Co-managed IT is a cost-efficient IT support model ideal for patching labor and skill gaps in your in-house IT staff. A co-managed partner works for your internal IT support, supplementing your team. This is a neat way of improving your technical performance without making drastic changes to the workforce.
According to TSIA, the demand for remote IT services, including managed IT, has mostly held up amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Many organizations understandably want to maintain active IT infrastructures during the crisis to keep communications open and crucial business operations running. This situation exemplifies one of the many advantages of partnering with a co-managed IT provider.
But that is not all — here are more ways to assist your IT staff by leveraging co-managed IT services:
1. Reduce your team’s workload
If your IT team has too much on its plate, co-managed services can help lighten its workload by taking up some of the responsibilities. IT management is no easy task; it usually involves a lot of time-critical activities, such as routine maintenance, repairs and servicing, monitoring, and helpdesk support. With such a long checklist, a small staff can easily get overwhelmed once the work starts piling up.
Overworking can quickly lower your employees’ morale and performance. A manageable workload, on the other hand, keeps employees’ spirits high and ensures they complete their tasks on time.
2. Give your IT staff more bandwidth to be strategic
You can have a co-managed IT provider handle all the menial day-to-day tasks such as routine maintenance, servicing, and troubleshooting, while your IT staff tackles more important jobs. Your internal IT team is obviously more innate with the business and in a better position to influence positive change through technology. Freeing your employees from low-value assignments is also a strategic way to exercise their talents.
3. Utilize tactical resource with co-managed services
Some companies shy away from adopting advanced IT equipment, fearing that their IT teams may not handle new technology upgrades they may not be familiar with. The IT sector is one of the areas with a severe labor shortage, so opting to hire more highly skilled IT support staff is, in most cases, impractical.
Co-managed IT services can instantly fill any skill gaps in your IT department with vastly knowledgeable and experienced tech experts. In other words, you never have to worry about installing or maintaining IT systems that are outside your staff’s skill set when working with a co-managed partner.
4. Access IT expertise on demand
Tech prowess goes well beyond troubleshooting and fixing errors. IT support also involves anticipating and preventing issues before they arise and finding ways to improve systems’ performance and security. It takes a lot of training and experience to resolve some technical headaches. But you can always count on a co-managed IT provider to step in and deal with whichever problems your IT staff struggles with or doesn’t have time to solve
5. Get uninterrupted round-the-clock IT coverage
If your enterprise relies on its IT infrastructure 24/7, then you have to ensure that systems remain healthy the entire time. It is nearly impossible to guarantee round-the-clock IT vigilance with an in-house team. For one, it might be challenging and expensive to convince employees to work after hours. Plus, you would still be short of labor when someone, for instance, takes leave or calls in sick.
However, this is an easy problem to solve; a co-managed partner can provide IT coverage outside the normal working hours and fill in for absentees. There is no need to create extra work shifts, and your workers can enjoy their days off completely worry-free.
Co-managed services add value to your existing IT staff by extending its capabilities through new professional skills and extra hands. Relieve all that unnecessary pressure on your IT team by taking advantage of co-managed IT services.
5-ways-to-leverage-co-managed-services-to-assist-your-it-staff
