Businesses looking for an IT services partner may encounter two terms that appear similar on the surface, but are in fact very different: managed IT services and co-managed IT services. Even for many people in the IT industry, the closeness of these two terms can be confusing.
While many of the companies that offer managed IT services will also offer co-managed solutions, this guide will help you decide which is right for your business.
This is the most important distinction between the concepts.
Co-managed IT services is not a comprehensive solution; it’s designed to augment the capabilities of your in-house team and help them meet their challenges. Businesses that don’t already have at least one IT staff member — whether that’s a senior IT engineer to handle strategy and planning, or a technician to address support issues — should not consider a co-managed package.
Fully managed IT services solutions, like C360 Fully Managed, are designed to meet all an organization’s technology management and cybersecurity needs.
With that basic distinction clarified, here are some of the ways you can tell if your business needs a co-managed IT services solution.
Burnout in the IT industry is very common. IT teams at small and midsized businesses are being asked to manage increasingly complex systems, with more on the line strategically than ever before, making IT one of the top 3 industries for burnout.
The stress of dealing with day-to-day IT management issues, while also addressing big picture strategic problems like disaster recovery and business continuity, is often enough to overwhelm a small team. How do you know if your IT team is being asked to do too much? Here are some of the common red flags.
Working with a co-managed IT service provider gives you not just the people, but also the processes and technologies to support your team and improve on each of those areas. And it does it all without interfering with your already established IT support processes.
Network technology is now inextricably linked to how businesses connect with new customers, satisfy existing clients, and grow. When your technology isn’t serving your business goals, your business will suffer.
To ensure you have the right tools, a co-managed IT service provider gives your technology team the support of a virtual chief information officer (vCIO), a senior IT engineer who will help you evaluate new technologies, architect solutions, plan a streamlined IT budget, and acquire new hardware at the lowest possible price.
Having strong technology leadership and vision provides many important benefits:
As with any vendor-client relationship, the more you can communicate with your co-managed IT partner in an open and honest way, the better it enables them to serve your needs.
Cybersecurity is a specialist skillset that few in-house teams can manage effectively on their own. That’s why it’s important that when vetting co-managed IT service providers, you pick a vendor who has a demonstrated track record partnering with in-house IT teams to develop a strong security posture.
Working within the confines of the co-managed relationship, when done correctly, provides a perfect balance between the vendor’s security expertise and the institutional knowledge of your in-house staff.
Working with a co-managed provider can help you strengthen your existing cybersecurity controls, including:
Those are just a few of the ways that a co-managed provider can help you improve the consistency and reliability of your cybersecurity protections. To learn more, continue reading our Complete Guide to Co-Managed IT Support.
IT teams in Albany, New York, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Bluffton, South Carolina have been partnering with the Complete Network team for decades to strengthen their IT support and technology management processes. If you’d like to learn more, contact us any time at 877 877 1840 or [email protected]. We look forward to speaking with you!
