It’s an age of ever-more-complicated terms invented to describe ever-more-complicated tools and procedures and activities. As a result, the world is swimming in acronyms and curious compounds of words whose tandem definitions have been rewritten to mean something else altogether.
What Are Managed Services?
Take, for example, the notion of “managed services.” What are these “services,” after all? And in what way are they “managed”?
A raft of definitions exists to address the mystery, but the most straightforward takes aim at the concept’s heart: Managed services describes the oversight of one company’s various day-to-day technological tasks or assets by another. The company assuming responsibility for these functions, which are often complex and require specific and specialized knowledge, is known as the managed service provider, or MSP.
What MSP’s Offer
As with 360 Visibility, MSPs are essentially outsourcing agents for their clients, a list that includes other service providers who aren’t equipped with the same lightning-speed, cutting-edge computer-networking resources that MSPs possess.
Basic communication services and network management are the most prominent of an MSP’s offerings. That catch-all includes the oversight of a client’s IP telephony, messaging, call centres, firewalls and virtual private networks (VPNs).
Additionally, MSPs can manage an enterprise network’s cloud storage assets, which can be considerable.
Most of these services can be performed externally — a critical distinguisher to both the MSP’s logistics and its speed of service. Managed service providers can also deliver applications and equipment to their customers.
In every case, a responsible MSP focuses its energies on the integration and security of all of its clients’ applications and content.
Especially for business with multiple processes, outsourcing such services to a third-party specialist is a smart, efficient and cost-effective move, particularly given the ever-growing complexity of the global IT infrastructure that organizations are increasingly facing.
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For more information on our Azure Cloud Managed Services, or for help on deciding if the solution is right for your company, contact 360 Visibility.