Jeremy Wanamaker | Apr 24, 2020
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Most managed IT service solutions are designed to provide end-to-end management of all a business’s technology systems. While this is ideal for small businesses without an internal IT staff, it’s not always the right fit for midsize companies with an established team of their own.
A small subset of managed IT service providers offer what’s called co-managed IT service solutions, which are specifically designed to help midmarket business strategically off-load time-consuming or complex IT workloads to a partner while still retaining the convenience of an on-site IT team.
There are three ways that midsize businesses benefit from co-managed IT solutions, like Complete Network’s C360 Flex solution.
IT staff members will come and go. When a long-term IT staff member leaves, they take with them the knowledge about your company and network system that they accumulated over months and years. This cycle of constantly hiring and retraining new staff can pose a long-lasting drain on company time and resources.
Co-managed IT solutions help to mitigate this problem by giving you access to IT staff that will never quit or take time off. Whatever you outsource will continue to run like clockwork — no matter what changes you make to your internal IT teams — providing you with consistency and peace of mind.
In-house IT talent is expensive. In cities like Albany and Charlotte, it’s not uncommon for the total cost of a single network engineer to hit the six-figure mark, especially with vacation, health insurance, and other benefits factored in. This makes building an IT team skilled enough to manage the network at a midsize business very costly.
By hiring an MSP to manage a portion of your IT workload, most midsize companies will realize an immediate and lasting reduction in their IT management costs. This is especially true for companies that outsource standardized or routine IT maintenance tasks while keeping proprietary IT workloads in-house for their staff to handle.
Strong IT management means having the skills to manage every aspect of your network. Even a well-staffed IT team will have skill gaps, such as cloud computing or a lack of advanced cybersecurity knowledge.
While these skill gaps may not feel urgent to decision makers, they often result in lowered business efficiency and a heightened chance of network downtime. MSPs like Complete Network can audit a network, locate systems that need improving, and offer just the right skills to supplement in-house capabilities.
When you ask a senior engineer to handle repetitive, low-value IT management tasks, it can lead to lowered morale and turnover. Similarly, asking an inexperienced team that’s skilled in day-to-day IT management to plan a comprehensive 5-year IT roadmap can be overwhelming and result in a similar lack of engagement.
By outsourcing the tasks your IT team is least prepared to tackle themselves, you free them to face the work they’re best suited for with vigor and enthusiasm. This can help you improve engagement and prevent IT staffers from jumping ship in favor of a more suitable work opportunities.
Not all MSPs are up to the challenge of successful co-managed IT support. In fact, most of them lack the specialized tools and processes needed to handle only some technology support duties, while leaving others up to internal IT staff.
Complete Network has nearly two decades of experience working in these types of arrangements and helps each new C360 client audit their existing systems and determine which are the best candidates for outsourcing.
Here are some of the most common ways that businesses save time, money, and stress by outsourcing to Complete Network:
There are a host of network maintenance tasks that threaten to overwhelm the IT departments at many midsize companies, including patching and updating tasks, defragmenting hard drives, replacing hardware that’s reached the end of its lifecycle, and many others.
Outsourcing these time-intensive tasks to a trusted MSP is one of the best ways to help relieve pressure from your internal IT team. It also helps them focus on important strategic work and the maintenance of your proprietary systems, setting the stage for improved company efficiency.
While some businesses have an in-house help desk team to manage routine IT maintenance tasks, like changing passwords, installing or updating software, or resolving user issues, many businesses find it a huge waste of expensive man-hours.
Complete Network can provide your business with the latest help desk software and access to a team of friendly help desk support specialists, providing your workforce with responsive 24/7 IT support that doesn’t tax internal company resources.
The era of pervasive cybersecurity threat has made having a strong disaster recovery system absolutely critical to the long-term health of your business. There are countless cases where better backups could have saved a midsize business time or money.
Unfortunately, creating and maintaining a strong BDR system is a time-consuming process. It requires making sure that your necessary data is being protected at all times, is quickly retrievable if disaster strikes, and stays relevant as your network technology evolves. This complexity is one of the reasons midsize businesses seek Complete Network for help.
| Analysis of IT vulnerabilities | Back-up system planning and design | BDR testing and maintenance | Training and knowledge transfer to your staff |
The complex nature of their technology systems, combined with their relative lack of cybersecurity expertise, has made midsize businesses one of the major targets of today’s cybercriminals. Many of these threats can do existential damage to a company.
Partnership with a seasoned cybersecurity services provider is one of the most effective tools that midsize companies have in the ongoing arms race with hackers.
For example, Complete Network’s C360 solution provides midsize business with customized security support that complements their existing protections and strengths, enabling them to achieve robust security while keeping their IT leadership in the driver’s seat.
| Network security monitoring | Cybersecurity awareness training | Remote worker and mobile security | Regulatory compliance expertise |
When midsize businesses look for an IT services partner, it’s crucial they find one with the skills and reputation they can fully trust to manage their needs.
For 20 years Complete Network has been a reliable provider of co-managed IT solutions to midsize businesses in Albany New York and Charlotte North Carolina. Our team of engineers has developed a documented set of processes to make IT outsourcing easy and equitable for midsize businesses that are looking for a co-managed IT support.
If your midsize business would like to work with a seasoned veteran of the co-managed IT services field, feel free to reach out any time (844) 426-7844. We’d be happy to answer your questions!
In an ideal world, technology would be a consistent source of competitive advantage and benefit for small and midsized businesses. The reality is that many fail to realize that confidence.
Without the right resources and support, even a highly skilled technology team can become overwhelmed by the growing list of technology management duties. When important tasks get neglected, it creates ripple effects throughout an organization that damage productivity and efficiency.
The co-managed IT services model solves these problems by providing your existing IT team with all the support and resources they need to successfully plan, manage, and defend your network technology.
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