If you’re holding back on outsourcing Managed IT Services because you really don’t want to let go of your internal IT staff, there’s a solution that you may not have considered – use both. Having both outsourced and internal IT can bring you benefits that you can’t get when you go with one or the other. This arrangement, however, isn’t suitable for every situation.

This works best for enterprise level companies that are early adopters of new technology and have complex IT systems and needs. It can also work for medium-sized companies that have an enterprise mindset and are consistently upgrading and improving their technology.

Reasons to Keep Your Internal IT Staff

If you have a large IT department right now, it might not make sense to keep everyone when you start to outsource IT. Retaining one or a few people will give you someone who can respond onsite immediately and provide the quickest solutions to simple issues.

Because your internal IT staff are part of your company, they’ll have an advantage in knowing your business and your people the best. If they’ve been there awhile, they may have knowledge that isn’t documented but is essential to your business operations.

Depending on their experience level, bringing in outsourced managed services can free up your internal IT person to work on high level projects that are solely focused on improving your business. Chances are good that right now they never get to these initiatives because they’re burdened with day-to-day IT activities.

Reasons to Outsource Managed IT Services

The main reason why business leaders think of outsourcing Managed IT Services is to get a comprehensive technology skillset. A Managed Service Provider (MSP) can give you access to all of the IT specialties that you need, and that you don’t have right now.

Along with the wide array of expertise, you benefit from all of the tools and processes that the MSP uses to deliver a high level of IT management. Additionally, the MSP will usually recommend certain hardware or software that they know have a track record for high performance.

You should expect your MSP to provide you with IT consulting, in the form of vCIO (Virtual Chief Information Officer) or advisor services. This person will collaborate with you to explore new technology concepts and plan the best way to adopt new and emerging technologies.

Related Article: Help! We’re Stuck in MSP Lite

Potential Problems with Internal IT + Managed IT Services

Your internal IT staff can either feel thrilled or threatened at the thought of augmenting what they do with outsourced IT services. Change is hard and you may have to make a hard decision to shrink your internal department at least a little.

Depending on how you structure the arrangement and the experience level of your internal staff, the decision-making process could be slowed down. It’s essential to present the arrangement as a collaboration and not competition.

Your internal folks will need to learn new processes and tools. For those who view change and challenge as stimulating, this will go well. For those who are reluctant to change their ways, this could turn into a stumbling block.

How XPERTECHS Augments Internal IT Staff

Here at XPERTECHS, the way that we deliver Managed IT Services is through XperCARE. This is a framework that has proven to bring companies better business results from technical strength and strategy. For the majority of our clients, we are the sole IT resource but for some we work alongside their internal IT staff.

While each situation is unique, here’s a picture of how this can work:

What Your IT People Do

• Handle tech support requests and use our ticketing dashboard.
• Respond quickly to simple onsite requests.
• Set up new workstations and laptops after they’ve been configured.
• Communicate with employees about technology needs.
• Take care of compliance issues when necessary.
• Engage in strategic planning with business leaders and XPERTECHS.
• Vendor management.

What XPERTECHS Does

• Handle escalated tech support requests.
• Provide proactive IT management and monitoring for your whole network and endpoints.
• Provide a Security Operations Center (SOC).
• Engage in strategic planning with business leaders and the IT Manager.
• Plan and implement a roadmap to build a solid IT foundation.
• Provide engineering and project expertise for IT improvements.

What’s Right for Your Organization?

When you know that you need to do something different with IT but you don’t know what that is, augmenting your internal IT department can be a good option to explore.

Contact us to schedule a consultation and we’ll help you discover if internal IT plus Managed IT Services is your path to improved operations and business success.