Many companies have adopted hybrid working arrangements to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. These setups give employees the flexibility to work in any environment where they feel safe and more productive. However, facilitating hybrid work in a post-pandemic era comes with many IT challenges.
A distributed workforce means it's much more difficult to deploy and maintain crucial business tools, tech support, and cybersecurity measures. This can be particularly demanding for a small IT department that has to troubleshoot the technical issues of both remote workers and on-site staff. One way to provide both your in-house tech department and your distributed workforce the support they need is to invest in co-managed IT services.
What is co-managed IT?
In a hybrid work setup, the internal team can use the MSP’s tools to manage and remotely support both on-site and remote employees, with additional support from the MSP when needed.
Co-managed IT is a service model wherein an internal IT department is supplemented or provided tools and additional support by a third-party managed IT services provider (MSP). You can choose which areas and resources are provided by the MSP and which ones are managed by your own team. In a hybrid work setup, for example, the internal team can use the MSP’s tools to manage and remotely support both on-site and remote employees, with additional support from the MSP when needed.
What are the benefits of co-managed IT?
A co-managed IT setup makes perfect sense in the post-pandemic era for the following reasons:
IT needs have become more complex
Flexible working arrangements complicate IT requirements by making it harder for in-house IT departments to offer tech support. One solution is to troubleshoot remotely, but this means possibly investing in new software and recruiting additional IT personnel. MSPs perform most of their services remotely, so they already have the technology tools and the expertise to resolve technical issues without having to visit your staff at home.
As for software, you may have to invest in various solutions for your remote workers, such as cloud telephones and other virtual tools, that your in-house IT team may be unfamiliar with. These technologies need to be configured correctly to minimize service disruptions and secure any vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit to access your network. MSPs stay abreast of the latest IT solutions, so they can assist you in setting up and maximizing your tech investments.
Furthermore, with cyberthreats like nation-state threats and Ransomware-as-a-Service potentially becoming more prevalent in 2022, you will need experts on your business’s side if you want to protect your data. MSPs specialize in providing advanced cybersecurity solutions like a 24/7 security operations center, which can mitigate a wide array of cyberthreats..
Many businesses have limited resources
The pandemic dealt a serious blow to companies around the world, leading many to downsize and cut costs just to stay operational. You yourself likely had to forgo crucial tech upgrades and maintenance to preserve what limited resources your business had left.
Fortunately, MSPs charge an affordable monthly fee to proactively maintain, update, and optimize your systems. All the technologies they use to provide their services are also out of their own pocket, so you don't need to have enterprise-grade system administration tools. Plus, they provide solutions that can dramatically cut costs, such as cloud services and collaboration apps. The money you save by opting for co-managed IT services can then be diverted to more important things such as growing your business.
Hiring IT experts is difficult
Thanks to the pandemic, hiring experts for your in-house IT team is a challenge on its own. Intermittent surges in COVID-19 cases could mean some potential recruits are hesitant to work on-site or even come in for an interview. If you have limited resources in the first place, the costs of hiring and paying IT experts will probably cause a significant dent on your budget.
MSPs are composed of professionals who specialize in various fields of IT. This means adopting a co-managed setup is like hiring an entire team of IT specialists to supplement your internal tech department, but without the exorbitant costs.
Calling the coronavirus pandemic a significant hurdle for businesses is an understatement. But with solutions and strategies like co-managed IT, you can overcome difficult tech challenges and increase your business’s potential for growth.
Learn how your business can cut costs without compromising outcomes when you download this free eBook today.
