Co-Managed IT Services for Businesses That Already Have IT
You already have someone who looks after your technology. Maybe it is a full IT department, maybe it is one person who also does
three other jobs, maybe it is a corporate team in another state. Co-managed IT services mean I work alongside them, not instead of them: I take
the pieces they don’t have the time, the tools or the location to cover, and they stay in charge.
What is co-managed IT?
Co-managed IT is an arrangement where an outside IT company shares the work with your in-house IT staff. Your people keep ownership of
the systems and the decisions. The outside company adds capacity, specialist skills or local on-site hands where you need them, and
the split is written down so nothing falls between the two. It is the middle ground between doing everything yourself and handing
everything to a managed service provider.
Who is it for?
- A business with one IT person. They are good, and they are stretched. When they are on vacation, out sick or buried in a project,
someone still has to answer. - A plant or branch whose IT team is somewhere else. Corporate IT runs the systems from out of state; nobody local can walk into the
server room, trace a cable or swap a switch. - An organisation with its own IT or telecom team and a fleet to manage. Phones, gateways, access points, cameras: hundreds of
small devices that need setting up, updating and watching.
What do you take off an IT team’s plate?
- On-site cover. When your IT person needs cover, I can step in on site. For two weeks at a large construction company I did a
network diagnosis with a written fix plan, a server clean-up, a camera inventory and a software deployment kit, all documented for their team. - Local hands for a remote IT team. At Inteplast Engineered Films in Orlando, whose corporate IT team is out of state, I manage
the PCs, Microsoft 365, backups, wireless, cameras and phone system, remotely and on site, alongside their corporate IT. - Projects your team designed. At a nonprofit headquarters, their IT team designed the new wireless network; I run the cabling
and mount the access points, and they configure it. - Device fleets. For the City of Lakeland, I co-manage the analog phone gateways from the City’s own Grandstream management account,
so new units are enrolled and configured remotely instead of building by building.
How the City of Lakeland manages its phone gateways. - Doors, cameras and phones next to corporate IT. At Sika’s plant in Haines City, I built and manage the door access system, cameras, cabling
and Grandstream phone system, alongside Sika’s in-house IT team. - Other IT companies. I also work alongside other managed IT providers: installs, site visits and projects in Central Florida
for firms based out of state, and overflow or specialist work (cabling, cameras) when their own team is full.
How is co-managed IT different from managed IT?
With managed IT, I am your IT department: one flat monthly fee and I look after everything. With co-managed IT, you already have IT,
and I fill specific gaps. Some businesses use a block of hours each month, some bring me in project by project, and some hand me one
area, such as the phone system, permanently. Which one fits depends on what your team wants to keep. If you are weighing the two, see
in-house IT vs a managed service provider.
Will you replace our IT person?
No. That is not what co-managed IT is for, and it is not how I work. Your IT person stays the owner of your systems and the person who
decides. I work to their standards, document what I do in their systems, and hand things back. The usual outcome is that your IT
person gets to do the work they were hired for instead of firefighting.
How does it start?
A short call with whoever runs your IT now. We agree what I take, what stays with your team, how requests reach me and who signs off on
changes. Then we start small, usually one area or one project, and widen it only if it is working. Business hours are Monday to Friday,
8 AM to 6 PM Eastern, and I respond within two hours during business hours.
Where do you work?
Across Central Florida: Kissimmee and Osceola County, Haines City, Davenport, Lakeland and the rest of Polk County, and the Orlando
side of the I-4 corridor. Remote work anywhere; on-site work is scheduled. Local pages: IT support in Kissimmee,
IT support in Lakeland.
Talk to me about co-managed IT or call (321) 221-7117.
