Skip to main content

Types of Managed IT Services

By June 8, 2020June 26th, 2020Managed Services
Types of Managed IT Services

We’ve talked before about what managed IT services is and how it can benefit organizations. It’s remote technology management and monitoring, which can lead to improved IT stability, cost savings, budget predictability, and better security.

Now we want to go back to fundamentals: What types of managed services are there? What kind of offerings can you expect when you’re looking into IT management and monitoring?

Does Managed IT Services cover Everything?

Not necessarily. Every managed service contract is different because these services are often a la carte. You pick and choose which exact services to implement, based on the technology and systems you have, and which need to be managed. Also, not all managed service providers (MSPs) will offer every service. Since there’s such a broad range, some MSPs specialize in a few types of managed services, or even just one.

Types of Managed Services

You can break down the types of managed IT services in different ways. But you’ll often see them listed by the type of hardware or system (e.g., managed servers, managed firewalls) or by specific tasks (e.g., system monitoring, virtualization). For ease of understanding, at OXEN we prefer to categorize managed services offerings by the hardware or system. So these types of managed services include:

Managed Networking

Covers automating and monitoring network tasks and managing network equipment (like switches). It can also include managing storage and backups.

Managed Hardware

  • Most commonly covers desktops and servers, monitoring the health of the hardware, storage space, and so on.
  • Managed Print is also a subtype of managed hardware, to cover your printers and monitor their health and status.

Managed Security

There are multiple types of managed services that fall under the fastest growing category today: security.

  • Managed Backup or a managed business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) solution keeps your backups scheduled and timely, maintains your backup hardware, and tests backup restores.
  • Managed Firewall covers your firewall service, including regular status reports and updating the hardware firmware.
  • Anti-Malware, Anti-Virus, and Anti-Spam solutions are often bundled together and frequently included in other managed services like Managed Hardware, because they’re essential security measures. They include constantly monitored and updated security apps.
  • Network Security Monitoring is continual monitoring of your network traffic and end devices to detect suspicious activity, vulnerabilities, and unintentional internal incidents that could compromise your system and data. As a service, this can also include regular vulnerability testing.

Managed Support Services

Covers services related to IT help, like troubleshooting or remediating advanced issues, or providing an IT helpdesk. Frequently another managed service or service bundle will already include this to cover labor for addressing issues.

CIO Services / IT Consulting

It has many names, like Virtual CIO (vCIO) or Shared CIO, but this service is consultative. A designated expert works with your organization regularly to provide IT leadership. They help you plan out strategies for technology and cybersecurity implementation that meets your business goals.

Managed Cloud Infrastructure

Involves cloud infrastructure management as well as handling virtualization services for apps, software, operating systems, or managing your virtual servers.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Typically involves management of software platforms like Microsoft 365, or other similar platforms that are frequently subscription-based.

Managed Communication Services

Covers monitoring and management of messaging software, Voice over IP (VoIP), data, and video, and in general communication apps.

There are many more subtypes you can drill down into. Almost anything can now be turned into a service, such as Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS), which often are ongoing services with monitoring and maintenance like managed services.

What about specific services?

The other way to think about managed services is to break them down by the types of tasks that are being offered and automated. In this case, you will often see items like the following described as managed services:

  • Virtualization
  • System Monitoring
  • System Design & Solutions
  • Vulnerability Assessments and Penetration Tests
  • Lifecycle Management
  • IT Leadership & Consulting
  • Change Management
  • Information Security Management
  • Hardware Procurement
  • Business Continuity

It’s important to note which tasks are included in the managed services offering or bundle that you are considering. The best way to choose the solution that fits you is to consider your IT environment and its needs first.

Want to talk about what monitoring and management solutions can help your organization? Talk to one of our experts today at 888.296.3619 or email us at hello@oxen.tech.


Recent Posts / View All Posts

social engineering tactics

How Hackers Use Social Engineering Tactics in Phishing Scams

| Business Productivity, Security | No Comments
Social engineering is quite a buzzword these days in the world of cybersecurity. But what is it, and why are businesses so afraid of it? It is a form of hacking that uses deception and manipulation to get victims to divulge information. Companies have reason to be fearful because social engineering tactics have led to a lot of destruction and millions of dollars in losses for businesses worldwide. Phishing is one of the most rampant types of attacks these days. It has been highly successful because it uses tried-and-tested social engineering techniques to hoodwink potential victims. What are these Social…
spot social engineering

Training Employees to Spot Social Engineering

| Security, Tech Tip | No Comments
Social engineering is one of the newest methods hackers use to access sensitive information. Rather than attacking a system directly, this technique relies on human psychology to gain information. This method is brilliant when you think about it because it does not have to deal with going past ironclad network security. If hackers can manipulate even a single employee, they might hand over sensitive information on a silver platter, and the hackers can take control of the organization’s entire system. This is why its important for your employees to learn how to spot social engineering. Companies must understand that if…
Phishing Scam Tactics

Top 8 Phishing Scam Tactics and How to Identify Them

| Business Productivity, Security, Tech Tip | No Comments
Phishing has been a common hacking method for over two decades now. You would think that everyone would already know how it works and how to avoid becoming a victim, right? Sadly, that is not the case for these Phishing Scam Tactics. There are more victims now than ever. In 2022, there were more than 300,000 victims in the US alone, with damages amounting to over $52 million! The thing is that phishing scams have evolved over the years. Hackers are now more adept at hoodwinking unsuspecting victims, and they also have easy access to modern technology that helps elevate…