Organizations of all sizes and in all industries are eager to exploit emerging technologies, but staff limitations often frustrate attempts to launch high-level initiatives. Even companies with in-house IT staff struggle to keep pace with day-to-day operations much less accelerating technology change. A co-managed IT services arrangement is a cost-effective way to augment in-house staff with additional manpower and expertise.
Many organizations rely upon IT generalists who have functional skills in areas ranging from desktop and database support to website and server management. However, the lack of deep expertise can be a drawback for major strategic initiatives. In fact, a recent CompTIA study found that nearly 20 percent of IT projects are postponed or cancelled due to IT staff shortages.
Traditionally, there have been three ways to address staff shortages — hire more people, bring on short-term contract employees, or outsource the project to a third party. While there are good arguments for all three methods, each has drawbacks as well.
Hiring additional staff with the right skill sets isn’t always an option due to budget limitations. Staff augmentation costs can also spiral upward, and there’s no guarantee of an effective knowledge transfer. A managed services arrangement is great for smaller organizations with no IT staff or perhaps just “an IT guy,” but may be overkill for organizations with an internal IT group.
Co-managed IT services offer a hybrid approach, with outside experts supplementing your own staff in an arrangement that is closer to a partnership than outsourcing. In this model, your internal IT staff will direct the service provider’s staff to ensure that services are customized to meet your technical and operational requirements. This allows you to cost-effectively boost staffing levels while maintaining a great degree of control over operations.
The co-managed model delivers a high level of flexibility. You can scale staffing levels up or down as needed for certain functions, such as help-desk support, security updates, server management or network operations. You can choose whether you want outside help with day-to-day tasks to free your staff for strategic initiatives, or vice versa. Plus, you ensure you’re always covered when IT personnel take vacations or sick leave.
A co-managed arrangement also lets you ramp up quickly by eliminating the recruiting and training process — the service provider’s staff already has the skills needed to hit the ground running. And they can be available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to meet mission-critical requirements.
Your internal staff will also appreciate the benefits. Given a great degree of control, they’ll be able to use their skills and talents in a way that enhances both the organization and their careers while helping the organization operate more effectively and efficiently.
The truth is that the speed of innovation in the IT world is so great that skills gaps are a natural part of the industry. The demand for new technologies outpaces the supply of workers who are trained and credentialed in those areas. Partnering with a service provider through in a co-managed IT model is a cost-efficient way to gain the manpower and expertise needed to keep pace with the changing tech landscape.
