In today’s landscape, companies are expected to keep up with constant changes in tech despite the ballooning costs. But the reality is that insufficient IT can absolutely hinder both productivity and expansion, while also leaving companies vulnerable to cyberattacks and other data breaches. In order to competently meet the current standards of commercial operations at a more affordable price, many business owners are turning to managed service providers (MSPs).
That being said, not all industries require the services of MSPs in equal measure. That’s why honing your business strategy in on a few target verticals can sometimes be more lucrative than casting a wide net. Right now, key industries that need MSPs right now include healthcare, finance and manufacturing.
1. Healthcare
Medical practices and businesses in healthcare are perhaps the best candidates for managed IT services. For one thing, on top of already being widespread, healthcare is a rapidly growing industry. Tech adoption in the sector is expected to grow exponentially from 2018 to 2026, thanks in part to the growing use of health apps, IoT devices that monitor health, remote consulting, and, as always, hospital information systems. The rapid proliferation of digital transformation in healthcare represents massive opportunities for MSPs.
Additionally, given the swaths of highly sensitive patient data they house, healthcare providers are common targets for cyberattacks. MSPs can be instrumental in ensuring HIPAA or PIPEDA compliance, providing off-site backups so processes can continue even amid cyberattacks or other interruptions. MSP solutions which help the healthcare sector stay compliant include 24/7 security monitoring, sophisticated antivirus protection, firewall configurations, spam-blocking tools, encrypted emails and vulnerability scanning—just to name a few. A data breach can damage a medical facility’s reputation, but luckily MSPs can help implement a secure Electronic Health Records system (EHR), as well as stay on top of the latest security threats.
2. Finance
Similar to healthcare, finance companies have a duty to secure their customer’s sensitive and personal data and stay in compliance with government regulations. With high-profile cyberattacks growing more common in the finance industry all the time, digital security is a major priority for anyone hoping to work with an accountant, financial advisor or financial institution. Financial companies today also have to contend with an unpredictable economic and regulatory system. The need for risk and compliance management is increasing, as more of these companies use security compliance as a service solutions. Partnering with an MSP is critical for these organizations, as doing so helps to ensure they are providing the competitive, quality services customers are after.
Finance organizations also happen to need productivity tools of all kinds (i.e. collaboration and communication tools like phone systems, email and video conferencing tools, etc.), which MSPs can easily supply. MSPs enable finance companies to keep up to date with technological advances without making continual investments in hardware, at the same time facilitating the use of scalable solutions which address the requirements of electronic banking.
3. Manufacturing
From quality control to production flow, inventory, packaging, facility management and safety and security, today’s manufacturing industry is heavily invested in fully digitized systems. Indeed, IT and digital transformation are key to helping make supply chains more efficient, and yet IT tools and expertise often lay outside of key manufacturing activities; in other words, these industries need help procuring and maintaining tools that can help them plan, schedule and manage business.
As always, cybersecurity solutions are crucial to avoiding ransomware-induced disruptions or the hacking of supply chain tools. While robotic automation is on the horizon for a lot of assembly line work, skilled employees are still required to guide the process as well as share proprietary semantic PMI data like geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, bill of materials, and export control notices across various departments and potentially to outside vendors as well. All of these activities could expose any one recipient to a data security breach. This is where MSPs can be a real game-changer, as they bring automation in compliance to measure, analyze, store and transmit customer data a lot more securely.
Find new opportunities for your MSP with an expert partner
While there is certainly no shortage of MSPs offering their services these days (we all know the industry is competitive!), MSP quality varies widely, and well-informed clients tend to vet their MSP thoroughly before signing on. If you’re thinking about narrowing your focus, highlighting a specific niche, and tailoring SLA packages to boost your company’s growth, now’s a great time.
While most small-to-medium-sized businesses can benefit from managed IT services, there are industries for which a quality MSP is no longer optional. Your company can provide outstanding value to these clients as they digitize ever further, enabling them to do what they do best in significantly more efficient and secure ways.
