| | MARCH 20228VANTAGE POINTM anufacturing industry is a web of heavy machinery, au-tomation, complex processes, and labour-intensive work with a need for accuracy and precision. In the past few decades, manufacturing industry has adopted various technologies to ease or optimize processes, in order to deliver products and go-to-market faster. But due to its domain being far away from IT, the industry has con-stantly found it challenging to focus on both the core processes as well as its underlying IT infrastructure. The situ-ation demanded for a service provider with IT expertise that can manage the overall IT landscape as well as opti-mize it for better returns. Managed IT Services Providers (MSPs) have the ability to completely take over an organization's IT and manage it with their domain expertise and core competency. This works well for the manufacturing industry as they are able to focus on their core competencies and leave the rest to the Managed Services Provider to optimize their workforce, and enhance productivity. Having a Managed Services Provider in place can prove to be beneficial as they can drive the digital transformation for the organization as well as free the internal IT team to focus on strategic objectives rather than day-to-day IT support. Here are four ways in which an MSP-IT can benefit the manufacturing industry:1. STAY UPDATEDManufacturing organizations need to adapt to the changing technology landscape to stay relevant and competitive. With a torrent of innovation in technology, it is difficult to identify the right technology to invest in and implement. Internal IT teams can't keep pace with latest technological updates and, hence, are unable to build strategic plans. MSPs are always updated about the latest technological innovations, and know how and when to use them. MSPs can consult and build a perfect mix of these solutions that will help manufacturing with its digital transformation as well as fetch better ROI.2. REDUCED DOWNTIMEManufacturing industry relies heavily on data captured from IoT devices, machine learning and artificial intelligence for better efficiency and accuracy of the finished product. Be it identifying damaged goods or capturing product barcodes for expiration, processes that rely on digital solutions can't face downtime. A sudden failure in data processing, or a server downtime on a mission-critical application can halt the production line that might cost millions. Fixing or trouble-shooting these issues with the help of Internal IT teams can take up more time depending on the nature of the issue, costing millions more. An MSP can help to identify and fix such issues faster due to domain expertise and repetitive exposure. An MSP can also help to prevent such issues with timely patch management, bug fixes, regular environment testing, and so on.3. OPTIMIZED IT SPENDIn this recent wave of digital transformation, the manufacturing industry has opted for digital solutions to enhance its processes and optimize costs. Implementation of such solutions require comprehensive knowledge of resource planning and availability, costs involved, scalability, back-up and disaster recovery. Internal IT teams may find it difficult to plan for such implementations due to lack of exposure to such technology and projects. An MSP can help overcome these challenges as they are well versed with the pre-requisites of such implementations. They can help a 4 WAYS IN WHICH MANAGED IT SERVICES CAN BENEFIT THE MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY By Neelesh Kripalani, Sr VP & Head- Center of Excellence, Clover InfotechNeeleshKripalani,Sr VP & Head- Center of Excellence
< Page 7 | Page 9 >