CIOs Turn to MSPs to Boost IT Performance
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Key Component
92% of survey participants say that technology is important to business success. -
Helping Hand, Part I
About three in 10 organizations have adopted managed services in some form. -
Helping Hand, Part II
50% say their organizations have used IT service and solution providers for cloud computing initiatives, and 48% have used it to manage IT functions such as the help desk. -
Top Business Strategy Priorities for 2014
Reducing costs and overhead: 56%, Improving staff productivity and capabilities: 52%, Reaching new customer segments: 50%, Improving data analytics for better, faster decisions: 42%, Innovating more effectively: 37% -
Top Service-Level Agreement Priorities of Organizations
24/7 support: 63%, Data security and privacy: 61%, Response times: 55% -
Can-Do Direction
48% of business and IT professionals say either the CIO or another member of the senior IT staff is driving the move to managed services. -
Long-Term Commitment
29% of organizations using managed services today have done so for more than five years, up from 26% of companies which have used managed services for that long as of 2011. -
Staffing Stability
Only 26% of organizations reduced internal IT headcount after contracting with a managed service provider, and 53% made no staffing changes at all. -
Teachable Moment
Four in 10 business and IT professionals say their organizations received on-site training from their managed service provider as part of the adoption process. -
Speed of Implementation
60% say it took no more than five months for the managed service provider to get company systems fully on-boarded, and 24% say it took less than two months.
CIOs are leading their organizations toward greater investment in managed service providers (MSPs), according to a recent survey from CompTIA. The global managed-services market will grow from $143 billion in 2013 to $256 billion in 2018, according to research from MarketsandMarkets. Companies that are making such transitions are seeking better ways to ensure network uptime and security, as well as the capability to move proactively and swiftly on future tech needs. "Some organizations view alignment with a managed service provider as an avenue to new technologies that will be made available to them in a more affordable and accessible fashion," says Carolyn April, director of industry analysis for CompTIA. "This ranks as a major factor for roughly two-thirds of companies, regardless of size or experience with managed services … Cloud-based providers are enabling end customers to outsource IT functions in a more automated fashion for a fraction of the cost." Fortunately, using an MSP doesn't usually require the downsizing of tech-department headcount, findings show. It just means existing IT staff has more time to focus on alternative, business-benefiting strategies. A total of 400 U.S. IT and business professionals participated in the research. For more about the survey, click here.