Management

Why Federal Agencies Should Consider Managed Service Providers

MSPs provide support and expertise so IT teams can shift focus to high- value responsibilities.

Dave Hecker is a managed services sales specialist for Sirius Federal, a CDW company.

As technology students consider government careers, there’s this problem to consider: Few of them are equipped with the expertise to manage or provide adequate support to federal data centers. That’s not their fault, nor the fault of their schools, which focus on the most current tech skills; it’s because much of government IT remains legacy.

The IT experts these graduates would support or replace — the older workforce with more experience in traditional data centers and other 20th century equipment — are retiring, taking with them the necessary skill set to properly manage and support legacy systems.

The evolution of technology provides the opportunity for agencies to consider services to fill the gap between new and old technological strategies. Managed service providers can aid in the transition between legacy and newer technologies.

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MSPs Provide Easier Implementation of New Technology Solutions

MSPs partner with federal agencies, supporting the existing IT team as needed so team members can cover higher priorities. MSPs can also take over entire projects to free up those teams. This support can come in at any stage of an IT project.

Agencies have a variety of reasons for needing managed services. They often look for assistance in implementing or running security operations, backup and disaster recovery, hybrid cloud environments and ransomware mitigation.

DIVE DEEPER: Learn how ITSM solutions can also help agencies work more efficiently.

Some agencies may look for a technological refresh; others may have a mature system in place, but the team expert decides to retire before someone new can be trained. Often, they’re looking to cut costs and improve security, or just lack the bandwidth to handle large projects without assistance.

By hiring an MSP, agencies can save time, money and human capital. Many IT teams must be on call 24/7 to handle any emergency, but that erratic schedule leaves little time for staff to recharge or take vacations, and can result in burnout. An MSP gives federal IT workers a break from routine, round-the-clock work, and it gives them more time to focus on tasks that provide higher value in the long run.

Modern Tools Assist MSPs on the Job

Many MSPs upgrade legacy environments by implementing automation to organize an agency’s IT needs and provide the necessary tools to cover certain task. For instance, ServiceNow can manage the flow of service tickets to allow requests and changes move smoothly between the agency and the MSP.

MSPs can also provide tools that seamlessly interact with one another to get tasks done efficiently, effectively and with less human error. Virtual servers such as IBM Power Systems can increase the value and reliability of a cloud infrastructure.

EXPLORE: How ServiceNow tools are driving digital transformation across agencies.

By choosing an MSP, agencies gain a wealth of freedom and flexibility to focus on the mission.

This article is part of FedTech’s CapITal blog series. Please join the discussion on Twitter by using the #FedIT hashtag.