Within the past few years, businesses have found themselves increasingly strained to access specialized IT expertise when they need it most. Even companies with robust in-house IT departments realize their limitations.
Owing to the challenges of the ongoing labor shortage and the notoriously high turnover rate of IT workers, more company leaders are tuning to outsourced co-managed IT solutions than ever. Evidence of this is discoverable in the unprecedented growth of co-managed services over the last several years. In 2014, the industry was valued at $107 billion. Some projections show it ballooning to over $200 billion by the end of 2022.
Co-managed IT services are particularly beneficial to companies undergoing sweeping digital transformation initiatives to keep their facilities up-to-date. A reputable co-managed service acts as an experienced guide to help businesses navigate complex processes and avoid many of the common pitfalls.
But why the shift to a co-managed model when you’re already funding an on-premises IT team? Most small to medium-sized businesses owners find that they can’t meet all their IT requirements in-house, especially during rapid phases of growth. This is where a trust co-managed service enters the picture.
There are many benefits to gain by partnering with an IT service provider under the co-managed model. Let’s take a look at a few of them below in more detail:
What are the key advantages of co-managed IT services?
1. 24-hour coverage
IT support ceased to be an 8-hour day shift some time ago. While having a skilled IT team onsite is beneficial in many ways, issues always seem to arise after they’ve gone home for the day.
Members of your in-house IT team take lengthy vacations, and they call off unexpectedly, with sick children home along with a diversity of other circumstances that demand they stay away from the office for a given length of time.
Partnering with a co-managed service provider ensures you always have technical support staff available when you need them. You will not have to fret about tracking employees down after hours who are unofficially on-call and are likely unavailable to address your organization’s IT urgency.
2. Enhanced IT support when you need it
Most digital transformation initiatives are conducted on the project by project basis. Similarly, the nature of your business could be seasonal, and you only need the extra IT support during stretches of peak volume.
Instead of going through the trouble of onboarding new staff, your co-managed service provider can assess your situation and deploy the necessary resources to support your in-house team so they can focus on their core business duties.
Co-managed support allows your full-time IT staff to stay on-task and in pursuit of your overall business strategy. The additional resources help avoid unnecessary outages that lead to costly employee downtime.
3. Specialized talent on-demand
The whole of your IT department probably consists of employees who boast an in-depth yet still very general skill set. This should be enough to cover your day-to-day IT requirements, but situations that require an expert are bound to arise. When this happens, you may not be able to rely upon your in-house team to resolve the issue in an efficient timeframe.
A trusted co-managed service partner resolves this problem by guaranteeing fast access to expert resources in a wide array of specialty areas. Going with managed IT, you know that you will always have the right talent available when you need it. Moreover, your IT issue won’t be addressed by a staff member who is unqualified to resolve the problem.
4. Increased productivity
If your current staff is overwhelmed handling tasks that fall out of the scope of their normal workflow, a co-managed IT service can help get the team back on track. Assuming you brought them on to handle duties like routine maintenance, regular system upgrades while fielding calls to the helpdesk -anything above on beyond these typical tasks necessitates additional resources.
When an issue falls outside the expertise of your on-premises IT department, odds are they’ll spend too much time trying to resolve the problem. In this case, your co-managed service provider is there to offer support. This way, they won’t fall off-task. You simply hand the issue over to your co-managed service so they can find the most efficient path to resolving the matter.
5. Robust digital security
Data Breaches and ransomware attacks are on the rise. Cyber incidents like these wreak havoc on many businesses, and they can be fatal as well. Hackers grow more advanced with each day, finding new ways to penetrate networks. Protecting your company’s digital assets is a must. Your onsite IT department may not be up to speed on all the latest potential vulnerabilities to your system.
Co-managed services safeguard your network from a vast range of cybersecurity threats that could lead to catastrophic disruption. Incidents like this are always costly because they result in production downtime. If you are operating a small to medium-sized business on a lean budget, cyberattacks are always hard to overcome.
6. Staying current
Are the equipment and software you’re using now outdated? This is likely to impact your company’s productivity. A dependable co-managed service provider stays informed about technological trends. Irrespective of what new situation arises, a co-managed IT servicer provider always remains prepared to offer the most up-to-date guidance. You’ll always benefit from an expert opinion before taking a big financial step into expensive hardware or IT infrastructure upgrades.
PCH Technologies’ Co-Managed IT services
When you choose PCH Technologies co-managed IT solutions, you will discover all the benefits of a complete IT department at a substantially reduced cost. To learn more about PCH Technologies and how their wealth of expertise and technical knowledge can benefit your organization, schedule a quick discovery call. Dial 844-754-7500 to speak with a dedicated PCH Client Relationship Manager today.