The technology plan you deploy within your company should be unique enough to meet your specific needs and strong enough to handle new scenarios. The ideal plan will align with your goals and support your organization securely and efficiently.
For organizations that have a large IT budget, these objectives are easily met by hiring a full-time in-house team. However, many organizations don’t have that level of funding and end up struggling to meet their goals.
If you need more support but can’t build an internal team, you’ll benefit from co-managed IT services. When you partner with a managed services provider (MSP), they’ll help you create a strategic plan specially designed to meet your immediate, regular, and long-term IT needs.
What Is Co-Managed IT Support?
A co-managed IT service is a customizable plan that allows organizations to choose which IT services they outsource or keep in-house. They fill in the gaps of an organization’s existing IT department. This is ideal for companies that need extra help but don’t have a large budget or don’t need the extra help onsite.
Benefits of Managed IT Services
There are many benefits of managed IT services. If you’re looking at your options, here are some of the best reasons it might work well for your company.
Stronger Cybersecurity
In today’s world, businesses can’t afford to slack on cybersecurity. As of 2022, the average data breach costs roughly $4.35 million. Unsurprisingly, most businesses end up folding within two years after a security incident.
If your organization doesn’t have a strong in-house IT security team, or even a single, dedicated professional you can rely on, co-managed IT will help. An outsourced team can provide your organization with a more secure environment where your network and servers are concerned. They’ll also vet the security of any third-party vendors you use, like cloud storage and automated security tools.
A reliable managed IT service will put systems in place to monitor your network remotely so that they can identify and isolate threats automatically. They also keep your network secure by running updates and patches remotely.
The best part about having an outsourced IT security pro is being able to access them for support whenever you need help. Your internal team won’t need to stay on top of the latest changes and best practices—you can leave that up to your MSP.
Expert IT Strategy
Technology is always changing, and when you outsource your needs to a co-managed IT service, you don’t have to worry about missing out on what’s new. Your outsourced team will consist of well-versed and highly skilled IT techs who stay on top of trends and changes that can affect your business.
MSPs source IT professionals who are experts in their field with the best qualifications. They’ll handle everything you need, including regular maintenance, hardware and software upgrades, and they can even work with proprietary systems. Contracting with a co-managed IT team will give you peace of mind knowing your technology is in good hands.
Access to 24/7 Support
When you need IT support, every minute counts. Sometimes just a printer going offline can disrupt your business operations if many people rely on that printer throughout the day. However, bigger issues, like a ransomware attack or total network failure, are more pressing.
With managed IT, you’ll get access to 24/7 support from your MSP. You won’t have to Google your technical issues and hope you can find the right solution. You also won’t put your in-house techs in a position to feel pressured to fix something they aren’t familiar with. Managed services exist to support you and your tech team when your needs are greater than what you can handle.
Solutions to Common Problems
Having co-managed IT services will give you access to tried-and-true solutions to common problems. For example, many companies struggle with employees who want to use their own devices for work. While this benefits the company in terms of productivity, it also presents a major security risk.
When you allow workers to use their own devices, you can’t control who has access to their device, how they use the internet, and what happens if their device gets stolen.
A managed service provider will have plenty of experience implementing solutions for this situation and can tailor them to your needs. For example, they’ll help you write a strong Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy and implement solutions that automatically keep applications updated and patched remotely on each worker’s device. It will then be up to you to educate team members and enforce your policies.
Better Data Backup and Recovery
Most businesses aren’t prepared to recover from data loss, theft, or a breach. One of the biggest threats to your data is a ransomware attack, which will encrypt all of your files. Ransomware attackers usually demand payment in cryptocurrency with the promise of restoring the data after being paid. However, that’s never guaranteed.
If you don’t make frequent backups of all your data, one attack can set you back enough to put you out of business. With managed services, you can get disaster recovery planning and know a cyberattack won’t take you out.
Increased Profitability
Although it’s not a direct causation, using managed services can make your company more profitable by reducing your team’s workload and taking care of redundant tasks. Managed IT also ensures your technology is running smoothly on the backend at all times, preventing unnecessary and inconvenient network downtime, and thwarting cybersecurity threats as they arise.
All of this happens automatically, which allows you to stay focused on other tasks, like growing your business, building partnerships, generating funding, and everything in-between.
Co-Managed IT Services Are the Perfect Integration for Your Business
As your business grows, so do your tech responsibilities. If you’re experiencing an overload of responsibilities beyond what your internal team can handle, or if you don’t have any in-house techs, co-managed IT services from Technology Response Team are the ideal solution.
We provide greater flexibility in how you manage your technology, whether it’s software, security, your network, or hardware and connected devices. You can choose which services you want to outsource to our team and keep the rest in-house.
A managed IT plan will support your team in any way they need. Don’t leave your strategy up to chance. Contact Technology Response Team to learn how we can support your organization’s goals to maintain efficiency, security, and profitability.
