Rapid changes in technology, growing compliance requirements, and the scale and complexity of cyberattacks are all challenges that have made modern businesses increasingly dependent on having strong network security and functional IT infrastructure. As a result, many companies seek help from trusted IT professionals who can provide them with expert advice on protecting their networks and data from potential threats.
However, to get optimal results and the full benefits of a reliable network, you need to partner with the best IT professional services company. When it comes to technology, there’s always something new around the corner that requires your organization to upgrade equipment and integrate new solutions. The best way to obtain a competitive advantage is by choosing an IT professional services provider that is able to adapt to these rapid technological advances without majorly disrupting your business operations.
In this detailed guide, we will explain IT professional services, the different types of IT services available, and how to find the right IT professional services company for your needs.
What Are IT Professional Services?
IT professional services are the important services a business needs to have access to technical tools in order to streamline daily tasks and business processes.
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IT professional services can be defined as the technology-related services delivered by a team of experts to companies and organizations, allowing them to focus on their primary business concerns. These services can range from consulting and advising to IT hardware maintenance and data analytics deployment.
The main role of an IT services company is to take a technical solution and tailor it to their clients’ specific requirements so their clients achieve their optimal technology strategy and broader business goals. Quite often, businesses invest in expensive out-the-box products without any first-hand knowledge of how to best integrate, optimize, and maintain them. The results are often less satisfactory than the business expects and needs.
Engaging IT professional services ensures that a business makes the most of every technology-related product or service available. A professional IT team is on hand to learn all challenges and complexities faced by a business so the team can optimize solutions to anticipate any potential problems or resolve unexpected issues.
There is a wide range of services an IT professional company can offer and choosing the right one majorly depends on the needs of the business.
For example, in the field of medicine, an internal IT professional team provides essential services required to keep crucial databases operational and accessible to all staff members. On the other hand, IT services for a small business setting primarily include managing account management software, data storage, and network security.
Below are a few common IT professional services that many businesses and organizations might need, irrespective of industry.
Different Types of IT Services
Understanding the different types of IT services will help you determine which ones are essential for your company and can best help you reach your business goals. Knowing the main types of these services is indispensable to making an informed choice when selecting an IT professional company.
Strategic IT Consulting Services
This type of IT service usually focuses on general business direction and wider business strategy. Professional services providers will consider all compliance and regulatory issues, such as cost optimization, IT risk management, and scale.
An IT consulting firm can provide services like in-depth analysis of a business’s wider technology strategy – enquiring about technology selections and evaluating their effectiveness to ensure the technological solutions are appropriate for the project and long-term business goals.
Reliable IT professional service firms might also offer consulting services that include a long-term roadmap and business value evaluation to ensure you get the most out of your investment. They can offer on-hand support needed to help businesses grow.
Here are some benefits of IT consulting services and why every business needs them.
Get Proven Expertise and Experience
Every business is different, and so are each of their requirements and objectives. Determining the technological needs of your business can be daunting since it requires extensive expertise and experience. IT consulting services ensure that you get someone on board with the specialized knowledge and training for making technology-related decisions.
Improved Productivity
Boosted productivity is something every business needs, and one of the proven ways to achieve it is by hiring a professional services business. When you have specialists taking care of your technological needs, you can spare time for your business goals.
Helps Control Expenses
With the help of IT consulting services, you can reduce the resource consumption of your IT department. A consulting and advisory services firm helps your company by offering sustainable IT solutions that make sense in terms of operational costs.
Hardware Sales
Hardware sales IT services let you obtain data center equipment that is fully tested and ready for deployment whenever you need to replace or upgrade your existing system. These services take away the hassle of individually selecting and purchasing the required hardware, which could also be expensive.
All you need to do is hire a global company, like OSI Global, that offers hardware sales services. We will determine your business’s needs and suggest the hardware required to meet its operational objectives.
The hardware might include the following:
- Server Hardware
- Storage Hardware
- Network Hardware
Opting for hardware sales services can help your business save time and money and offers plenty of benefits in the long run. Since only one company will manage all the hardware and troubleshooting for all your equipment, regardless of the manufacturer, the chances of downtime are less, which means more business productivity.
IT Asset Recycling (ITAD)
The other side of buying new hardware and IT equipment is figuring out what to do with your old hardware and IT equipment. Unfortunately, electronic waste is becoming more and more of an issue and is having a negative impact on the environment. ITAD is the practice of reusing, recycling, repurposing, repairing, or disposing of IT equipment in a safe and environmentally friendly way. ITAD services include securely wiping the data on the old equipment so your organization’s private information doesn’t get into the wrong hands. It might also help recoup some of the value of expensive hardware.
A firm like OSI Global can provide professional services specifically customized for your organization to responsibly decommission and reuse or dispose of your electronic devices. Our full-service IT asset recycling and disposition solution minimizes your risk, enables you to derive maximum value from your aging assets, and offers you peace of mind that comes with our proven data erasure processes. With ITAD services from OSI, our team will inspect and audit your existing equipment, modernize your asset reclamation process, and create a plan to decommission, transport, and dispose of IT assets no longer in use, all while maintaining the chain of custody and complying with data security guidelines.
Network Setup
No business can deny the importance and significance of a stable and properly working internet connection and internal network. They are an integral part of your business operations and keep everyone connected. Having a robust network setup is non-negotiable, and it is only achievable with the help of network setup IT services.
As your business is unique, your requirements for a network are also unique. IT services should include the professional services firms assessing your unique requirements to set up a network that serves your purpose and is capable of future upgrades when your business’s needs grow over time.
Network setup IT services offer:
- Attention to detail
- Tailored solutions
- Empowering your business with technology
Also, the IT professional service company will take care of all your hardware needs and you will get a complete network setup deployed at your business site according to your specific requirements.
Network Security
A robust network is capable of handling your business’s requirements. However, network management is important to offer maximum uptime and keep important data safe.
Data is a key component of every company or organization and is an invaluable asset in developing strategies and making important decisions. Thus, data needs to be secured at all times, which is only possible with strong network security.
Network security service providers ensure that their client’s data remains locked while they help introduce robust network policies that all of the business’s employees must adhere to in order to keep the network protected. Such policies could include multi-factor authentication, installing virtual private networks, and more.
Data Center Relocation
As an organization or business grows, they will sometimes need to rethink their data center and hosting solution. This often means physically moving their IT infrastructure to a larger room within their existing building or moving it to a new location completely. Although it might sound simple, there are risks involved including physical damage to the equipment, losing data, security breaches, too much downtime, equipment incompatibility, etc. A data center relocation is a sensitive project that could take anywhere from weeks to months to a full year to complete.
OSI Global’s data center relocation team has decades of experience planning and managing relocation projects of varying sizes and levels of complexity all over the world. Our services include project management, pre- and post-relocation facility surveys, logistical and technical plan development, OEM and third-party vendor coordination, and much more. For every project, we will provide the customized support that your team needs for a seamless data center relocation.
Data Analysis
Data analysis from an IT professional services company helps small- and medium-sized businesses get their data collected, processed, and presented in the form of actionable insight that helps them prevent investing in developing and administering analytic solutions.
Every company, irrespective of the industry, needs data to thrive. Be it a manufacturing business or a retail company that deals with customers directly, collecting and storing data is usually a major part of daily operations. Businesses can only use data properly if it is organized and processed accurately and securely.
IT professional companies offering data analysis services ensure your data remains organized and is in a consumable form. With these services, a business does not have to stress about organizing and managing data, as IT professionals will take care of it.
Data analysis services help a business by:
- Preventing spending money and internal resources on organizing data
- Mitigating risk and fraud
- Delivering relevant products and services to their clients
- Optimizing the customer experience
Hardware and Software Support IT Services
Hardware and software are two core foundations a business needs to operate, and an IT professional service company helps strengthen these foundations. When working properly, the best hardware and software ensure maximum uptime for your business, which is essential for productivity.
Hardware and software support service providers can assist with everything, such as installing and repairing equipment or troubleshooting applications. Moreover, these professional service providers ensure quick solutions, so you don’t have to depend on a large OEM to get service.
Third-Party Maintenance
Third-party maintenance (TPM) is IT maintenance service on data and network equipment offered by an independent provider other than the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). Often, getting maintenance support from the OEM is overly expensive and can take a long time. It is also impossible once the warranty period ends, or the device is reaching its designated end of life.
Alternatively, third-party IT maintenance providers can cover more services than OEM or vendor-supplied maintenance. An excellent TPM provider, like OSI Global, offers a single point of contact for your entire IT infrastructure and will be able to troubleshoot your equipment issues across brands. This leads to shortening response times and minimizing costs.
IT Professional Services vs. Managed IT Services: How Are They Different?
Setting up a dedicated in-house IT team can be expensive for small- and medium-sized businesses, which is why many companies outsource IT services. However, there are different kinds of IT service companies you can engage. Most companies offer services that fall into two categories: IT professional services and managed IT services.
Here are a few clear differences between the two that will help you choose the right IT services for your business needs.
IT Professional Services Are Project-Based, Managed IT Services Are Subscription-Based
When launching a new project like updating networking equipment or migrating data to a cloud service, IT professional services provide more value than managed IT services. Professional IT services are more project-based; for example, if you hire a service provider to migrate important data to a cloud server, their job will end once it is complete and you’ll pay them a one-time fee as quoted in the contract. However, a professional IT services firm might offer ongoing support as well so you can call on them to help with troubleshooting any issues.
The role of a managed IT services company is more comprehensive. Their team will be available to you 24 hours a day to handle any equipment maintenance or technology-related troubleshooting issue. Managed IT services come with a recurring fee and works like a subscription model.
The On-Demand Nature of IT Professional Services Make Them More Versatile Than Managed IT
Hiring an IT professional service provider to address a specific issue offers a tight focus, and their expertise can be a sure way to develop a comprehensive solution. IT professional services offer better resolutions whenever you encounter a major issue in the network or other technology-related devices. As a dedicated team of experts will be working on a specific issue, there are higher chances of resolving the problem quickly, curtailing downtime.
Also, unlike managed IT services, IT professional services are more versatile, making them suitable for small- and medium-sized businesses in different industries.
IT Professional Services Are Easier on a Budget Compared to Managed IT Services
IT professional services are project-based, you only pay the provider for a particular task, such as setting up a new network. On the other hand, managed IT services come with a monthly cost, but your business will have a dedicated team to take care of the IT infrastructure.
Which Is the Right IT Service for Your Business?
IT professional and managed services offer some unique benefits, and some businesses need to have both to thrive. IT professional services are useful for the deployment of IT setup, while managed IT services are for ongoing maintenance purposes.
At OSI Global, our customized professional IT services offer solutions to small businesses and corporate enterprise clients to help ensure they experience maximum uptime.
Call us at +1 (866) 602-4674 for more details, or get a quote for the IT services you need.
How to Find a Reliable IT Professional Services Company
To make the most out of IT professional services, you must find a reliable company. Below are some factors you should consider to find a reputable and dependable IT services company for your business.
Determine Your Needs
The first step to finding an IT professional services company is determining your needs. Every IT services company specializes in different types of services. For example, if you want to set up a new network, you should look for an IT company with experts in network setup. If you want to upgrade and maintain a network, then you should look for an IT services company with experts in taking care of equipment from multiple OEMs.
Make a comprehensive report of what you need to help you funnel down the options.
Conduct Extensive Research
Your business will depend on the data security and technological equipment managed by an IT services provider, so choose one after extensive research. Make sure the company specializes in the services you specifically need and that they have a good reputation. You can conduct research in several places to collect information about the provider you are planning to hire, including on their website, on a business review site, and more.
Don’t Hesitate to Ask Questions
No matter how great the IT services firm’s reputation is, you should still ask them questions. The questions should be related to the services they provide, the staff you’ll be working with, their history, their experience with similar companies, and so on.
Check Reviews Online
Nowadays, you can easily find out if an IT service provider is reliable or not by looking at online reviews from their current and former clients. By reading through the reviews, you can get a better idea on how they communicate, how they deal with any issues, how quickly they resolve problems, and other important things you should know.
Get a Quote
Finally, you should ask for a detailed quote highlighting the services’ cost, including all extra fees. Trusted IT professional services companies such as OSI Global will gladly offer a detailed quote, eliminating the risks of any surprises in the form of hidden charges.
Let OSI Global Take Care of Your Digital Needs
OSI Global is a team of professional experts that offer IT hardware, multi-vendor maintenance support, and optical networking solutions.
Whether you are a small- or medium-sized business, or a large corporation, we can handle your networking needs so you can focus on managing core business concerns, increasing your productivity, and meeting your long-term objectives.
Call us at (866) 602-4674 to learn more about our IT professional services, or get a detailed quote online.