Growing companies often impress us as we equate it with more employees, more clients, more money, and more success. However, we often forget that MORE also means more stress, costs, resources, and more ways for things to go wrong.
Instead of allowing this to result in longer days and sleepless nights, a smart and more sustainable strategy would be to figure out how to achieve more good things (revenue and profits) with less stress and fewer growing pains.
Especially when considering IT support services.
When adding IT services to your growing business, there are three ways to do so. The first way is an option that’s becoming rare; hiring an in-house IT team and allowing yourself to have an IT professional or team working in your business on a daily basis. The team handles most minor tech issues and is available to answer questions that pop up during work hours. The advantage of this option is that you maintain control over all practices, programs, and protections that are in place.
Your second option is to outsource IT support to a managed services provider. MSPs come with a host of benefits and take much of the stress out of your IT needs. They help your systems operate efficiently, reduce costs related to managing IT software, improve your cyber security efforts, and, just like your in-house guy/gal, answer any questions you and your team might have. However, MSPs are third-party companies, and as they don’t work directly out of your business, you will relinquish some of your IT decisions and responsibilities to others, which some business owners consider a downside.
The final option combines both strategies and is worthy of some consideration. It’s called co-managed IT services. This option allows you to outsource (some of) your critical IT functions while maintaining an in-house team.
A proactive co-managed partnership can reduce a lot of stress. Knowing that you have the backup of an entire group of well-trained technicians without the price tag that comes with adding more people to your team allows you to focus on growing your company – and not just maintaining day-to-day operations.
For example, you can have the outsourced IT service provider manage your network infrastructure, ensuring your routers, firewalls, and other network devices work correctly. Or the MSP can manage and monitor your data backup and recovery solutions, cyber security practices and defenses, cloud management and optimization, and even IT project management. They can be available 24×7 to offer support and guidance. While your in-house team handles all quick problems and offers immediate assistance, the MSP handles everything else.
Here are some reasons why more and more CEOs are looking to co-managed IT to support their growing businesses:
Cost Effectiveness: Maintaining a full in-house IT department can get expensive. By outsourcing specific functions, you can limit the number of people on your in-house IT team. Many MSPs provide different packages depending on your company’s needs and will help you find the right balance that fits your IT budget. You’ll have more control and flexibility over your IT infrastructure, so you can choose who handles each responsibility and what functions the third-party team manages.
Added layers of expertise and security: Not only will you have a team on the ground able to provide quick fixes to common problems, but you’ll also have access to specialized skills and expertise that you may not have in-house in areas such as cybersecurity, cloud computing, and network infrastructure management.
Increased flexibility: Co-managed IT offers businesses greater flexibility in managing their IT infrastructure, allowing you to delegate specific IT services or tasks to the external IT provider and allowing them to focus on other critical areas of their business.
Increased scalability: Co-managed IT provides businesses with a scalable IT support solution, allowing them to adjust their IT support services as their business needs change. This makes it an ideal solution for growing businesses that need to scale their IT infrastructure quickly and efficiently.
Increased focus on core business activities: By outsourcing IT support and management to an external service provider, internal IT teams can focus on more strategic initiatives that help drive the business forward.
Taking the stress out of hiring: It is challenging to select and interview IT staff, where to find them, how to compensate them, and to know if they’re good, bad, or something in between. And as IT environments continually change and become more complex over time, managing and training IT staff can get difficult, especially when operating on a limited budget. By outsourcing specific tasks or projects, you will have easy and consistent access to a talent pool of qualified candidates for all your IT needs.
Most companies need co-managed IT when they find themselves in the following scenarios:
- They only have a one-person team
- Missing a leader in your IT team
- You have projects that you need to finish but can’t do due to a lack of staff
- Lack of budget to hire entirely new staff and get a complete set of equipment
- You want to keep your current IT staff but need more people
No matter what your IT needs are, there’s an option that’s bound to help you find more success. So be bold and ask us for help. If you’re unsure which option is best for you and your business, call us at 845-237-2117. We can help you determine which IT option is best suited for your business.
