While digital transformation has advanced slowly overall, remote work has accelerated these efforts across industries, often leaving enterprises unprepared and falling short in areas outside their expertise. In many instances, a company’s best bet is to focus on their strengths and outsource essential processes and functions to a specialized team—a managed service provider (MSP). This may be especially crucial for non-tech vertical industries, who may not otherwise have the technical know-how to manage and grow their IT systems.
One of the most crucial components of successful digital transformation is an effective IT infrastructure and its skillful upkeep, something that can sound unattainable to small and medium businesses (SMBs) operating outside of the technology ecosystem. MSPs offer specialized solutions to digital problems for companies of all industry and size, including those that may not recognize their needs, creating new verticals to market these services toward.
Law firms handle personal and confidential information and can rarely afford an internal IT department to maintain their information’s security. Engineering and construction fields too have increasing connectivity and digitization demands, from invoicing and billing to project management. Some professional service businesses address their own weak spots by outsourcing to an MSP, with the acknowledgment that some tasks are too important to manage internally.
Cybersecurity, for example, is of prime importance to every modern industry, especially with the steady, and necessary, advancement of digital transformation. Law firms manage private data, such as financial records, medical or criminal history, and other sensitive materials that are attractive to bad actors lurking in cyberspace. Construction and engineering companies are filled with experts in their respective fields, but technology is constantly and rapidly evolving, leaving even the most gifted minds behind the times in their IT infrastructures. The growing vulnerability to an external attack is enough to give pause to professional service companies themselves, and while they provide security for their clients, their own weaknesses may go unaddressed—leaving them susceptible to the same dangers. Luckily, MSPs exist in even the most specific niches, offering safety, security, and ultimately savings for these sectors and more.
Outsourcing to an MSP is attractive for the security and cost-saving benefits, but it can also enhance internal productivity. This affords legal offices the opportunity to stay aligned with current and advancing technological trends outside of their purview, keeping their technical capabilities on par with their own specializations. Engineering firms likewise can use MSPs to streamline invoicing and billing, allowing them the ability to similarly simplify their own support staffing needs. Sometimes, even the largest of professional service companies, who may offer outsourced IT support to their clients, can benefit from turning their infrastructure needs over to a third party. Leading professional services firms like EY, Tata Consultancy, and Infosys all utilize MSPs for some of their most specialized IT needs. Before an enterprise decides to dedicate time, effort, and resources to hiring staff, revamping processes, or overhauling legacy systems, exploring the MSP ecosystem could provide the most efficient solution.
