In most cases, businesses that want to revamp their IT services will choose one of two options: In-house or managed. As the names imply, one of these service models will involve an in-house team, while the other approach will outsource those duties to a managed services provider(MSP for short). However, you do have a third alternative.
Most companies will let you go with a co-managed approach, in which your in-house team retains some responsibility while outsourcing the rest to the MSP. This allows the best members of your IT team to keep their jobs, but there are many other benefits as well. With that in mind, let’s talk about a few signs that your business could use a co-managed IT approach.
1. Your IT Team Is Small Or Inexperienced
When your company has small tech needs, it won’t tend to focus on recruiting the best IT people. This is perfectly natural, as it simply reflects the priorities of different businesses. However, companies with small and less-experienced IT workers can benefit more than most from a co-managed approach.
Chances are, your existing IT team is able to handle most of the problems that regularly arise…otherwise, you would probably have fired them by now. By setting up a co-managed IT plan, you give them access to individuals with more knowledge and experience than themselves. If they run into an unfamiliar situation and don’t know what to do, they can go straight to the cloud team and avoid hours of unproductive research.
2. You Experience Frequent Network Problems
On most occasions, your company network should run like a well-oiled machine. Of course, there will always be exceptions to this, but not too many. When your IT network experiences a large number of small problems, and when they become so frequent that you expect them, it might be time to consider a co-managed plan. These frequent problems indicate that your existing team is having trouble managing things, and a little bit of help is warranted.
3. Your IT Team Is Unable To Meet Demands
In any modern company, many of its day-to-day operations will depend on the internet. When you’ve got money on the line, any problem with the internet can lead to serious losses. So, what happens when you are experiencing frequent problems? That’s right…your IT team becomes overburdened with tons and tons of help requests.
Naturally, this situation is not conducive to a good business environment. Therefore, you should consider going with a co-managed approach. The cloud team will take some of the pressure off your in-house team, and they should then be able to focus on more productive things. You don’t want them to waste all day talking to people and taking complaints, even though that is part of their job.
This is where we come to a concept called “preventive maintenance.” Everyone knows that prevention is the best medicine, and the world of computer science is no exception. By keeping all the systems clean, refreshed, monitored, and updated, a good IT team can solve most problems before they become serious. However, they won’t have time to do that if every minute brings a new complaint and a new crisis.
4. You Are Spending Too Much On IT
If you are running a larger and more prosperous company, you might find yourself in a situation where your IT is not cost-effective. Sure, they might be solving all of your problems, but that doesn’t do much good if they cost more money than they save. Naturally, you don’t want to start over from scratch, so a co-managed approach is the best option here. A co-managed plan is usually cheaper than a fully managed plan, so you can save money while maintaining access to the same infrastructure as before.
If your extra IT expenses are the result of equipment or utility costs, a co-managed approach can also be helpful. It will allow you to remove some of your existing IT infrastructures, as you will now have access to a more advanced network. That means less electricity, less maintenance, and less trouble on your part.
5. Your Business Has Little To No IT Staff
This is not a common situation, but it can definitely happen with smaller businesses. If you don’t have an IT team, you may feel that you don’t need one. In nearly all cases, this assumption is in error. There is virtually no business that doesn’t need the internet to compete in the global marketplace, so don’t be a dinosaur.
You may be behind the times, but you certainly don’t have to remain so. If you are starting from scratch, it is far easier to develop your team with a co-managed approach. You see, your MSP will agree to provide customer support when you purchase services from them. This will create an obligation for them to help your IT workers whenever a request is made. Thus, you can get them to train your in-house workers for you!
Conclusion
The co-managed approach isn’t necessarily the one for everyone, but it is certainly the most versatile. For those with special needs who want to create a highly customized setup, it’s definitely the way to go. Although it will depend on your MSP, you can probably get all the services that you require at a lower cost. We hope that this article will help you to get the most out of your co-managed plan and that you have enjoyed reading our work. If so, you can fill out the contact form below to receive more.