Remote infrastructure management services have become widely known. The market share for these services is expected to almost double by 2022 from what it was in 2017. Some business owners are skeptical about outsourcing RIM services. We are going to discuss the challenges and advantages of hiring these services.

Let’s find out how to choose the best RIM vendor. But before burying your head in this article, why don’t you first skim through these two information packed articles about software development companies and data analytics for making energy smart. 

What’s Remote Infrastructure Management?

To put it in simple words, it is the management and monitoring of IT infrastructure. However, it is done from a remote location so that the team in-charge can continuously perform remedial actions and ensure availability of the service all the time. The only time a need for an administrator arises is when the hardware fails. 

Some people think that there would be a material difference in the work of the company if you outsource management services for IT infrastructure but that’s not really true. Even if you have an in-house team, it will be managing the infrastructure remotely somewhere in the building anyway. RIM has always been mainstream, there is nothing unusual about it. 

Why RIM?

• Large enterprises that have branches all over the world or in several countries can benefit from RIM services.
• Your IT spending is highly reduced.
• You can get access to highly skilled management team laced with cutting edge technologies and methodologies.

Challenges

• All IT infrastructure management services do not have equal outsourcing potential. Some services might require the physical presence of an IT specialist. In that case outsourcing could become too expensive.
• Whenever you want to make a change in the services provided by the outsourcing company you’d have to revise the contract, which can become a huge administration discussion. 
• Training your remote service providers in order to keep them up-to-date with the changes you intend to make is a challenge as well. 

The Right Vendor

In the end it mostly comes down to the type of vendor you choose. Whether you’ll reap its benefits or face its downsides depends on your choice of service provider. If the service provider misses something important in the infrastructure, it could cost the customer a huge loss. 

Your remote infrastructure management package should have the following essentials:

• Continuous monitoring of the servers and operating system
• Alert escalation and validation
• Regular antivirus updates
• Patching of operating system
• Runbook management
• Reporting and dashbook
• Verifying completion of backups

It is good to look for a vendor that is capable and provides excellent service but that’s not all. The prospective vendor should be able to make good partnership as well. Such vendors will interview you and learn the type of services your company needs. 

Such vendors know that you don’t want to hand over complete control and want to be kept in the loop. 

Final Words

Markets are more competitive and active across all the industries now more than ever. To continuously attract customers and maintain their loyalty to you, you need to pay good attention to your core functions, offers and services. Your in-house team might not be have the ability to provide you the management support that your IT infrastructure needs. In order to perform to the best of your abilities you can consider outsourcing RIM services.