Our most recent newsletter highlighted the benefits of having a managed IT support service on hand for your business, so for this blog we thought it would be interesting to take a closer look at the real differences between in-house and managed IT services.

Same difference?

It has been a matter of debate since IT began – which is better, managed or in-house IT?  On one hand, there are obvious benefits to having an in-house IT professional in the building.

However, there are also times where an in-house IT department simply can’t provide the best technology, or the 24/7 network monitoring and remote support that a managed IT service provider can provide. 

Weighing up your resources 

Unless your business is in the tech sector, a managed service provider – like BahatiGroup – is bound to have access to a much wider range of technology and resources, as well as a knowledgeable team of experts on hand to assist when IT issues occur. 

Timing is everything

24/7 monitoring enables your managed service provider’s team to identify IT issues and find solutions – usually before the problem/issue even occurs. Regular businesses, and their employees, operate during “business hours”… a managed IT company never sleeps.

We’re only human

Should the worst happen and your in-house IT technician is not at work due to on illness or injury – or simply goes AWOL – your business’s productivity is likely to be severely impacted should an issue occur.

While a managed service provider may not always be the best option for every business, they can have a technician available at any time if any issues arise. 

It’s all about the money – or is it?

When looking at the issue of costs, it goes without saying that Information Technology costs vary drastically depending on the type of business. Your IT budget depends on how efficient and stable you want – or need – your business’s IT infrastructure to be.

A managed service provider will normally require your business to meet certain technology requirements to be able to create a dependable and secure IT environment. This means that if the tech in your business is outdated or needs replacing, your costs will unavoidably, but temporarily, increase. 

The short-term cost of upgrading is definitely worth the cost when comparing to the possible costs that can arise from tech disasters such as network breaches, ransomware, or data loss. On top of this, incidents can cause significant downtime and could incur legal or financial penalties. 

So, what’s the verdict?

When it comes to the crunch, for most businesses, the long-term costs of a managed service provider are less than the costs of an in-house IT department. 

A full-time IT employee or department with the knowledge and capabilities equivalent to a managed service provider would generally be more expensive than outsourcing, and finally, is limited by vacation days, sick leave, etc.

BahatiGroup offers a range of managed IT support packages, including our innovative fixed-fee subscription based service (which we’ll be taking a closer look at in our next blog) along with a host of other handy services designed to keep your business running smoothly. 

Get in touch to learn more about our services and find how our expert team can help you get the most out of your business IT.

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NEWSFLASH – ANDROID OWNERS!

A new trojan malware is infecting smartphones worldwide, stealing thousands of users’ personal data and compromising their Facebook accounts. 
 

According to a recent report published by Zimperium’s zLab mobile security team, FlyTrap has compromised over 10,000 users worldwide, and it’s spreading fast.
 
The attacks are being carried out by a malware group based in Vietnam, who are distributing the malware in various forms including fake Facebook ads, phishing links sent from infected accounts, and apps which have been removed from the Google Play store, but are still available via third party websites.

  
Android users need to take care to keep their devices safe. Here are some tips:

• Use anti-malware and anti-virus apps to scan new apps you want to install for known threats before you download them, which could help infected users find and remove malware.
   
• Do not grant apps unnecessary permissions. 
   
• Do not download unknown apps, even from the Google Play Store, and thoroughly vet the apps you do install.
   
• Do not click on unknown links, and beware of “too good to be true” offers and similar online scam techniques.
   
• Do not hand over your Facebook account info to any person or third-party apps.
   
• Only log into Facebook (and other social media) through the official app or website, and never when prompted by an ad, email, or unrelated app.

READ MORE

If you have any concerns about your mobile device security, get in touch for a chat with one of our cyber security experts today!