Whether you currently have a remote monitoring and management service or not, it’s valuable to make an internal checklist to determine exactly what your business needs. The main idea of a managed service provider is to streamline IT security services and processes to make them more efficient so your team can be more productive. If you work with one and it seems like your in-house IT staff is doing more of the legwork, then it may be time to change providers. Here are a few general characteristics of a good remote monitoring and management platform you should always look for.
Filter and Categorize Alerts
There are constant IT alerts throughout the day and most of them don’t need significant action taken. Your managed service provider should have criterias in place to evaluate each alert before they even get brought to your attention. There’s no need for you as the business owner to know about an IT issue unless action is needed. A good provider will filter through the alerts and monitor the potentially significant ones to ensure they are addressed appropriately by the correct personnel.
Takes Proactive Actions
Your managed service provider should be keeping you up to date on your IT security services, not the other way around. When your systems and networks are always updated with the latest software and patches, you’ll reduce your risk of security breaches. The provider you work with needs to be proactive in at least these areas so you can focus on growing revenue for your business, without having to worry about IT security on top of it all.
Solid Knowledge Base
When a remote monitoring and management company has an extensive knowledge base, your company will benefit from it. An established service should have a solid knowledge base to offer, which means they won’t have to spend as much time on any particular issue. When a similar problem has already been solved before, the experts can apply the knowledge gained from the previous situation to the current one. This saves time, effort and money for all parties involved and allows for higher levels of work productivity.
Single Point of Contact helps small and midsize business owners streamline their IT security services so they have one less thing to worry about when operating their business. If your provider isn’t doing exactly what you had envisioned or if you believe your in-house staff is doing more than they should, then it may be time to evaluate other options. Feel free to contact us to learn more about our services and how we can help your organization.
