What Are the Benefits of Co-Managed IT Support?
Co-managed IT support is the concept of having internal and external IT support that work together to provide generalised and specific IT services as needed. This set-up usually features an internal IT support team or individual who is employed by a company, and an external managed IT services provider who take on the company as clients. The aim is that both teams provide services that complement each other harmoniously and deliver the best outcomes for the company.
In this article we’re going to explore how the two teams work together and what the benefits of a co-managed approach to IT support are.
How Does Co-Managed IT Support Work?
Co-managed IT support, also known as partial IT support or contingency IT support, is an efficient and effective way to manage all the IT needs of a business.
Many companies operate with one or two IT professionals in-house that are employed as part of the company and deliver first line support across the business. Internal first line support is the kind of fixes and help that are often needed quickly. Like troubleshooting, recovering deleted files, or training staff. First line support know their colleagues and are vital to making sure small setbacks don’t become big problems.
These valuable employees are, more often than not, IT generalists. They know a bit about a lot of subjects within the scope of IT – it’s what makes them perfect for internal first line support. However, this does mean they aren’t usually experts on a wide variety of topics, and IT support often needs experts. With co-managed IT support in place, you gain access to the experts quickly, which is especially important for crisis management, but equally helpful for several other benefits we’ll talk more about later.
Co-managed IT support through a managed IT services provider, gives internal IT professionals their own first line support. When they have a question about infrastructure, they can talk to their co-managed IT team of infrastructure experts. For issues with the cloud for example, there is a cloud service expert on hand and ready to help. Hardware upgrades needed - the IT support provider will find the best tech within the company budget.
The difference between co-managed IT support and simply looking for an expert each time you find a problem, is that co-managed support is always there, responsive, fully equipped, and capable to both proactively and reactively support their clients.
What Are the Benefits of Co-Managed IT Support?
The benefits of co-managed IT support range from staff cover to more resources. They speak for themselves as to why it can be such a valuable relationship to have.
Starting with staff cover, it’s never easy to juggle the demands of business needs with holiday leave, but with co-managed IT support you never need to worry when your IT team are away. Yes, managed IT services are experts in niche topics, but we also have IT generalists and understand the basic troubleshooting capabilities to cover your team when needed.
IT support isn’t just about fixing problems as they arise, a huge part of it is long-term, strategic planning. We create a roadmap to futureproof your business through ongoing development and collaboration which benefits the business in the present and future.
Expanding on the benefits of access to niche expertise, such as infrastructure, Microsoft, and cybersecurity, has two main benefits. On one hand we can resolve issues efficiently and expertly, even anticipating and preventing them in many cases. We also take part in regular training and certification, gaining knowledge and new insights into technology that we pass onto our clients. We practice continuous improvement and work to industry determined and legal standards, always following best practices to keep our clients secure and operational.
Another benefit of co-managed IT support is that we have more resources, and decades of experience in the industry. As Microsoft Partners we have unique and exclusive access to training and resources on Microsoft products. Our industry connections, and links with other professionals and providers helps us access more assets than a non-IT company could.
One of the best benefits of co-managed IT support is that the cost of a monthly retainer is usually much less than the monthly salary of even one extra employee. The number of services and scale of support can be flexible, and tailored to the changing business needs, so you don’t pay for more than you need to.
On top of all the other benefits, working with a managed IT services provider is a safety net for any business, regardless of how many internal IT staff you have. With long-term planning, industry connections, training, niche and general IT expertise, and better resources for less than a new employee, co-managed IT support is incredibly beneficial.
At Fuse CS, we believe working collaboratively with our clients is the most efficient, and effective way for any business to get the most from IT.
About the author
Fuse is a Microsoft Partner, based in Northampton. We help organisations of all sizes to maximise IT efficiencies through the use of Microsoft cloud computing solutions.
