What is the Difference Between Professional Services and Managed Services?
The scope and timeline of your projects determine the use of professional services versus managed services. The challenges that are solved through managed services and professional services are similar. However, the needs and use cases for these services differ. Professional services also work to help organizations on the front-end, before and during the implementation process of a new product. Managed services work with your business to provide continued support as you grow.
Professional Services
Professional Services help your team configure the software to their exact needs during implementation and updates. Typically used through a new implementation, professional services assist your team with tasks such as learning web-based portals, workflows, data analytics, and management.
As a project-based solution, professional services assist teams to address specific challenges. For example, a business might have purchased FileBound for their accounting department and decided that their human resources team could also benefit from the software. A Professional Service provider will assist in augmenting the software to be functional for the new users.
When you take advantage of InStream’s professional services, you get all the advantages of a model that perfectly balances resources with opportunity.
What Should I Be Looking For In Professional Services Providers?
Professional Services will help your team complete successful product implementation. Understanding the services available to you will maximize success during the designated timeline with your professional services provider. The following services help teams complete projects by utilizing new solutions or updating existing solutions to the best of their ability.
- Transactional Based RPA Services
- Data Analytics and Management
- Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) Services
- Security Compliance
- Azure and AWS System Hosting
- System Integrations and Migrations
- Complex Workflow Development
- Database Design and Development
- Client Technical Staff Augmentation
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Managed Services
Managed services are on-going and typically work off a contract. As a definition, Managed Services allows a business to offload IT operations to a service provider, known as a Managed Services Provider (MSP). The managed service provider assumes an ongoing responsibility for 24-hour monitoring, managing, and/or problem resolution for the IT systems within a business.
The document management industry is rapidly progressing into more high-tech solutions. As new opportunities come along, owners of document companies must make choices regarding how they are going to stay competitive from a sales and operations perspective. Staying current with the ever-changing technology is not easy in an already packed day. When faced with challenges, businesses in other industries often choose to utilize outside experts to provide managed services on their behalf. Often the outside resource is a business in the same industry that has specialized in providing one or more of these unique services.
Whether it is a question of sheer manual processing or a combination of manpower and IT support, our consultative approach to Managed Services will help determine the right approach to solve your unique objectives. From planning to implementation to administration and successful completion, MSP’s oversee every step of the process to ensure a positive outcome.
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What Should I Be Looking For In Managed Service Providers?
An MSP will be able to better understand and meet your business goals through a relationship-based partnership. It is important to find a provider who listens to any ongoing or new issues and works with your existing team to create viable solutions. Dedicated managed service providers will provide you the best possible service, educate themselves on common issues that you may face, and be proactive in finding problems before the client.
- OS License Management
- Virtual Desktop Management
- IAM (Identity Access Management)
- Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
- Architecture Planning
- System Administration
- Firewall Administration
Understanding Your Options and Deciding on Solutions
How to choose between professional services versus managed services? The key to choosing the right option is to first understand the IT challenges your business faces. Many organizations will find one issue that is causing immediate concern – this would be perfect for professional IT services. However, if you are looking for a long-term, on-going solution, then Managed Services might be a better option.
Acquiring InStream’s Managed and Professional Services
If you have long-term needs that require attention but lack the resources to consistently focus on them, turn to InStream. We pride ourselves on having the capability to resolve any problems or issues that appear in your IT department. Our team augments your staff (complete with supervisory personnel), at your location, to help you tackle a wide variety of business processes.
