The 5 Benefits Of Co-Managed IT Services

As IT solutions become increasingly sophisticated, more and more businesses, particularly SMEs, are turning to outsourced IT support companies to improve their IT functions and core business processes.

But many fall into the trap of thinking there are only two options: fully managed IT services and ad hoc support. In reality, co-managed IT support offers the perfect middle ground if your budget doesn’t stretch to the comprehensive fully managed model, and you don’t want the inconsistencies that are associated with ad hoc IT support.

Let’s take a closer look at what co-managed IT services involve and the benefits it can have for your business.

What is a co-managed IT service?

The co-managed IT service model means that businesses work in partnership with a third-party IT support service. A business’s existing IT department gets a helping hand from the experience and knowledge of outsourced IT specialists. Responsibilities and workload can be divided between the third-party and existing IT team based on skills and available time and resources.

Why should you choose co-managed IT?

There are many reasons why you might opt for the co-managed IT model, but it’s definitely something you should consider if you’re experiencing any of the following concerns:

• Your inhouse team are concentrating on more strategic issues, yet neglecting the important day-to-day processes
• Your inhouse team are busying themselves with the day-to-day, but don’t have the capacity to work on strategic elements
• You’ve experienced rapid growth, and this needs to be quickly reflected in your IT team
• You have a fantastic functioning IT team, but need some extra support and workload capacity

Benefits of co-managed IT support

1. Productivity

With an outsourced service, your IT functions will always be covered. You won’t have to worry about employee sickness or holiday, as this can all be covered by the third-party. This means that you’ll have fewer interruptions to IT processes, and it will reduce downtime. So, you’ll benefit from constant IT service, and you’ll also experience better productivity all around the business – it’s a win-win!

2. Consistent costs

If you opt for the co-managed IT model you can expect fixed monthly fees and therefore more predictable IT expenses than ad-hoc IT support. It also works out cheaper than hiring your own IT staff; while you are employing them, you don’t have to put them on the payroll, or suffer the complexities that come with that!

3. Enhanced security

Not only will you benefit from the support service’s team, you’ll also have access to the provider’s latest technology and security features. Good IT service providers stay up to date with the latest security software and are aware of the current security threats. This way you’ll gain the best protection possible – and you also won’t have to buy all of the expensive software!

4. Experience and expertise

The co-managed IT model also works exceptionally well if your IT team is inexperienced or lacking in size. Instead of coping with inadequate resources to run your IT processes, you can tap into the varied and dynamic skill set of the vendor’s team, and fill expertise or experience gaps in your existing team.

5. Extra resources

Similarly, if your IT team is small and therefore overworked, or you’ve seen a huge influx of tasks that your team don’t have the capacity for, co-managed IT support is the perfect solution. You can also scale it up and down as you need! As your workload expands and reduces, so can the involvement of the vendor.

Co-managed IT support is a fantastic way to enhance your existing IT dynamic, and help your business to perform even better.