If your organization has an internal IT department or team, you might think that working with an outsourced managed services provider is redundant or unnecessary. Co-managed IT offers significant advantages you may be missing today.
What Is Co-Managed IT?
Co-managed IT services allow businesses and their IT teams to take advantage of the expertise and skill of a team of IT specialists when needed, without paying expensive salaries or benefits. It’s an affordable solution that allows you to expand your current IT resources and make sure you always have the technical skills and support you need.
An internal person or team can only offer so much in terms of availability, time and skillsets. You might have the most talented person or people, but they may still be limited in what or how much they can accomplish.
You can use co-managed IT services on an as-needed or ongoing basis. You’ll have the people and IT support you need to proactively prevent issues or when technology problems crop up that no one else can resolve or handle. And you’ll benefit from IT professionals with years of industry experience.
What Are the Benefits?
- Workload help: If your staff is having difficulty keeping up with their remote support workload, your co-managed team can supplement their efforts. Our team has extensive experience delivering remote support and can help your IT team do the same.
- Affordable: Co-managed IT services provide the help you need at budget-friendly prices. With proactive services that keep your IT assets running smoothly, you’ll know you’re getting the most out of every technology dollar. Co-managed IT professionals can handle things like scheduled maintenance, cybersecurity services, remote monitoring, help desk services and account management, all for one predictable monthly fee.
- Flexible: As your organization grows and evolves, you may need to scale up your efforts. Rather than hiring more technicians, you can use co-managed IT to handle peak periods. If you find you no longer need as much assistance, you can easily scale back. Co-managed IT services easily handle business-driven IT workload changes.
- Up-to-Date IT Solutions: Your in-house IT team may not have all the expertise needed to manage all your IT requirements. New developments are happening in the technology and cybersecurity spaces every day. A Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP) is better positioned to stay up to date, as IT is their primary business focus.
Does Your Company Need Co-Managed IT?
Here are 3 signs your business may realize value from co-managed IT services:
1. Your IT staff is limited in size or experience
Plenty of successful companies operate with one or two IT professionals in-house and/or with service desks that only employ engineers with a specific skillset. Additionally, all staff resources have a finite capacity of work that can be reasonably performed. However, businesses can easily find themselves in positions where their internal resources cannot accomplish a given challenge or opportunity. With a co-managed IT services arrangement, companies of any size can tap into additional “IT power” and expertise when needed.
For example, leadership could determine that in-house IT staff will focus on day-to-day tasks, while the MSSP can be contacted to handle issues that require higher-level support. Alternatively, other companies have their MSSP “take care of the plumbing” and proactively manage IT infrastructure, while staff resources, with deeper knowledge of business processes, focus on projects and strategic company efforts. Leveraging IT professionals on staff and MSSP capabilities can be much more cost-effective than having a full complement of employees on your payroll.
2. Your in-house IT team is overworked
Any company can find its IT department getting overworked, even those with large in-house teams. Seasonal swings, special projects and fast growth can all put undue pressure on existing IT teams.
While a typical knee-jerk reaction may be to hire more staff, this may not be cost-effective or necessary.
Co-managed IT services allow businesses to bring in only the resources they need when they need them.
3. Your in-house IT team lacks experience with an upcoming initiative
With business strategy and technology changing all the time, businesses are often faced with opportunities to implement new IT systems and programs. But existing in-house IT teams may not have the experience needed to successfully plan, implement and/or maintain an upcoming initiative.
Co-managed IT services can provide businesses with a broad range of experience and a deep bench of experts beyond that of the existing in-house staff. Good MSSPs are regularly sending their engineers to continuing education courses and often require professional certifications. Also, working with various clients, MSSP staff have seen and worked through a variety of issues, which are valuable learning lessons. These are strengths businesses can tap into with co-managed IT services.
How Deerwood Helps
Deerwood Technologies partners with your IT team to augment your support, fill specialty gaps and provide strategic guidance based on your company’s objectives. You keep all the benefits of your IT staff while gaining the expertise and capacity of ours.
Our co-managed IT support is for organizations that have an IT staff member or team and want to boost their capabilities without the cost and hassle of hiring more staff. With Deerwood Technologies, you can keep your IT team doing what they do best while leveraging our expertise and capabilities to drive your IT strategy, manage risks and gain new efficiencies.
We’re your business partner first. We work with you to understand your goals, needs and budget and fit ourselves in where you need us and where we both see the best opportunities for your success. We become a responsive, reliable and proactive part of your team, giving you the best of both worlds. We can help you determine the correct level of support to meet your specific business needs, so you don’t have to worry about paying for services you don’t need. Contact us today to learn more.