3 Advantages Co-Managed IT Brings Your Team

If your business is fortunate enough to have an IT team that has been with you since the beginning, chances are they know all the intricacies of your technology, which is a good thing. However, technology doesn’t last forever, and if your team is stuck in the past to maintain outdated technology, chances are, so is your business. Learn how co-managed IT can help your IT team develop the skills to bring your business’ technology back to the future.

The Goal of Co-Managed IT Isn’t to Replace Your IT Department

When considering bringing co-managed IT to your business, you may find that you receive some pushback from your IT staff. Part of it is based on the belief that no outsider can know more about your systems than they can. They may be correct, especially if they have been maintaining it for some time; however, that in itself can be problematic, as it can hinder your business’ growth over the long term.

Another concern and the one which may cause the most disruption is the belief that you’ve brought a co-managed IT team to replace them. That’s a tough one because it is human nature to want to protect your position. In such instances, your in-house team may even unconsciously be resistant to accept the assistance co-managed IT brings to your business. 

Your best bet to overcome any resistance is to show your IT team how co-managed IT benefits them by making their jobs easier, their time more efficient, and helping the business’ bottom line. To help you make the case, here are some ways co-managed IT supports your team’s success.

3 Advantages Co-Managed IT Brings Your IT Team

Outside Talent Can Increase Their Knowledge

It’s no surprise to any of us that technology is constantly changing. If we consider how much even consumer-grade technology has evolved in the past few years, let alone in the past decade, we can easily see the advancements that have occurred. When this concept is applied to business-grade technology, we realize how much your bottom line depends on your IT team being versed with best practices regarding technology. If they’ve been working for you for the last few years, they only experience what you’ve provided for them to work with.

While having long-term team members is certainly a virtue, it can at times also be a double-edged sword. On one hand they know the ins and outs of your business, making them a valuable asset, on the other hand, they may feel no need to explore new options. This is in part because what they’ve been doing for years works (at least for them...your customers may be having a different experience), so why should they change? 

The nature of co-managed IT is such that it brings a new perspective to your IT team, exposing them to new ideas through wisdom-sharing and the up-to-date expertise of the co-managed IT team. When you invest in co-managed IT, you’re giving your team a chance to learn from the best, which in turn makes them better team members for the long-term survival of your business.

We’ll Do The Projects They Have No Interest (or Skill Set) In

One of the biggest things we see when we discuss IT with business owners who have an in-house IT department are the hanging chads: the projects or initiatives that don’t get far beyond the scoping phase because the current staff just doesn’t have the experience or capabilities to take things forward.

This isn’t the fault of your team—technology changes fast and if their job has been supporting your network, they probably aren’t finding a lot of time to pursue education, certification training, or experiment with new hardware and software that other businesses are using. Our team gets to work with businesses of all sizes, of all types, and with a massive variety of technologies. This gives us the capability to handle complex projects that most other techs may be shy about getting involved with.

We Can Equip Your Business (And Your IT Department) for the Future

A strong component of any technology solution is to plan for the future. When your co-managed IT partner evaluates a business’ system, a common concern is that when the systems were initially designed, they had to be compromised due to expense or lack of expertise. Over time these compromises require an increasing amount of resources to be compliant with newer practices. 

As you can imagine, these patches and workarounds will eventually lead to a cascading effect requiring more workarounds. The result may be instability or a lack of modernization which can cause your staff or customers to become frustrated when your technology doesn’t perform as expected.

When you invest in co-managed IT, you are investing in your organization’s future. It is best practice for your co-managed IT partner to ensure your technology is as future-proof as possible, leaving your organization room to grow.

Co-Managed IT Brings Enterprise-Level Technology To Your Organization

Do you feel that because of your size and budget, your organization isn’t able to compete against larger organizations as they are better able to leverage their technology? Co-managed IT provides your organization with a wealth of technology experts who are able to bring their expertise to your business. Expertise which is at the level or exceeds that of enterprise-level competitors.

To learn more about what we can offer, give us a call at (250) 483-5623 today.