A Managed Service Provider (MSP) is a third-party company that performs various day-to-day management services on behalf of another organization — usually small and medium-sized businesses with limited in-house IT capabilities.

Managed IT support for small businesses is especially common, as these companies often rely on managed IT services to augment smaller internal IT teams, or to serve as a de facto team where none exists. MSPs typically operate under a subscription model with predictable monthly costs, and can scale their scope through a pay-as-you-go model as business needs evolve.

Conectrix offers a deep portfolio of MSP services, each specializing in a variety of industry segments. Our top IT managed services include:

1. Network Operations Center 

2. Cloud Monitoring

3. Security Operations Center

4. Technical Support

5. Project-Based IT Work

Network Operating Center (NOC)

An MSP NOC is a centralized, 24/7 facility where technicians monitor, manage, and maintain client IT networks and infrastructure, akin to a mission control or war room dedicated purely to IT infrastructure.

Unlike a help desk, which addresses issues reactively, the best NOC offerings are proactive. They actively search for, detect, and resolve problems across a client's network devices, servers, and applications, sending alerts and escalating when necessary to prevent issues from arising.

Cloud Monitoring 

Cloud monitoring is a managed IT service involving the round-the-clock management, analysis, maintenance, and security of cloud-based resources — typically through centralized, multi-tenant dashboards and API-driven tools. Best-in-class MSPs can apply their cloud monitoring capabilities across multi-cloud environments, including public, private, and hybrid.

Effective cloud monitoring provides companies with real-time insight into the health of their cloud environment. For example, an MSP can track resource utilization, application performance, and latency, while also monitoring for unauthorized access, potential breaches, and other vulnerabilities. Additionally, cloud monitoring can help businesses uncover and reduce hidden costs — particularly those stemming from egress fees.

Note that cloud monitoring differs from traditional network monitoring in that it focuses on dynamic cloud resources rather than static, on-premises physical hardware such as servers, switches, and routers.

Security Operation Center (SOC)

Managed IT services is the broader category SOC falls under, and many MSPs offer SOC capabilities, typically in the form of a "SOC-as-a-Service" model, delivering 24/7/365 threat monitoring, advanced threat detection, incident response, and regulatory compliance support.

A qualified SOC can detect suspicious activity across endpoints, networks, and cloud environments, triage incidents such as breaches, and work with its clients to restore operations in the event of an outage.

Technical Support 

MSPs can serve as a round-the-clock technical support resource, providing a number of services simultaneously, such as monitoring IT infrastructure, managing cybersecurity, and handling help desk inquiries. MSP technical support can also encompass regular software patching, training IT teams and other staff, and troubleshooting issues both remotely and on-site.

Although MSPs are most commonly associated with small and medium-sized businesses, large organizations increasingly seek MSP services as well. Having an MSP function as a technical support team — or as an extension of one — is growing in popularity among enterprise companies, particularly to prevent internal teams from becoming overwhelmed by the volume of support tickets they manage daily.

Project-Based IT Work

While it is typical for companies to work with an MSP under a subscription model, sometimes a business only needs an MSP to support a specific IT project — especially those requiring considerable technical expertise, time, and resources to complete successfully.

This project-based IT work is referred to as general professional services, or work that falls outside of an ongoing managed services agreement, typically structured as a Statement of Work (SOW) or professional services agreement. 

Common examples include migrating a customer's data from on-premises servers to a public cloud provider — such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud — or transitioning data to a private cloud provider like RapidScale or Effortless Office. These on-premises-to-cloud and cloud-to-cloud migrations reflect an MSP's ability to move data from virtually any environment to another, making them a natural fit for one-time projects. 

Unlike recurring managed IT services, MSPs that offer professional services typically bill for the time and resources spent executing the SOW.

Why Should You Choose to Work With an MSP?

MSPs help organizations with limited IT resources or dedicated staff focus their energy on core business tasks and objectives by handling complex technical management services. In other words, they take care of the challenging work that often distracts you from doing what you do best: running your business and serving your customers.

Conectrix supports our clients' entire IT environments with our top-rated IT managed services. We work with you to find the right fit — whether you need to completely outsource your IT team or take a hybrid approach, such as outsourcing your help desk for nights, weekends, holidays, or periods when threat actors are most active.