| |April 20209Hiring an MSP would be a smart move for an enterprise, however perceptions or misconceptions might be holding it backManaged services enable organiza-tions to augment competencies that they lack, or to replace functions or processes that incur huge recurring costs. These services optimize recur-ring in-house IT costs, transform IT systems and automate business pro-cesses. Thus, enabling enterprises to attain their business objectives. Hiring an MSP would be a smart move for an enterprise, how-ever perceptions or misconceptions might be holding it back. Read be-low few pointers to bust these myths about MSPs:Hiring an MSP is not cost-effec-tive - Countless studies and surveys have shown that hiring an MSP often proves cost-effective for businesses because it provides a high level of IT support and assistance at a cost that is usually lower than if the business were to try and recreate that service in-house. Hiring an MSP frees up time and resources within a company. The in-house IT team is free to work on core-business projects that contribute to the success of the busi-ness. It allows businesses to focus on their core competencies with the knowledge that their ap-plications and infrastruc-ture is efficient, secure and robust. Businesses don't need MSPs when they have internal IT teams - An MSP doesn't replaces an internal IT team. In fact, it enables them to enhance their capabilities. When there's an MSP, the internal IT team does not need to spend time on arduous, repeti-tive and complex task associated with other business processes. Handling such time-consuming tasks will only contribute to inefficiency at work-place. When businesses outsource such activities to MSPs, it greatly re-duces the workload on their in-house team, thereby helping to streamline business and maximize efficiency. An MSP is not a threat. It is a support system for the internal IT team. In a recent survey by CompTIA, only 6% of companies that hired an MSP elimi-nated their in-house IT team. The vast majority of companies view MSPs as enablers that help IT to reprioritize its role.Hiring an MSP puts confiden-tial data at risk - With the rising in-stances of data breaches, businesses know that cyber-security shouldn't be taken lightly as it leads to not only financial losses but also reputation loss. Enterprises hire MSPs to delegate security for their multi-cloud environment as they come with the expert knowledge of cloud-based security services to keep the customer data secure. MSPs in col-laboration with their customers create the cloud security rules of engagement and design a secure and compliant en-vironment that protect services and data seamlessly. MSP run penetration-testing and regular security audits to locate potential loopholes and entry points in customer's cloud infrastruc-ture. They ensure that there are no back doors in the servers, storage, applications or other systems.Hiring an MSP leads to dilution of control over operations - Contrary to the popular belief, hiring an MSP does not lead to dilution of control and decision-making authority. The com-pany can decide the level of delegation and authority that they wish to accord to the MSP. An effective customer-MSP relationship requires setting clear expectations, a scope of services and a strong service level agreement (SLA). It's imperative for businesses to un-derstand the level of control that they would like to maintain before hiring an MSP. A good MSP will have sug-gestions and recommendations in ac-cordance with the customer's require-ments and expectations. Onboarding an MSP creates in-ternal confusion over roles and re-sponsibilities ­ Internal confusion happens when there's a lack of clarity on the objectives that the customer is willing to achieve by hiring MSP. However, businesses hire MSPs with a clear understanding of the goals, roles and responsibilities that will be assigned to them. They create distinct roles for both, internal IT team as well as MSP. Furthermore, both the teams collaborate to attain organizational objectives. Neelesh Kripalani
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