Digital transformation has brought with it numerous transformations and changes within the technology sector. Thanks to new technological solutions, the IT sector is gaining a prominent role within companies, making the proactive role of MSPs in small and medium-sized enterprises fundamental.
Given that a large portion of organizations depend on technological resources and digital solutions to keep their operations running smoothly, investing in the IT sector is paramount. For this reason, more and more companies are seeking technology partners capable of providing efficiency and proactivity in developing solutions and managing IT.
For many years, the work pattern within technology companies was adopted reactively, meaning solutions were implemented only when truly necessary . Market changes have also led these companies to shift their mindset, seeking more proactive strategies to avoid problems and ensure the continuity of the company's services and resources.
Thus, throughout this article, we will discuss the importance of IT service providers and how their proactive approach, based on continuous resource monitoring, mitigates threats before they even appear. This makes MSPs strategic partners for small and medium-sized enterprises, ensuring the security and continuity of operations, keeping them competitive in a constantly evolving market, as we will see below.
What are MSPS?
In a free translation, IT Service Providers are companies that provide managed IT services, offering technological solutions for risk prevention, increased MSP productivity , and organizational efficiency. With the growing need for a more complete and efficient IT sector, MSPs have gained considerable prominence in recent years.
These companies offer outsourced management of various IT resources, allowing your organization to focus its resources and workforce on more important or essential tasks. This makes it possible to establish a comprehensive strategy for the organization's growth and development.
Traditionally, the IT sector tends to adopt the break-fix model, meaning solutions and strategies are only adopted when truly necessary. In the case of MSPs, the preventative approach focuses on preventing damage through continuous monitoring of resources and tools.
Through this proactive approach by MSPs, IT service providers are able to prevent problems before they even occur. Threats are identified, avoided, or mitigated as needed by the company.
IT Outsourcing for SMEs: The Growth of Technology Service Provision Today
It's no secret that cyber threats have grown exponentially in the last decade. This has led to the development of various resources aimed at protection, delivering complete and efficient tools for consumers.
The emergence of the General Data Protection Law was also a true milestone in cybersecurity in our country, bringing paradigms to be followed in order to keep information protected. For this reason, there is great concern about the protection of data and digital tools used by organizations.
According to a report , the IT outsourcing market is projected to grow from US$585.57 billion in 2023 to US$701.88 billion by 2028. Data such as this demonstrates the immense potential that IT service providers have in today's market .
With increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, cybercriminals are causing numerous problems for companies, ranging from data leaks and ransomware to business interruptions. Considering these factors, the provision of technology services has gained significant importance today.
See how the information leak is harming thousands of people in Brazil:
MSPs and the benefits for small and medium-sized enterprises
As we mentioned earlier, IT Service Providers are able to provide high-quality digital resources and tools for companies that want to remain active and competitive in the market. In addition to providing cutting-edge technological services, MSPs also guarantee several advantages:
Expertise
In such a competitive market, having technological expertise is fundamental to guaranteeing the best resources and results. We know that small and medium-sized enterprises don't always have the resources to hire and retain a quality technology team , which can negatively impact their results.
By hiring an IT Service Provider, your company can count on a top-notch team with all the necessary knowledge to efficiently manage the IT sector. Furthermore, they will also provide cutting-edge technology to ensure your organization can stand out in the market and maintain its operations efficiently.
Flexibility Expertise
Every day, new technologies emerge designed to provide greater efficiency and productivity for companies. Keeping up with these technological advancements can be a real challenge, both technically and financially.
Outsourcing IT services allows your company to adjust its needs and expand the resources and services offered according to demand, without excessive additional costs and with practicality. This flexibility allows for adjustments in the IT sector with much more practicality and agility.
Efficiency
Since all technological demands are monitored and resolved by the MSP, your team can focus on the tasks most relevant to the organization . In this way, your company can maintain its focus on its core business without worrying about technical problems or managerial aspects of technology resources.
This means that your team will be assigned to tasks related to your core business, while all IT resources are managed by a specialized company . Thanks to this, it's possible to guarantee greater efficiency and productivity in the organization's daily operations.
Economy
Implementing a complete, high-quality IT department within your company can be expensive and complex. From acquiring modern equipment to hiring specialized professionals, this implementation represents a significant expense for your business.
Outsourcing services allows you to utilize complete and efficient resources , relying on up-to-date tools and support from a team specialized in the sector. Your company only pays for what is actually used, without worrying about the evolution of these resources.
Security
Strengthened by the General Data Protection Law, concern for security is of utmost importance today. IT Service Providers can offer security resources and tools to provide continuous and efficient monitoring within your company.
MSPs offer incident recovery plans, monitoring, backup management, and qualified support to assist your company whenever needed.
What are the differences between reactive and proactive IT management?
As we mentioned earlier, IT management is traditionally implemented reactively. This means that technology professionals adopted solutions as problems arose without worrying about incident prevention.
The problem with this strategy is that the company's productivity is seriously hampered, mainly because the problem, until it is resolved, causes the unavailability of resources . Even though many of these problems may not be directly related to the IT sector, all the support from that sector ends up focused on solving problems.
In the proactive approach, the main focus is on ensuring constant monitoring to prevent problems before they occur . This is only possible through anticipation and monitoring, resource automation, and immediate response to incidents.
The proactive approach of MSPs allows clients to have greater peace of mind regarding vulnerabilities and flaws that could cause problems . Should incidents occur, the team is prepared to handle them in the best possible way, minimizing downtime and ensuring service continuity.
How can MSPs improve customer service in small and medium-sized businesses?
providers are becoming a complete and efficient alternative for companies in various sectors. And, with an expected growth of 7.37% per year, everything indicates that the technology services sector will reach $1.7 trillion by 2028 ( data from the market intelligence website Statista ), serving thousands of companies seeking to optimize their processes and ensure even greater security.
For many years, cyberattacks targeted larger companies, focused on generating substantial profits and causing immeasurable damage to these organizations . Over the years, cyberattacks have also begun to affect small and medium-sized enterprises, making it necessary for these businesses to have protection resources to avoid such incidents.
From aggressive malware to data breaches, smaller businesses have also begun to suffer from cyberattacks. To meet this demand, specific protection tools have been developed to facilitate management and help these companies stay away from cyber problems.
It is very important to have an MSP company that can provide not only constant IT security support, but also a specialized team with comprehensive security knowledge . This company also needs to adopt efficient tools that help keep your business safe from these digital problems.
The better prepared the MSP is, the better the chances of efficiently serving its clients, delivering not only quality service but also cutting-edge resources to help companies stay protected.
Migrating IT from reactive to proactive: essential tips
As we have seen throughout this article, the proactive role of IT Service Providers is fundamental to ensuring the protection and continuity of business activities . For this reason, the migration from reactive to proactive approaches is indispensable.
In this sense, we understand that the key to proactive MSP performance lies in the continuous monitoring of tools in a digital environment. Complete tools are needed to ensure more assertive control, preventing failures and vulnerabilities present in the network.
Real-time assessment is crucial for migrating from a reactive system to a proactive approach by MSPs. This allows for the identification and mitigation of threats before they cause serious problems for the company.
More than just fixing a problem, the MSP needs to be able to identify its origin and eliminate the vulnerability that contributed to the incident.
Service automation is also very important for these companies. Not only in terms of fault detection, but also to provide quality service.
Another very important aspect of this process is ensuring that your entire team is prepared to handle these situations and aligned with the purpose of the service provided. In addition to using the tools offered for efficient management and monitoring, the team also needs to understand why this new operating model is a differentiator and can provide a more complete service. To make this possible, it may be necessary to implement a solid information and training policy within the company.
The role of the DNS Firewall in a proactive IT approach
Now that the importance of continuous monitoring to ensure proactive MSP action is clear, we can understand how a DNS Firewall can help achieve this goal. Through this tool, it's possible to implement assertive monitoring of traffic within the company , ensuring that threats are detected before they cause real problems.
In addition to cyberattacks and malware, which are considerably dangerous, data breaches are a problem that can cause numerous losses for an organization . Besides exposing confidential or sensitive information, these breaches also damage the organization's image in the market and among consumers.
These problems, in addition to impacting profitability, also harm the competitive positioning and growth of the business . With the help of a DNS Firewall, it is possible to guarantee several benefits for both the IT Service Provider and its clients, such as:
Internet access control
In addition to adopting a internet access policy , it may also be necessary to implement an access control tool to help your employees stay out of trouble.
OF Firewall DNS helps block harmful pages, improve internet quality, reduce incidents related to malware, and monitor the digital behavior of your employees.
Increased internet security
Many cyberattacks occur due to inappropriate user behavior within the digital environment . Avoiding access to certain types of content, such as entertainment pages, betting and gaming sites, social networks, and others, can help your company minimize these incidents and keep the digital environment even safer .
Although blocking certain types of content may seem unnecessary, we need to remember that the cybercrime industry generates one of the highest revenues in the market , highlighting the exponential increase in cyberattacks today.
Increased productivity
We know it's natural for employees to lose focus and get distracted by pages and content found on the internet. However, although it may seem harmless, this type of behavior causes significant damage to the organization, mainly due to decreased productivity.
The DNS Firewall , in addition to monitoring activities performed in the digital environment, also blocks websites considered unnecessary for the daily routine of workers, preventing wasted time and reduced productivity.
Adding value to the services offered
The better the resources offered by the IT Service Provider, the more valued it will be in the market. Solutions such as DNS Firewall demonstrate that the MSP has a solid security strategy focused on protecting its clients' data.
As a security tool, the DNS Firewall helps block harmful and unwanted pages , contributes to effective monitoring, and applies page blocking predictively. Furthermore, it also provides detailed reports to demonstrate how your MSP is helping to protect and contribute to customer operations.
As we have seen throughout this material, a proactive approach by MSPs can help establish a prominent role in the market and deliver increasingly comprehensive solutions to consumers. Continuous monitoring allows for more effective and intelligent management of technological resources, helping companies stay safe from cyberattacks and avoid the immense losses that these threats can cause.
