Is your internal IT team overwhelmed? Are they struggling to meet deadlines due to heavy workloads? Do they feel their hands are tied because there aren't enough resources or skilled personnel to handle key projects? If so, you might consider transitioning some of your IT responsibilities to an expert partner in a co-managed arrangement.
Co-managed IT is an IT management service model that enables a business to tap into the expertise and resources of an external provider to manage its IT infrastructure. In other words, you transition some of your IT operations to a third-party company while maintaining complete control over your IT infrastructure.
How Co-Managing Reduces Stress on IT Departments
There's nothing more crucial to an organization's growth and success than keeping your employees happy and satisfied. A co-managed IT solution can reduce stress on your IT department by:
- Providing specialized support to augment your team: A co-managed IT arrangement allows you to leverage a managed services provider (MSP) familiar with your industry that possesses a deep bench of skills and resources to complement your existing staff, enabling your team to work more efficiently. Areas of expertise that can help your team include the management of complex networks and systems, cybersecurity, performance optimization, and industry-specific best practices.
- Enabling you to focus on what matters. With a strategic MSP partner by your side, you no longer have to worry about dealing with mundane tasks such as patching and updating software, monitoring hardware issues, or troubleshooting network problems. Instead, your IT team can focus on strategic initiatives such as developing new products, improving customer service, and implementing new technologies to help your business. Delegating time-consuming tasks to an experienced partner saves you precious hours every week.
Key Advantages of a Co-Managed IT Solution
Aside from relieving stress and fostering a healthy environment for your internal team, you may want to consider several additional reasons why a co-managed IT strategy makes sense for your organization:
Cost Savings
A co-managed IT solution helps you cut down IT expenses. For example, instead of hiring new employees and paying for expensive consultants to maintain and upgrade your IT infrastructure, you can instead rely on the expertise of an MSP to help you at a fraction of the cost. The monthly cost of an MSP is often far below the salary of a new hire.
Enhanced Security
An MSP that specializes in cybersecurity can leverage the most up-to-date security best practices and latest technologies to protect your sensitive information and ensure it remains safe 24/7/365. They can focus on monitoring your firewalls, keeping your endpoint detection and response (EDR) software up-to-date, and responding to alerts about suspicious activity. Regular cybersecurity audits and penetration tests can also ensure that hackers don't breach your network.
Increased Scalability
Full-time employees or heavy capital investments in IT are upfront costs that cannot easily be scaled down in an agile fashion. On the other hand, an MSP has the flexibility, resources, and capability to scale up and down as demand increases. This allows you to add bandwidth quickly in the case of fast growth or urgent projects.
Improved Reliability
Managed IT services are highly reliable because someone is always available. If you only rely on full-time employees, what happens when they get sick, go on vacation, or leave? An MSP in a co-managed relationship is like a rock continually monitoring and maintaining your IT infrastructure, providing you with a helpdesk, and keeping your environment secure. This IT support continuity leads to reliability despite any personnel flux.
Unlock Your IT Department's Full Potential
These are some ways co-managing your IT department helps with effortless scalability, streamlined operations, enhanced productivity, and overall growth. Remember, working with a co-managed solutions provider doesn't mean you're giving up control. Instead, it allows you to focus on what matters most—growing your business.
VC3 is committed to helping businesses unlock their full growth potential through innovative technology solutions and IT support. Get in touch with us today.