If you thought the explosion of cyber attacks and recent years was just a fluke, you thought wrong. In 2023, there were more cyber attacks during the first nine months of the year than in the entirety of the previous.
The answer is clear: digital protection and cybersecurity compliance are no longer optional. Every business needs to shore up its defenses against cyber attacks to come. For those looking at managed IT services, are they worth the cost?
Today, we take a look at how managed IT services for manufacturing can help scale your business. We’ll discuss the many benefits the manufacturing industry IT has to offer.
What Are Managed IT Solutions for Manufacturing?
Every business needs an IT team as they scale up. Someone needs to handle the security of employee systems, growing databases, and implementation of new apps and technology. Unfortunately, it can be quite expensive to build your own team.
Think of managed IT services as a highly versatile form of outsourcing your IT. You can fully outsource it, or have a blend with a co-managed IT services team.
Managed IT can serve as an IT support company, local IT support, or provide IT consulting in Los Angeles – or abroad.
Managed IT services bring a ton of benefits to the table, which we will go into greater detail about later. But to give a simple and sweet overview, they give you the full power of an IT team without having to build it yourself. Most importantly, they make it affordable to run any sort of specific IT solution you need.
Challenges for the Manufacturing Industry
Manufacturing companies are at increased risk in the modern age. It used to be that manufacturing operations were mostly analog and off the wire. That is, factories did not rely heavily on connectivity and smart technologies to conduct their daily affairs.
Nowadays, factories use complex computing to run their machines. They have sorting algorithms and calibration data running through expensive manufacturing robots. Human factory workers usually serve to make sure the robots are performing, and handle the few jobs that they cannot.
Long story short, the most important operations are happening in code and in the cloud. This makes factories and plants highly vulnerable.
Cyber attacks against these installations are not uncommon, nor are they against only small organizations. Toyota had to suspend operations after one of its suppliers suffered a cyber attack in 2022. That’s one of the world’s largest auto companies brought to its knees by hackers!
Consequences of Cyber Attacks in Manufacturing
Halting the production line is a huge deal. Multimillion or multi-billion-dollar companies can bleed thousands upon thousands of dollars in the wake of a mere shutdown. But that’s only the beginning of the consequences of not having a managed service provider.
Another huge threat is the loss of intellectual IP. Hackers could steal blueprints or other industry secrets. Loss of these schematics and formulas could do severe damage to a company’s product future.
If the IP is not stolen, then the result could be ransomware. This is when hackers hold data hostage and only release it for a price. Companies could lose everything if they fail to comply, and spend millions to get it back if they do.
Then there is the threat of suffering actual damage. A classic example is the Stuxnet attack that occurred in Iran in 2010. Although this did not target a company specifically, it physically damaged an enrichment plant and ruptured operations.
Case in point, business IT services are a necessity in this day and age. Now, let’s look at the benefits.
Benefits of Managed IT Services in Los Angeles
Most companies are used to having their own in-house IT team. Making a smooth transition to Los Angeles IT services could seem like a rocky process with diminishing returns. Here are the reasons you should reconsider that assumption.
A Los Angeles Managed Service Provider Is Affordable
Running cyber security companies in Los Angeles is quite expensive. For starters, it requires a lot of expensive equipment and upkeep. Servers, computers, and network installations are a big upfront investment and need regular maintenance.
Plus, companies need highly skilled staff to run their operations. IT professionals command some of the highest salaries in the nation. Therefore, even a small team costs a lot more to pay than a comparable team in another industry.
A Managed Service Provider in Los Angeles Is Cheaper
A Los Angeles managed service provider is able to keep costs down for you because it services multiple clients. Thanks to multiple revenue streams, it can provide IT security in Los Angeles for less. In essence, it’s stretching its dollars and efforts further to minimize expenses.
This doesn’t mean that managed IT services are inferior in some way. On the contrary, they provide top-notch services and 24/7 support.
It’s Versatile
IT isn’t one single discipline. It’s a complex field that involves everything from database maintenance to penetration testing. So when someone says “IT team” it could mean virtually anything.
Manufacturing companies need to have their hands in a lot of cookie jars, so to speak. They need cyber security prowess to protect their networks as well as independent contractors to vet system stability. These are all very different disciplines requiring trained professionals and varying types of hardware.
Managed Services Provide Versatility
Managed IT services in Los Angeles specialize in being a jack of trades. That is, they can tackle any problem you need and provide any solution you require.
Do you need to set up a cloud migration services strategy for system management? They can help you do that. At the same time, they can monitor your systems for breaches, maintain data backups, and everything else.
It Helps You Stay Compliant
Compliance is a big topic in this day and age. Large companies like Apple and Google have suffered penalties in the millions for failing to obey the compliance legislature.
The problem is that staying compliant is easier said than done. Compliance laws are complex and often require companies to take a long list of steps to get back into that state of compliance.
Local IT Support Services Maintain Compliance
Third-party Los Angeles IT support is in the same boat as you. If you have compliance issues, then you are going to fire them. It’s in their best interest – as it is in yours – to stay vigilant and keep to current regulations.
Since managed services are handling the backend for so many companies, they know compliance backward and forward – especially for manufacturing-related compliance.
Compared to a homegrown IT team, they have far greater experience and how to handle these situations. It doesn’t matter if it’s GDPR or CMMC compliance. They’ll set your company straight and avoid lawsuits.
Outsourced IT Support Requires Less Physical Resources
Running an IT team, as we have mentioned, is expensive. But expense isn’t the only issue.
An IT team needs its own physical space to conduct its affairs. It produces a resource in utilities to maintain operations, and so on.
This can present an issue for a company that can’t just knock down a wall and build an IT department. There are a lot of considerations that go into building an IT space, such as server security and restricted access.
IT Support Companies Handle Things Remotely
Managed business IT services and security excel at running things from a distance. Our modern internet networks are robust, with lightning-fast fiber connections that make the distance negligible. Thanks to this infrastructure, your managed IT team can handle nearly everything remotely.
This is due in great part to cloud computing. An IT team can set up virtual servers, digital work suites, and almost anything your team requires via the Internet. As long as you have computers to access them, there is very little that needs to be done, physically, on your end.
Of course, you can also hire local IT support for business growth. This is the ideal solution for growing businesses in the Los Angeles area that need rapid, on-site support. Whether you want a fully managed experience, or a co-managed one, it provides the flexibility required to keep your manufacturing company up and running.
An IT Support Company Provides Cutting Edge Security
IT security can feel like a rat race sometimes. After all, IT experts are playing a whack-a-mole game as new exploits and viruses crop up every second of every day. For someone not seasoned in the industry, the whole prospect can seem overwhelming.
This adds to the cost mentioned before. New systems with new hardware security implementations are essential. New software (often with a hefty subscription price tag) inflates your budget.
Then there is the understanding of how to use these tools. It requires a person to be on top of all recent developments in cyber security. Missing out on new vulnerabilities and new solutions to them could be devastating for a company.
Managed IT Services Are Up-to-Date
Again, managed IT companies sink or swim depending on their success in protecting their clients. Letting their clients suffer ransomware attacks or data breaches would destroy their business. As a result, they are up-to-date with everything going on in the industry.
That means you will be getting the best, most cutting-edge security available on the market. New developments won’t trip them up. If a zero-day hack appears that threatens your business, they will know about it.
Outsourced IT Support Provides Excellent Customer Support
Some people may be skeptical of managed services given their prior experiences with IT support companies. An IT support company in Los Angeles – and anywhere else in the world – may give long wait times over the phone. Fixing an issue may require calling back multiple times.
Given that you would likely be working remotely with a managed team, this might seem less than ideal. For many, it seems a lot easier to handle these transactions in person.
Managed IT Services Give Attentive Support
Outsourced tech support companies, once more, live or die by the quality of their support. They take on big clients that provide a substantial amount of income. Should they fail to provide anything less than the best service, then they can kiss their ROI goodbye.
Managed IT services are not like your typical IT support helpdesk. They are online 24/7 and dedicated to your vital operations.
Of course, if you’re not a fan of working remotely with them, then you can get local IT support. Businesses in the Los Angeles area can get same-day, face-to-face meetings to handle important matters. There’s no need to sit there frustrated because it feels like no one is meeting your needs.
It Helps in a Crisis
There’s a saying in the IT industry: “It’s not a matter of if they hack you, but when.”
The sad reality is that the vast majority of companies will suffer some sort of security incident at some point. It could be something minor, such as a phishing scam, or something major like a crippling security breach.
The fact that this sort of thing is inevitable points to how important it is to be prepared. How a company reacts in the midst of a crisis determines whether they sink or swim. A flawed, delayed reaction could quite literally spell the end for a company.
Managed Services Help Put Out Digital Fires
In security breach situations, every second counts. Managed IT services understand this better than anyone else.
They know that it’s vital to work fast to isolate the problem and mitigate the damage. Getting things up and running ASAP will prevent a more devastating loss of income.
Where an in-house IT team might run around like a chicken without its head, managed teams get straight to work. Again, they have many clients in many different industries. Experiences have taught them the best strategy to deal with these sorts of emergencies.
Hire IT Outsourcing Services Today
Managed IT services for manufacturing are no longer an option in today’s Internet age. The benefits are numerous: cost-effectiveness, versatility, access to bleeding-edge tech, and customer service excellence. Manage services provide a robust, affordable, and effective means of running your business’s IT affairs.
Be Structured has been a leader in local and managed IT services in the Los Angeles area since 2007. We’ve won awards for our heartfelt, high-quality, and comprehensive solutions.
Become one of our happy clients today by scheduling a free consultation.