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Secure and reliable IT is essential to the existence of SMEs. On the other hand, some SMEs do not even have their own IT department because they cannot afford the costs and/or because there is a lack of trained specialists. So how can SMEs manage to keep IT costs low and still build and utilise an IT infrastructure that makes them competitive and resilient?

Reducing IT costs requires efficient IT cost management and small companies in particular often lack the in-house resources for that. Nevertheless, SMEs too can achieve stable management and control of IT costs.

Reduce costs through IT outsourcing: ‘Use it, don’t own it’ 

High IT costs also come from regular purchasing of new hardware and software. Furthermore, personnel must be provided to take care of management and maintenance. At the same time, technological development is progressing faster and faster, and investment costs incurred a year ago can no longer be amortised in time because technology is becoming obsolete faster than it was 20 years ago - for example, due to ever shorter innovation cycles. Additionally, software updates are required more and more frequently as cyber attacks are becoming increasingly intelligent and exploit every vulnerability, no matter how small.
Read this infographic to find out why security vulnerabilities due to a lack of software updates pose a risk, keyword "zero day attack". 

Constantly adapting to this can present SMEs, which already have more limited resources than large companies, with seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Morgan Leucat

Director IT Sales, Konica Minolta

"Costs and effort for IT have increased in most companies. ‘At the same time, many SMEs do not have the internal IT resources that are available to bigger companies."

In this respect, "as a service" services provided by Managed Services Partners (MSPs) can be a solution to this: "Use it, don't own it" is the answer to the resource and cost problems of many SMEs. 

"As a service" solutions are always automatically cloud-based. This means that SMEs no longer have to incur high investment costs for hardware and software, but rather the MSP provides the services in its data centre. Customers rent these and pay a fixed monthly fee. They can often choose from various subscription models that best suit their actual requirements and number of users. 

They also do not have to provide resources for management and maintenance. The MSP delivers an all-round package and is responsible for operation, administration, maintenance, configuration, updates, etc.

You also don't have to worry if your company gets into financial difficulties. Thanks to the scalability, upgrades or downgrades are possible at any time. If companies grow and therefore need more infrastructure, more storage, etc., this can be done at any time at a manageable cost.

MSPs also ensure maximum data security through ISO 27001 certifications, end-to-end encryption, and the guarantee of physical security. The latest security updates that are available are always installed automatically. In the (hopefully unlikely) event of a disaster, backup management and disaster recovery services also guarantee data recovery.

The 24/7 availability of the solutions also ensures that downtimes are kept to a minimum.

Conclusion

With IT services from the cloud, SMEs can better focus on their core business and budget their IT expenditure at fixed and transparent costs.

Optimise IT and minimise IT costs with Konica Minolta 

Due to the aforementioned resource issues, it is often not feasible for SMEs to deal with multiple vendors for their IT needs. This is where a holistic MSP such as Konica Minolta can serve as a single point of contact for a wide range of IT requirements, thanks to its broad-based portfolio. As an MSP, Konica Minolta offers a range of managed IT services, including , , , and .  

And if you're thinking, Konica Minolta and Managed IT, how does that fit together? Yes, that's right, Konica Minolta has its roots in the print sector, but we can also utilise our experience with print infrastructures and print software in the on-premise and cloud sectors in other IT areas in a valuable way. Because, let's be honest, print devices are nothing more than IT devices these days and the management of print environments is one of the IT-relevant tasks. 

What's more, with its long-standing focus on SMEs, Konica Minolta knows their challenges very well and takes the time to look at its customers individually. When companies decide in favour of Konica Minolta, we first look at the individual situation and carry out a needs analysis before implementing and managing the required services.  

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