5 Signs That You Could Benefit from Fully Managed IT Services

Have you been considering whether or not moving to a Fully Managed IT Service model is right for your organization? If you can relate to one or more of the following situations, then Fully Managed Services may provide the level of service your organization needs and the peace of mind that you deserve.

1. You lose sleep worrying how secure your network is

With Fully Managed Services (FMS) from the Walker Group, we proactively keep your systems, network and applications up-to-date with important updates and patches, one of the most effective defenses against cybersecurity attacks. We provide subscription-based anti-malware and anti-virus software to keep a close watch on the really bad actors in cyberspace. Best of all, you can rest assured that we are monitoring your network 7 x 24, looking for suspicious activity so that we can alert you, and work together to avoid a security issue.

2. You can’t go on vacation because you have to be around for the big upgrade

Your big application vendor has scheduled a software upgrade during your ‘slow period’ yet you know you need to be around ‘just in case.’ As a Walker FMS client, we’ll have your back by working with your software vendors to provide the underlying system and network support you need at the most critical times. And even after the upgrade, our 7 x 24 monitoring will give you peace of mind that your systems and network are performing as they should.

3. The boss wants to know how good your DR plan is

Fully managed services include a monthly review of how effective your back and disaster recovery systems are working. More than just checking on the status as reporting by your backup and DR software, we proactively do test restores of your data, check for missed or under-performing backups, and ensure that your backup software is up to date and healthy. This is a DR plan that you can take to the boss in the highest confidence.

4. The board needs the detailed IT budget and strategy for next year…tomorrow

Did you forget to include that software renewal or server warranty renewal due in Q3 of next year in the budget you that you submitted last week? Will your wireless network perform for another year, or two, or three? How will your hiring plan impact your IT costs and footprint? When you are asked to dust off your CIO hat, do you have the information you need to confidently plan for your organization’s IT future? Walker’s FMS includes our highly-regarded Virtual CIO (vCIO) services. It’s a combination of business and technical planning provided by your Walker team who knows your environment intimately. You will meet with our vCIO team on a regular basis to review how stable and secure your network is, how it’s performing now and how likely it is to continue to perform into the future. Your team will work with you to prepare a forward-looking, quarter-by-quarter set of recommendations with cost estimates and the associated value proposition, ready for you to present to the budgeting team.

5. You spend more time managing IT support requests than working your job responsibilities

Even if you have an IT support company, you may find yourself as the conduit through which all requests and approvals for IT support must flow. This can be a very time consuming role that cuts into your real responsibilities. FMS from Walker alleviates this single point of approval by providing all end users with direct access to help desk support via phone, email or desktop icon. However, you still can retain visibility into what’s going on with your users’ support needs: Walker provides portal access so you can review any specific support request in detail; our regular vCIO service visits will review the key user issues with you; we review support trends and recommend areas for improvement, either in terms of user training or new technology, that can help reduce your calls for support and make your team more productive.

Clients turn to Walker for Fully Managed Services to keep their IT operations on target and their strategic IT planning in line. For comprehensive IT satisfaction, no one does FMS more fully than The Walker Group.