Evaluating your IT vendors? Ask these questions

Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are often seen as an “enterprise-only” solution. But the truth is, they’re just as valuable for mid-sized companies and fast-growing teams. Here’s why MSP works beyond the enterprise: 🔹 Saves time Even a 200-person company can spend hours juggling multiple staffing vendors. An MSP centralizes that. 🔹 Adds flexibility Growing teams don’t always know what skills they’ll need next quarter, an MSP keeps pipelines ready. 🔹 Controls costs. Standardized rates and processes mean fewer surprises, no matter your size. Whether you’re scaling from 50 to 500, or managing complex enterprise programs, MSP makes staffing simpler, faster, and more predictable. #staffingagency #consulting #devopsstaffing #cybersecurityrecruiting #finopsrecuriting #telecomrecruiting #utilitiesrecruiting #managedservices

Thinking about switching IT providers? Year-end is the perfect time to reassess your IT strategy, whether you're exploring co-managed or fully managed IT, or outsourcing IT projects. Before you make a decision that impacts your business operations, security and budget, get the right questions and insights from our IT Buyers Guide. Here's what's inside: ▪️Key questions to ask IT providers ▪️How to choose the right IT support model ▪️A checklist to compare IT providers ▪️What to look for in contracts (and what to avoid) and more Get the information you need to choose the right IT partner. Download the guide here: https://hubs.ly/Q03QfmlF0 #ITprovider #managedITservices #comanagedITservices

The Long Game in Managed Services "At the end of the day, you put all the work in, and eventually it'll pay off. It could be in a year, it could be in 30 years. Eventually, your hard work will pay off." - Kevin Hart This quote couldn't be more relevant to the Managed Service Provider (MSP) industry. The MSP business is a marathon, not a sprint. We're not selling quick fixes; we're building trust, delivering reliable uptime, and creating long-term partnerships. - The Early Days: Onboarding new clients, optimizing processes, and building a robust tech stack requires massive upfront effort that might not show immediate profit. - The Middle Grind: Maintaining a 24/7/365 security posture, handling unexpected crises, and constantly adapting to new threats and technologies is the daily grind where consistency is key. - The Payoff: The 'payoff' is a low-churn client base, predictable recurring revenue, and the satisfaction of knowing you are the trusted backbone of your clients' operations. To all the MSP owners, engineers, and sales teams putting in the difficult, often invisible, work: keep going! Your commitment to security, efficiency, and exceptional service is setting the foundation for long-term success. Hard work in the MSP space always pays off, one SLA, one ticket, and one partnership at a time.

Here's how most organizations ended up stuck with proximity cards for decades: Phase 1: Deploy Vendor A's system (seems cost-effective) Phase 2: Build infrastructure around their proprietary technology Phase 3: Discover upgrades to integrate Vendor B requires replacing everything Phase 4: Postpone prohibitive migration costs Phase 5: Continue using vulnerable technology because change is too expensive Sound familiar? The LEAF Community exists to ensure organizations don't repeat this pattern with their next credential system. Universal standards like the LEAF Framework create a different path: ✅ Deploy best-of-breed components that work together ✅ Upgrade incrementally without wholesale replacement ✅ Maintain competitive vendor options throughout lifecycle ✅ Respond to evolving security threats with component-level changes The business case is clear: → Lower total cost of ownership over 10-20 year lifecycle → Reduced vendor viability risk → Protection against technology obsolescence → Operational flexibility for mergers, multi-site ops, and technology evaluation Our latest article breaks down exactly how universal standards prevent the lock-in cycle: https://lnkd.in/gg4zKc7d The proximity card transition is your opportunity to build interoperable infrastructure. Don't waste this chance to design for choice! #UniversalStandards #Interoperability #TransitionToModern #ProximityCards

Visibility and transparency aren’t just buzzwords; they’re the pillars of success for Managed Service Providers (MSPs). Discover how prioritizing these best practices can enhance efficiency, reduce risks, and build stronger partnerships. Dive into actionable insights that help organizations navigate challenges, optimize performance, and achieve their strategic goals. Read the full article now: https://lnkd.in/eD-kvTHQ

Managed Services: One Partner, Full Accountability Most IT teams are being asked to do more with less — maintain uptime, secure everything, support the business, and still drive transformation. The bottleneck usually isn’t vision. It’s bandwidth. That’s where a mature managed services model matters: not just helping you launch new platforms, but actually running them day to day with consistency, security, and cost control. Here’s what leading organizations are offloading: Operational ownership • 24/7 monitoring, alerting, and incident response • SLA-backed support for critical services and workloads • Clear escalation paths and documented playbooks Secure operations • Identity-first access control and least-privilege enforcement • Policy-driven change management • Compliance and audit readiness built into the process Cloud and infrastructure management • Standardized landing zones and configurations across environments • Patch, backup, and lifecycle management • Capacity and performance tuning before it becomes a fire drill Cost and transparency • Usage visibility across business units • Showback/chargeback reporting • Guardrails to prevent drift and surprise spend This isn’t “call us when it breaks.” This is “we keep it running, securely, at scale — so you can focus on what’s next.” If you’re at the point where internal teams are stretched keeping the lights on, let’s talk about shifting the run burden without losing control. #PelleraTechnologies #ManagedServices #CloudOperations #SecurityOperations #SLA #ITLeadership #CIO #CTO #CISO #DigitalInfrastructure

Exercise the Unexpected, Not Just the Usual Your incident playbook might look good, but when the business is disrupted at scale—are you ready? Directors should insist on stress-scenarios that involve: • Vendor/partner failure + your service impact • Alternate workflows when primary platform goes down • Board visibility on who activates and how fast #CyberResilience #BusinessContinuity #DirectorsCyber

🚀 𝐒𝐌𝐁 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲-𝐚𝐬-𝐚-𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 (𝐑𝐚𝐚𝐒) 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝟐𝟏%+ 𝐂𝐀𝐆𝐑 Between 2025 and 2029, small and medium businesses (SMBs) are projected to accelerate their investments in 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲-𝐚𝐬-𝐚-𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 (𝐑𝐚𝐚𝐒) at a 𝟐𝟏%+ 𝐂𝐀𝐆𝐑 - signalling a strategic shift toward resilience, uptime, and risk mitigation in today’s disruption-prone digital landscape.🌐 With outages, downtime, and cyber incidents becoming more frequent and costly, SMBs are prioritizing business continuity like never before.⚠️ ☁️RaaS is emerging as the preferred solution - combining c𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 to enable rapid recovery and minimal disruption. It’s a cost-effective alternative to traditional disaster recovery, replacing heavy capex with 𝐩𝐚𝐲-𝐚𝐬-𝐲𝐨𝐮-𝐠𝐨 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲.💰 🛡️Most importantly, it helps SMBs safeguard their data, customers, and reputation in the face of unexpected failures. 💡For vendors, this surge opens a massive 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞 for differentiation and market entry. Success will hinge on 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 with SMBs’ existing IT and security environments. 🔗 Vendors that act as 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 - not just service providers — will be best positioned to capture long-term value and trust.🤝 📊 Dive deeper into SMB RaaS adoption, growth drivers, and spending trends by business size, industry, and region in the 𝑰𝑻 𝑰𝒏𝒇𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 module of Analysys Mason’s 𝑺𝑴𝑩 𝑻𝒆𝒄𝒉𝒏𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 (𝑺𝑻𝑭) - 👉 https://lnkd.in/dF7Xb5B7 #SMBTech #RaaS #BusinessContinuity #CloudRecovery #CyberResilience #DisasterRecovery #ITInfrastructure #AnalysysMason

Recovery-as-a-Service (RaaS) is becoming a go-to strategy for SMBs looking to strengthen resilience and ensure continuity in today’s unpredictable digital environment. Thoughtful analysis from my Analysys Mason colleague Dev Chakravarty.

What Are Managed IT Services – and Why Do They Matter? IT Insight Series – Part 1/3 Managed IT Services take the day-to-day responsibility of your tech infrastructure off your plate - so you can focus on running your business. Instead of reacting to problems as they arise, Managed Services offer proactive monitoring, support, updates, and security – all handled by experts like Elysian IT. ✅ Predictable monthly costs ✅ Improved uptime and productivity ✅ Access to a full team of IT specialists without hiring in-house ✅ Scalable solutions as your business grows Whether you're an SME just starting to scale, or a mid-sized company needing expert support, outsourcing your IT to a trusted partner brings peace of mind. Find out how we can help your business thrive with managed services. www.elysianit.com Melanie Andrews Luke Smith Steve Millo Microsoft James Harrington Nathan Carr Carolyn Robins #ManagedServices #SMEs #ITSupport #OutsourcedIT #BusinessGrowth #ElysianIT