Learning Center: IT Support Concepts

Submitting a service ticket is an important part of working with your IT provider, but it shouldn’t be complicated! Here at Simplex-IT we have an easy process for you! So how do you submit a service ticket? There are three options.

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A CIO (Chief Information Officer) is a high-level executive responsible for overseeing a company's information technology (IT) strategy and operations. On the other hand, a vCIO (virtual Chief Information Officer) is a consultant or an outsourced service provider who provides similar services as a CIO, but on a part-time or project basis.
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TSP stands for Technology Success Partner. Some will argue that this is necessary. That a TSP encompasses support for all of your IT. Including your Cloud, security, and…umm…IT. I think the concept is that an MSP has a more sophisticated view of IT than an MSP. Somehow. By some arbitrary measure. An All-in-one IT solution.

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Working with an IT Managed Service Provider, MSP, can sound like a daunting task if you don't have any prior knowledge about IT. Instead of trying to go in blind, here are some tips to help you get started.

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At Simplex-IT, we have the privilege of meeting with numerous businesses in Northeast Ohio each year to discuss their IT outsourcing needs. With our extensive experience and expertise in the IT industry, as well as our willingness to share our honest thoughts and feelings…

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It’s easy to just say “inflation” when someone asks why there’s a price increase for what seems to be the same service from one year to the next. And boy, there's truth there. But it can be more complicated than that.

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When you’re shopping for IT services, It’s important to understand the different pricing models that MSPs and IT providers use. Not only do you want your provider to be transparent in their pricing and their model in general, but you need to know when you’re comparing providers as well.

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As technology continues to advance, businesses of all sizes rely on their IT to support their success. With this growing reliance on technology comes the need for expert IT support, leading many businesses to turn to IT Managed Service Providers (MSPs). However, not all MSPs are created equal, and choosing the wrong one can be a costly mistake.

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If you're a business owner looking to partner with an IT provider, there are a few important questions you need to ask before signing up. In this video, we'll explore five crucial questions that will help you find the right IT partner for your business.

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Are you a business owner or manager looking to select a reputable IT provider but not sure where to start? Well, you're not alone! In today's world, technology plays a crucial role in running a successful business. And finding the right IT support company can make all the difference. In this video, we will discuss some key factors you should consider when selecting a reputable IT provider.

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While MSPs are excellent for ongoing IT support and management, they may not always be the best fit for your organization. We discuss various alternatives such as Staff Augmentation/Temp Agencies, Project-Based Services, Cloud Service Providers, Freelance IT Consultants, and IT Outsourcing/Break-Fix Companies.

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Thank you to everyone who attended our recent IT Self-Assessment Workshop. Your presence and participation made it a great success! We hope it provided you with new insights and ideas for improving your organization's IT capabilities.

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To tackle this topic, we're going to break the managed service providers (MSP for short) into three tiers. On the low end are MSP's that almost exclusively compete on price. How can they be so inexpensive? Simple. They don't include a lot of services that either protect you or increase your m/video-resource-library/v/productivity.

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A Virtual CIO (Chief Information Officer) is a third-party consultant who provides strategic IT guidance to organizations on a part-time or project basis. As the title suggests, a Virtual CIO performs many of the same functions as a traditional, in-house CIO, but without being a full-time employee.

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At Simplex-IT, we believe that clarity is key to building strong relationships with our clients. Our monthly IT agreements cover everything that maintains the status quo of your business operations. That means you can rely on our services for ongoing maintenance and support without worrying about additional charges for every little thing.

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We’ve done a couple of videos about what an MSP (Managed Service Provider) is. Bottom line is it’s an organization that you outsource a majority (if not all) of your IT support to. And that’s what Simplex-IT is.

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We wrote the only two books on the topic, so we can definitely talk about this. Plus videos. Yup we got a bunch of videos on it. Keep in mind we’re going to talk about Co-Managed IT from the perspective of the client side, not the service providers.

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There are three flavors of CoMITs. We break it down based on what part of IT the Internal IT folks are responsible for versus what we handle. They are: Full CoMITs, Desktop CoMITs, and Server CoMITs.

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We’ve talked about both Break Fix and Managed Services in other videos. Now, let’s compare them against each other (with plusses and minuses). Of course we’re specifically talking as these concepts relate to IT resources for organizations.

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IT changes. This is especially true with security. Simplex-IT has developed an annual process we call SiMS (for Simplex-IT Managed Services) that involve each year evaluating our Software, Tools, Methodologies and Processes (we call them "STMPs", pronounced "Stamps").

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Simplex-IT has spoken at nearly every MSP conference about Co-Managed Services. CEO Bob Coppedge has written the only two books on the topic (both best sellers on Amazon). He also created the largest online community dedicated to helping MSP's develop Co-Managed offerings, with over 1,500 members.

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Why is MSP First and Foremost unique for Simplex-IT? MSP First and Foremost Simplex-IT was formed in 2007 as a Managed Service Provider. To this date well over 80% of our revenue comes from either MSP or Co-Managed MSP agreements or projects with clients that have an agreement with us.

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IT changes. A lot. And often. So how do we keep up in terms of IT support and cybersecurity services? Here at Simplex-IT we've developed our services around an annual cycle. We consistently watch the market for emerging technologies, evaluate, and then select the best options for our clients.

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When should you use an MSP for your organization? We've discussed what a Managed Service Provider (aka MSP) is before and we've even talked about when you shouldn't use an MSP to support the IT for your organization. So we still need to cover when you should use an MSP, right?

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What is Break Fix when it comes to IT? Break Fix is a simple concept. It's not limited to IT. The bottom line for Break Fix is this: "When it breaks...fix it. Otherwise, leave it alone." But if you get bit by just a couple break-fix vulnerabilities, the savings you think that break-fix brings are likely gone.

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Why can't we pick and choose only the IT services we want? Why can't we pick and choose only the services we want?

We are trying to create the best and most productive and secure IT environment for your organization and there is a lot that goes into every one of these aspects that are critical to your organization’s success. And it’s kind of like Jenga.

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When should you not use an MSP? 5 reasons why your organization might not want to use an MSP for their IT support needs.

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What is Co-Managed IT services, anyway? Great question. We’ve talked before about Managed Services, a relationship that organizations use to obtain IT services exclusively from a 3rd party, aka an MSP (Managed Service Provider).

But is there a way to get the best of both worlds? A situation where an organization can have a combination of both internal IT employees and a Managed Service Provider that is cheaper and more effective (and secure) then an exclusive use of either?

Yup. And that’s Co-Managed IT services.

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What is the difference between CapEx and OpEx?

CapEx is the capital expenditure where every five years a business will get an amount of money roughly $50,000 to $100,000 to buy a new physical server.

OpEx is an operational expenditure with predictable monthly costs. So instead of CapEx where you spend $50,000- $100,000 every five years, you will spend roughly $600 a month to run the cloud infrastructure.

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What is a managed service provider?

That's actually kinda funny, because there actually isn't one standard definition that fits everyone. But that won't stop us!

An MSP is a third-party company that a business can collaborate with to help manage part or all of the IT for a business, both locally (aka "on prem") or in the cloud.

An MSP provides technology and expertise to boost the organization's ability to scale. Working with MSPs can have tremendous benefits for an enterprise. For instance, their understanding of cutting-edge technology can help improve performance, operations, and security while reducing overhead. In addition, they can offer several creative solutions to help navigate the evolving landscape of the big data world.

A successful MSP should be able to deliver tailor-made solutions that fit a company perfectly using tools and strategies that they're very familiar with. And let's talk about specialized skill. Some organizations might need specialized skills, but not enough for a full-time person. It's really hard, for example, to hire 20% of a Senior Database Analyst. Believe me, we've tried. That's especially true when it comes to strategic planning. If an organization isn't large enough to have a Chief Information Officer (CIO) position, the MSP should be able to fulfill that role. Often this is called a virtual or fractional CIO.

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