Your Guide to Augmenting Your Internal IT Department

Every business relies on technology to operate efficiently. In the past, you may have been able to get by with a few computers, a printer, and an email program. Now? Times have changed and you’re using a complex mix of hardware and software that needs to work properly – all the time – or you risk serious consequences:

• Unhappy customers
• Unproductive team members
• Wasted payroll dollars
• Reputational damage
• Missed business opportunities
• And much more

Fortunately, you have various options when it comes to the management of your information technology. You can:

1. Hire an internal person or team to manage your information technology for you on a part or full-time basis
2. Outsource to a third-party, usually a managed services provider (MSP), who will assume responsibility for you.
3. Leverage a hybrid approach that involves some tasks being managed internally and some tasks being outsourced.

The third option is known as co-managed IT services. Essentially, an MSP comes in and assists your internal IT department with all of the tasks and responsibilities of managing your information technology. Before we answer some of the most common questions that we, an MSP, are asked all of the time, let’s look at what co-managed IT services are not:

• They are NOT about replacing or taking over your internal person or team’s job or leaving them feeling inadequate.
• They are NOT a temporary band-aid fix for an upcoming project, then leaving your internal person or team to scramble and manage it later.

What are co-managed IT services?

Co-managed IT services give you the ability to outsource some parts of the management of your information technology to a third-party, usually an MSP. Essentially, it’s a partnership where you benefit from a set of customized services that augment your internal person or team’s existing capabilities. You gain access to an entire team of experts at a flat-rate monthly fee. Those experts are able to provide:

• Access to better pricing and discounts on products and services through partnerships with leading manufacturers.
• A proprietary foundation for success that comes from years of experiencing serving enterprises. They already have processes, procedures, and systems in place to streamline the management of your information technology.
• A range of services, depending on what your internal person or team would prefer to handle on their own and what they’d like help with, including:
  • Around-the-clock monitoring
  • Regular maintenance
  • Data backups and business continuity planning
  • Remote or onsite support
  • Strategic planning
  • Cloud services
  • Business phones
  • And much more

Why choose co-managed IT services instead of hiring more people?

For many businesses, hiring more people simply isn’t a feasible option. It’s a bandaid fix rather than a long-term solution. Why? One of the main reasons internal people or departments struggle is due to a lack of enterprise-grade tools, defined processes, and experience in various areas of management. You might have the best technicians on your team, but they simply don’t have the ability to automate, streamline, and optimize the way an established MSP does.

Plus, when you hire more people, you end up spending even more money on the following:

• Salaries
• Benefits
• Overtime
• Workstations
• Supplies
• Vacation time/sick days
• And more

An MSP, on the other hand, offers co-managed IT services at a flat-rate monthly fee that’s affordable and easy to predict.

What are the benefits of co-managed IT services?

Co-managed IT services offer a range of benefits to organizations looking to improve the way their technology is managed and maintained.

Here are a few benefits:

• Less costs associated with unexpected repairs and/or troubleshooting
• Less downtime resulting from technology issues
• Greater protection against a range of threats, such as ransomware or viruses
• More productivity as your staff can rely on their systems to work at all times

Ready to get started?

Servcom USA, a leading IT company in Rock Hill, SC, provides co-managed IT services for businesses throughout the area. We work alongside your internal person or team.

Discover more by calling (803) 232-5684 or click here to get in touch with our team.