managed service provider can be challenging–especially if you don’t know what to look for. You should be able to gauge the worth of an IT provider based on a couple of key qualifications, just like you would if you were selecting an employee. What are some of the primary features that you want to look for in a managed service provider?

Industry Experience
For any employee or organization that you deal with, you’ll want to hire only those who have some sort of industry experience that they can call upon. In this case, you’ll want your MSP to have some sort of information technology background so that they know how best to handle your business’s technology solutions. There will always be experience and knowledge that only comes from hands-on experience, so be sure that your prospective IT talent has some to spare.

Quicker Response Times
Have you ever dealt with an IT provider or a technician who doesn’t know the definition of acceptable response time? You always want your technicians to acknowledge when work needs to be done and to complete it within a reasonable timeframe. Time-wasting IT resources don’t provide much value for your organization, and the same can be said for your employees. It might sound cliche, but time is money, and you want the resources at your fingertips who can best manage it.

Scope of Service
You should consider how well-rounded your managed service provider is. What kind of services do they offer for your organization? You’ll find that a managed service provider that’s good for multiple solutions is much more efficient and useful than one who specializes in only one topic. You need to find your business an MSP that can handle a wide range of subjects ranging from network security to disaster recovery, and everything in between.

On-Site Services
Most issues can be resolved without an on-site visit, but you should still insist on a hands-on approach from time to time for more intensive tasks. Your MSP should be willing to make the trip to the office to ensure that they can do their job properly. After all, it’s difficult to get any hands-on work done while not in the office–especially if it’s diagnosing a particular hardware issue that needs an on-site visit to address.

Does your business need help with technology management and maintenance? Reach out to Catalyst Technology Group at (317) 705-0333, your local and reliable managed service provider.

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Software as a Service Is Helping Small Businesses

  • Published byadmin
  • November 16, 2017

Software as a Service Is Helping Small Businesses

What kind of software does your business use to keep operations moving forward? Depending on what industry you are in, you might find it increasingly painstaking to procure and manage the software titles your organization uses, particularly if yours is a small business that has limited capital to invest in its software. Nowadays, however, the acquisition of software doesn’t have to be troublesome, as software as a service (SaaS) is providing organizations with limited resources access to software it normally could not afford.

SaaS is a cloud computing strategy that makes available the mission-critical software your organization needs for an affordable monthly fee. If you use the traditional method of software procurement, you’ll be purchasing your software by the license, meaning that the more users who need access to a particular software, the more it will cost you. While this concept doesn’t really change with SaaS, the long-term ramifications of these titles can be mitigated.

Instead of utilizing a traditional method of acquiring software solutions, organizations that leverage SaaS options are gaining access to dynamic software that is hosted, managed, and maintained by the provider–significantly reducing the overall cost and transferring the larger capital outlay to a more manageable operational cost. To take advantage of this software, all you have to do is pay for access to the software, and it’s delivered over your Internet connection.

Some benefits your organization will see by using software as a service, include:

Lower Costs
Your business spends a pretty penny on software; and, it is probably more than you even know. On top of a software license, you traditionally also have to pay for the resources you need to host, monitor, and maintain infrastructure. These costs add up quickly, but by utilizing a software as a service model, you can get all the software your users need, per user, with one monthly payment.

Up-to-Date Editions
Typically, your Software as a Service applications will be accessed through an online environment. These cloud-based solutions are, more often than not, completely up-to-date, meaning that you’ll be using the most recent version of this software; and, as mentioned above, none of this maintenance is your responsibility.

Flexibility
If yours is like many modern organizations, you have trouble keeping within the confines of your technology budgets. Software as a Service allows an organization to do more with less. By the end of 2017, over 94% of small businesses will be utilizing SaaS in one form or another. One of the most cited reasons for this is the overall flexibility SaaS provides. Not only does SaaS improve your organization’s financial flexibility, it brings with it dynamic scalability and anytime accessibility. Many SaaS platforms are available from anyplace there is an Internet connection, on a whole myriad of different types of devices. To scale your software deployment, it is as simple as adding new users to your service plan. All you have to do is reach out to the service provider and make the required arrangements.

Does your business want to take full advantage of software deployment in the cloud? To learn more about software as a service and how to stretch your organization’s technology budget to see the fastest and largest return on your technology investments, call us today at (317) 705-0333.

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