Professional services firms of all kinds now look to technology as a source of competitive advantage. In specific, technologies like cloud and mobile are helping legal services firms, financial services firms, and other service providers work more efficiently, control costs, and improve the quality of their service.

But technology management is a skillset that only the largest firms possess internally. For small and midsized firms who want to make the most of their technology investment, navigating the complex and evolving IT landscape can be a serious challenge.

What’s the best way for these companies to take control of their IT? The most cost-effective and convenient way to access all the technology skillsets you need is to partner with an IT service provider, like Astute Technology Management. Here’s what your firm can expect from partnership with a qualified technology firm.

Managed IT Solutions Streamline Your Technology and Budget

One of the tech support arrangements that best benefits professional services firms is known as the managed IT services model. In this approach, the professional service firms get unlimited access to the tech support they need, for a single flat monthly fee.

Here are some of the services that are included in the MSP solutions from Astute Technology Management.

• 24/7 support from a help desk team that’s both friendly and responsive, so your staff always have someone to clear away day-to-day technology issues that can drain morale.
• Unlimited onsite technology support from a team of seasoned network engineers to address technology problems before they become serious.
• Proactive network monitoring and management that helps protect your network from downtime as your staff work.
• Network Patching and Updating so that your servers, workstations, network appliances, and software systems are all secured against intrusion.

Improve the Stability of Your Network Technology
Like many businesses, professional services firms need to squeeze the most out of every day and deliver their services with the best speed possible to increase profitability. When network downtime strikes, productivity halts, your staff is demoralized, and customers get annoyed.

Streamline Your IT Budget
Budgeting for IT can be a challenge for professional services firm. Upsizing, downsizing, work from home, new initiatives and cybersecurity challenges can all threaten the stability of our IT plan.

Align Your IT and Business Strategy
It’s vital that every dollar spent on technology properly supports your strategic objectives. In the IT industry, this is known as business-technology alignment. Reputable MSPs, like Astute Technology Management, have what’s known as a virtual chief information officer (vCIO), who will help you ensure that alignment.

Through regular sit-down meetings with your decision makers, they’ll learn about how your business is evolving and develop an IT roadmap that helps you get there, armed with the best tools for your growing organization.

>> Click here for our complete guide to managed IT services.

Cybersecurity Protections to Ensure Long-Term Health

Cybercrime is a priority for many business leaders in the professional services field, with good reason. The professional services fields consistently rank among the top targets for cybercrime. Here are some statistics that highlight how bad the threat of cyberattack as gotten:

• According to the American Bar Association, 29% of all law firms experienced a data breach in 2020, a new high in a multi-year trend.
• According to recent research from the Boston Consulting Group, financial firms experience 300 times as many cyberattacks as other companies.
• Accounting Today found that there was a 300% increase in cybercrime attempts on accounting firms in the last year.

In addition to network stability, partnering with an experienced IT services firm like Astute Technology Management also provides you with reliable defenses against ransomware, data loss, and cyberattack. With over 20 years of cybersecurity experience, we’ve developed a meticulous process for safeguarding professional services firms from attack.

• Regular security audits to identify your vulnerability
• Network perimeter defenses and anti-virus software
• Proactive network patching and updating to close security backdoors
• Cybersecurity awareness training to strengthen internal security
• VPN, remote desktop protocol, and encryption solutions for remote work

We base our protections on leading security and compliance frameworks like the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS), and others.

An IT Consultant to Help Guide You Through Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is an industry term that’s used to describe how businesses modernize their operations with new digital technologies. Professional services firms have a lot to gain from the digital transformation trend, as it helps them stay competitive, manage projects more efficiently, and improve eroding margins.

Working with an IT services firm like Astute Technology Management not only provides you with reliable technology, but it also provides you with the support of a virtual chief information officer (vCIO), a senior engineer who will guide you through the digital transformation process.

With a veteran vCIO on your team, you’ll be able to tackle any IT project with total confidence.

• Cloud Computing
  The cloud has had a transformative impact on how professional services firms operate, but the cloud migration process is still fraught with danger. We take all the guesswork and uncertainty out of cloud computing. We’ll analyze your systems and identify which systems are best suited the cloud, safely migrate your data to new cloud systems, and secure your systems with the latest security and encryption tools.
• Mobile Devices Management
  Employees want the flexibility of remote work and work from home, but businesses must be wary about the security and operational challenges that come with these arrangement. The Astute Technology Management will help you take control of your mobile devices, ensuring that protected information is secure, devices are properly managed, and your personal employee data is kept separate.

Curious when to hire your first IT services firm, we’ve compiled some useful tips on MSP hiring here.

The Secret to Choosing the Right IT Services Partner

As attractive as IT service partnership can be, how do you know that you’re picking the right firm?

Not every IT services company is the same—though they make similar marketing claims. To ensure that you get the dependable, responsive service you need to thrive, choose an established partner with a long track record of helping businesses like yours, like Astute Technology Management.

We’ve been serving Ohio’s professional services community for over 20 years. During that time, our friendly, efficient, and expert services has earned us solid 5-star reviews from our clients. Want an IT partner that will always go the extra mile? Get in touch today!