Can your IT Department and Managed IT Services Coexist?

Many companies are using a Managed IT Support in order to simplify the IT framework within a business. Using Managed IT Services, the majority of IT work is handled off-site by the provider. But how does this affect your own IT department? Is there a need for people on-site if you are using cloud computing to handle most of your network tasks? The short answer is yes, but it does change the way on-site IT is performed using the Managed Services Model

Your IT Department and Managed IT Services Working in Cooperation

One way that you can get your IT department to work hand-in-hand with your Managed IT Service Provider is to view the provider as a resource but not a replacement for your IT workers. In this case, the provider takes many network jobs off your IT department’s plate, but doesn’t completely remove any need for them. Your IT department moves to becoming a combination of hardware support and communications, providing regular updates and status checks to Managed Service Companies. The workers within the department can also spend some time researching new cloud solutions and making recommendations for changes and updates in services that will allow you to improve efficiency. Much of this can be handled in advance when negotiating your Managed Service Provider Agreement.

On-Site Service

One thing to keep in mind with Managed IT Services Providers is that they are only required to perform work and maintenance on issues that directly relate to the services they provide. That means that your IT team will still be needed to handle any on-site issues, such as computer hardware problems, website updates, or software compatibility issues. It is often a good idea to draw up a formal delineation of tasks so you can identify exactly what is an IT issue and what problems should be directed to the Managed IT Services Provider. By knowing when to call the Managed IT Services Provider and when to rely on people in-house, you will speed up the rate at which problems are solved.

IT as an On-Call Service

If you are moving to a Managed IT Services as way of cutting down your need for an IT department, you might want to consider reducing but not entirely eliminating that group. In some cases, a provider might take a long time to get back to you, especially if they are a large organization with many clients who are experiencing outages all at once. In those cases, having on-site IT personnel can help you adapt to hard times and adjust accordingly. In these cases, you might want to create a per diem IT team that is paid based on the work they do rather than a fixed salary. This allows you to convert your IT team to an on-call service that can help you in emergencies.

As a whole, your Managed IT Services will be able to handle most issues related to cloud computing. However, very few offices rely entirely on a third party for technical support. While Managed Services do reduce the need for an IT department, they do not eliminate that need entirely, especially if you often face situations where fast on-site service can be useful. Male sure to interview the Top Managed Service Providers when exploring Managed Services.

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