You can save money by hiring outside firms to handle your organization’s accounts payable, benefits administration, and even IT support and network management. But that’s not why you should do it.
Partner with a managed services provider (MSP) to increase your technology capabilities in these four ways:
1. Let staff focus on moving your organization forward instead of running in place.
The most compelling argument for redistributing the IT workload from your IT staff to an MSP is to give your team more time to focus on mission-critical responsibilities. Leave distracting technical issues—like keeping your network running—to your IT partner. Give your staff valuable time to help your organization use technology better to achieve your strategic and departmental goals.
For most nonprofits and associations, IT is not a core competency, nor should it be. It doesn’t make sense for your organization to invest in a large IT staff because your organization’s resources are better spent on in-house talent who can deliver value to members.
Additionally, the executive team shouldn’t spend its energy trying to manage IT staff, vet IT applicants, or review IT staff performance. Most likely, they don’t have the technology experience and knowledge to do these tasks effectively. Leave IT operations to the experts so that you can focus your energy on more strategic technology concerns.
2. Gain access to an MSP’s deep bench of IT talent and resources.
When you work with an MSP, you no longer have to find and invest in IT staff who have to be jacks of all trades (but masters of none). Instead, you have access to an entire team of specialized masters and advanced technology.
Look for an MSP with deep nonprofit and association experience. Your MSP should understand what it means to support mission-driven versus for-profit organizations. They should be familiar with the business processes and technology used in associations, like how your association management system (AMS) integrates with other software.
With DelCor as your MSP, you benefit from a knowledge bank enriched by IT experts who’ve worked in and for nonprofits and associations and have experience working with our diverse 501(c) client base. We also prioritize investing in ongoing professional development to help us—and our clients—stay current with technology developments inside and outside the 501(c) world.
As your business needs change, you can easily scale your MSP engagement up or down. Pick and choose what you want to outsource. For example, you can keep some tasks in-house but choose to outsource the moe time-consuming ones, like network monitoring.
Instead of purchasing software and licenses yourself, you can take advantage of your MSP’s purchasing power for the software and licenses you need. With the right partner, you can gain a tremendous degree of IT flexibility that you wouldn’t otherwise have.
3. Enjoy peace of mind.
24/7/365 support should be business as usual for your IT partner. That way, you don’t have to worry about the safety and reliability of your network outside office hours, when staff are sick or on vacation, while you’re away at your annual meeting, or during staff transitions. You’ll have peace of mind knowing that someone is taking care of the necessary monitoring, backups, updates, and patch management.
An MSP’s guaranteed service goes beyond what an in-house IT staff could ever provide. Your managed services provider proactively monitors and manages your network infrastructure, minimizes security risks, and maximizes your technology investment.
4. Take security to the next level.
Network security is an around-the-clock job requiring dedicated attention. In most cases, the truth is that an MSP is better equipped to handle your organization’s cybersecurity than you are. MSP professionals keep track of new security threats as well as the tools to combat those threats.
Still, make sure to research a prospective MSP before you sign on. Don’t just hand over the keys to your data without asking some tough questions about their security and backup practices.
For 501(c) organizations, technology is an integral tool for providing value to members. If you’re struggling with technology or feel like you’re always one step behind, reach out to us or another experienced MSP to see how you can level up your IT so that you can focus on what really matters.
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