Data shows companies need to revamp their business strategies every two to five years to keep pace with rapid market changes. Fueled by updates in technology and talent, as well as economic, geopolitical and climate shifts, this breakneck pace of change can be challenging to maintain and often demands businesses to be in constant states of transformation.
Seventy-one percent of employees, including 16 – 24 year olds, felt overwhelmed by the amount of change at work, a 2022 study by Capterra found. When change initiatives are prone to failure, the effort to constantly elevate and evolve business functions becomes even more taxing.
Utilizing automation and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions as top drivers of transformational changes can help negate the rate of failure, as well as bolster operations, increase efficiencies and improve services. As the growth of these advanced technologies accelerates, implementing these tools and maximizing utilization can be daunting for businesses. As such, organizations are turning to IT managed service providers (MSPs) as vital strategic partners.
IT Managed Service Provider as a Vital Strategic Partner
Historically, MSPs were hired for transactional work, including managing an organization’s IT systems and technology through time-intensive tasks, manual troubleshooting and problem-solving. Just as enterprises have had to reimagine business models and pivot, the MSP sector has had to do the same with its service offerings.
“Beyond the standard services of infrastructure monitoring and management, MSPs are offering more transformational services and can function as a true strategic partner in ideation, innovation and technologies that evolve new operating models that drive growth outcomes for organizations,” said Jim Kramer, Partner at Cherry Bekaert Digital Advisory. “At the root of this progression are providers who leverage advanced technologies like automation and AI to deliver scalable solutions that provide resilience and a competitive differentiation.”
MSPs that embrace automation and AI within their provided services are helping clients move to the forefront of the automation and AI movement. MSPs are using these advanced technologies to reshape the sector and further support clients through enhanced management of data, assets, knowledge, incidents and security.
Data Sourcing and Management
Sourcing and managing data can be time consuming and full of errors and inaccuracies. MSPs can provide data management tools and quality control for effective AI modeling to ensure accuracy and consistency with datasets.
Asset Management
MSPs are responsible for managing hardware and software assets. Predictive analytics and machine learning algorithms can analyze usage patterns and predict potential failures. This insight gives providers the ability to replace or repair parts preemptively before disrupting operations.
Knowledge Management
AI algorithms can enhance knowledge framework systems to quickly organize and retrieve information. This enhancement enables MSPs to resolve client issues faster and make more informed decisions. These systems can also analyze past incidents and provide future recommendations, thus reducing the time to resolution.
Incident Management
The right AI algorithms can identify patterns for underlying system issues and proactively address them prior to disruption or system failure. Automating network traffic monitoring for unusual patterns can trigger security protocols prior to a threat or provide adjustments in resource management when demand fluctuates.
Security Management
While many organizations are reluctant to explore AI solutions due to data breaches and legal issues, MSPs can mitigate these risks by helping organizations properly implement robust security systems and compliance regulations to protect digital systems and data.
Defining Automation and Artificial Intelligence
While automation and AI are often used interchangeably, there is a difference between the two. Automation is the use of technology to automate processes and functions to achieve an outcome. When discussing automation, it is important to note there are several distinct types. Business process management (BPM) and robotic process automation (RPA) are examples of basic automation in which technology applications leverage little to no code to digitize single repetitive tasks.
Process automation uses software to automate complex, repeatable processes. Advanced automation integrates unstructured data with machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) to enhance decision-making. Intelligent automation combines AI, business process management and robotic process automation to create workflows that operate without human intervention.
Artificial intelligence (AI) enables machines to simulate human learning and decision-making. Generative AI (GenAI) uses deep learning and ML to create content like text, images, audio and video.
Automation and AI offer significant business benefits, including:
- Time Savings
- Process Optimization
- Reduced Operational Costs
- Enhanced Security
- Improved Consumer Experience
- Better Customer Retention
With the global generative AI market projected to grow from $67.18 billion to $967.65 billion from 2024 – 2032, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.6%, organizations worldwide are funneling their spending into technology solutions and MSPs that can carry out their growth missions, according to an industry trends report.
Elevating to the Next Level With MSPs
Partnering with an MSP can guide organizations on the right tools to deploy, as well as the most quintessential plan for optimization, thereby eliminating the complexity of implementing and adopting advanced technologies. Additionally, hiring an MSP that already leverages these advanced technologies delivers enterprise value, as these next-level providers can focus on evolving new operating models and driving outcomes for growth while advancing margins.
The organization, in partnership with its MSP, can future-proof and lay the foundation for success, instantly driving efficiencies, reducing costs and improving services, creating more bandwidth to focus on core business functions and a competitive edge in the market.
About Cherry Bekaert Digital Advisory — Managed Services Provider Team
Cherry Bekaert’s IT Managed Services team has broad industry experience and keen business acumen. Utilizing an agile and flexible approach, our strategists help examine what you want to achieve with a focus on people, process, technology and culture.
With an emphasis on the middle market, we help organizations manage risks, enable growth and support sustainable operations. Leveraging our strategic process, we guide digitally enabled organizations as they do more with less. Cherry Bekaert stays on top of the latest technology trends, while acknowledging that technology is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Cherry Bekaert is here to guide you on what digital tools makes sense to adopt in order to deliver the highest value to your organization.
