How Co-Managed Phoenix IT Support Drives Value for Your Business

Phoenix IT support partners act as caddies for your business.

Before you think Waste Management Open sponsored this post (they didn’t), hear me out.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a pro willing to forgo having their caddy with them on the course. The caddy isn’t changing the inherent skill of the golfer. Instead, they help maximize the pro’s chances of winning by providing expert guidance.

Similarly, in a co-managed IT support system, your existing IT team is not changed or replaced by your external provider. Your partner strategically takes on activities that help your internal team drive value and accomplish goals. You only reap these benefits if you’re:

1. Ready for co-managed IT

2. Know which tasks to hand off

3. Have the right partner for your business

Let’s start with the first point, figuring out if you should have co-managed IT.

1. How to Tell if Co-Managed IT Support Makes Sense for Your Business

Not every organization needs co-managed IT or the same Phoenix IT support services. There’s no hard and fast rule, but general guidelines based on size exist.

Under 50 users

The cost-benefit analysis does not favor hiring internally when you have under 50 users. It will be too expensive. Most organizations gain more value from outsourcing all IT services because you get a variety of skillsets for the same cost as an internal help desk.

50-125 users

Somewhere around the 50-employee mark, it makes sense to move to a co-managed model. Your external partner takes on tasks you can’t or don’t want, to do. This frees your internal team to work on activities that drive value.

125+ users

Businesses with over 125 employees typically have an in-house IT director. To carry out initiatives or projects, they bring in external IT help to execute their strategy.

Size isn’t everything

Sometimes, looking at size-based guidelines doesn’t help. So, ask yourself this: is my IT team working on projects that are the highest and best use (HABU) of their time? When HABU is not happening, go to a co-managed model.

2. Determine What You Want Your Phoenix IT Support Partner to Manage

Co-managed IT is adaptable. Your partner will provide skillsets based on what you want your internal team to focus on. Here are a few ways the itSynergy team fits into different types of co-managed relationships.

Basic helpdesk stays in-house, complex IT gets outsourced

Many businesses choose to keep helpdesk technicians in-house because:

• Compared to other IT roles, it is easy and affordable to fill
• Internal technicians have deep knowledge about common problems and the exact resources of an organization
• You can say “fix this now, it’s critical” and not wait in a ticketing queue with other high-priority requests from other businesses

Why you don’t want the entire helpdesk in-house

Eventually, you’ll run into an issue beyond the skillset of your internal team and need someone with specialized experience and certifications to solve the problem.

We refer to these technicians as escalation resources. It makes little sense to have them on staff. They command salaries well into 6 figures and you can’t provide 40 hours of work per week for them.

Instead, send complex requests to your outsourced IT partner who employs highly skilled IT professionals to resolve the issue for you.

You can hand off tasks you don’t have the tools to manage efficiently on your own

One of our clients has around 65 mostly remote, users. In a meeting with their internal IT person and the CEO, patch management came up. Patch management prevents IT issues and keeps people from calling support who will first check to see if all patches are up to date. It’s critical and can be difficult to manage with a distributed workforce.

Internally, the client didn’t have the tools to effectively administer remote patches

The CEO wanted systems patched to mitigate risks. This buried their IT person under a mountain of inefficiencies as he tried to manage patches, follow-up with users about rebooting systems, and track what had or had not been installed.

Handing patch management to us created value for the client

Every day, we manage computers in a distributed environment. Our tools and processes are designed to work remotely.

We shared with the client how we could manage patches for them and the steps we take to follow up with users and ensure patches are installed. Now, our client’s internal IT person spends his work week on activities that provide higher business value.

How to Balance Security and Efficiency

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Execute strategic or one-off projects

Larger organizations with IT directors rely on external IT partners to carry out specific strategic projects or offer ongoing support. This system is advantageous because it:

• Doesn’t distract from the core day-to-day work of the internal team
• Brings in specialized skillsets only when needed
• Keeps overhead low

Cloud migrations are one good example of this. Another would be replacing networking equipment.

Once the equipment is replaced, you won’t need an in-house networking expert for several years. It makes more sense to contract that specific skillset for the duration of the project instead of adding employees.

3. Choose a Phoenix IT Support Partner With Solutions Aligned to Your Goals

During initial calls, we immediately tell whoever we’re meeting with if we’re not a fit for their organization. We offer this upfront assessment because it’s not in anyone’s best interest to enter into a partnership when values don’t align. For instance, if a business only wants helpdesk support, they’ll find a better option for their budget with a different company.

Our value-add comes from being more than just a number to call

We do more than just provide ongoing IT support. We proactively look for ways to lower risk for clients. Our solutions are designed to bring a high level of cybersecurity to our clients. We engage with our partners on a strategic level to solve business problems and create efficiencies using technology.

Mulligans Give You a Do-Over — In Golf

There isn’t an equivalent for outsourced IT. While you can leave a bad co-managed relationship, you can’t get back the lost time.

We want you to be comfortable with your decision and enter a co-managed partnership confident it will create value for you and your internal IT team.

So, let’s talk. That’s it. Just talk. We’ll see if we’re a good fit for each other under a co-managed model.

See if a co-managed IT partnership will work for you.

Let’s talk.