Over the past several months, we’ve talked a lot about one of the largest trends overtaking the commercial AV industry: a decisive shift from owning conference room equipment to using audio-visual systems as a service. AV as a service makes sense — these days, technology systems depreciate so rapidly that owning them is no longer worth the investment.

But to truly understand the value of purchasing conference room systems on a subscription-based model, you must know what you’re getting as part of the managed services contract. It’s not just hardware on a payment — it’s 100%, fully covered, end-to-end support. Under a managed services agreement, all ownership costs and responsibilities rest in the provider’s hands, not yours.

What you get is pure service for a fixed price. So, what does that look like in your Scottsdale, AZ, or global conference room managed by Level 3 Audiovisual? Keep reading to find out.

Is hiring a managed service provider (MSP) just a euphemism for outsourcing? Outsourcing has a bit of a negative connotation, but it shouldn’t. Hiring a managed service provider to help with technology infrastructure is a business decision that must make sense strategically and financially. It is not solely about potential cost-saving through outsourcing but has everything to do with finding a better way to keep up with and manage an organization’s technology needs.

As we all know, the global pandemic created a new normal for millions of office-based workers around the world. Work moved from the office to the home, and communication and collaboration moved to digital mediums on computers, tablets, and smartphones. Now, with vaccines rising and the most dangerous health threats receding, employers are looking to bring workforces back to the office.

SaaS – Software as a Service – is a highly discussed topic in the technology world. Is there a software product on the planet that hasn’t moved to that model or is working on doing so? Even ubiquitous software with long histories like Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite have moved in that direction. If you use Zoom, Slack, Dropbox, Gmail, or a myriad of other popular applications and platforms, you are using a SaaS model.

So, what is managed software as a service (MSaaS)? In this post, we’d like to delve deeper into that subject, comparing the well-known SaaS model with this model that adds a layer of service and support. Read on to see how MSaaS builds on SaaS to provide a more customized, tailored approach to technology solutions for your enterprise, whether in Tempe, Arizona, or your worldwide locations.

Technological needs in the digital era have far outpaced many commercial organizations’ abilities to handle all AV and IT tasks in-house. As a result, outsourcing daily operations, processes, and support for AV systems has become a lucrative way for organizations to improve organizational agility and gain access to a range of specialized skills and resources that aren’t easily available due to hiring restrictions.

For Scottsdale, AZ, and global enterprise organizations looking to outsource AV services, staffing augmentation and AV managed services are the two primary models utilized. But which one is the right fit for your business? Keep reading to learn the key differences between them.

In recent years, business IT leaders in enterprise organizations have sought to increase agility, improve technology utilization, and access greater skillsets and specialized resources by outsourcing AV system project management, deployment, operation, and monitoring to highly skilled managed services providers.

Of course, one of the most challenging hurdles of transferring day-to-day AV operations and oversight to a third party is the perception of giving up control over vital technology assets. An ironclad contract that sets expectations, defines service levels, and outlines penalties for services unmet is a critical component of the partnership mentality that an IT managed services agreement relies on.