How MSPs Work with Internal IT to Enhance Operational Efficiency

IT drives productivity and efficiency in most businesses. Lower costs for IT infrastructure combined with the increasing availability and functionality of apps and software has made IT an integral part of almost every organization.

However, as IT plays a role in every aspect of a business, from day-to-day operations to high-level strategy, the workload for internal IT departments has grown exponentially. IT departments are required to do more with less every day. As a result, efficiency is vital.

For many organizations, achieving IT efficiency can be extremely tough. Thankfully, IT departments are not required to stick to the old ways of doing things or even to look the same as they did a few years ago.

A new generation of co-managed IT departments has sprung up that uses tools, technological innovations, and software while leveraging partnerships with external managed service providers (MSPs) to vastly increase efficiency.

No more repetitive IT maintenance tasks

Working with an MSP can reduce the amount of repetitive IT maintenance and administrative tasks that your in-house IT team handles. Items such as system updates, software patching, and monitoring for hardware issues might seem like quick and simple tasks. But when you add them to a busy working week, these mundane but necessary tasks can significantly drain limited staff resources.

An MSP partner can take care of many boring day-to-day duties (often by leveraging automation and machine learning), leaving your internal staff free to be more strategic and creative. When everyone uses their respective skills more effectively, you boost efficiency.

24/7 service desk

Unfortunately, IT problems don’t stick to standard office hours. If something goes wrong when your internal IT team is unavailable or out of the office, it can lead to serious downtime, which can have significant effects on efficiency, productivity, and reputation. By partnering with an MSP, you can get access to a 24/7 service desk that will address your organization’s most common IT issues, taking the burden off your internal team and ensuring issues are fixed as soon as possible. This round-the-clock support is particularly useful for organizations working across different time zones or with remote or flexible employees who may not stick to a 9-to-5 schedule.

Proactive monitoring and maintenance

Due to a lack of time and resources, internal IT teams often deal with network problems or security vulnerabilities as they happen. Reacting to IT issues is inefficient, resulting in significant disruption to operations as well as risking serious cybersecurity breaches. An MSP can provide proactive monitoring and maintenance that helps you identify potential issues before they become problems, fix vulnerabilities, and ensure a minimum of downtime for your systems and business operations.

Cloud solutions

Cloud solutions are one of the best ways to boost efficiency and improve business resiliency by offering ways to help teams collaborate more effectively, ensure remote working is both possible and productive, and reduce investments in hardware. But migrating to the cloud can become a complicated endeavor, especially if you are trying to do it during a normal workweek without disrupting the business.

An MSP partner can help assess your current business needs, choose the best cloud solutions, and undertake the entire migration process for you. Cloud computing can deliver a vast array of services, from reducing infrastructure to streamlining your line of business applications. A migration to the cloud can improve performance, save money, add scalability, and provide a comprehensive disaster recovery solution, but it can be tricky to implement. Your MSP partner can implement and manage such a project around your workload.

Added strategic consultation

Finally, an MSP can have a huge impact on a strategic level through consultation and advice on how to leverage IT in order to make your overall operations more effective and efficient. A co-managed service model combines the in-depth expertise and know-how of your internal IT department with the flexibility, scalability, and efficiency of outsourced IT. By spreading the workload, working with an MSP can make a huge difference on your business’s operational efficiency.

As hybrid and remote work becomes more prevalent, the ability to scale rapidly and deal with complex cybersecurity and connectivity challenges has never been greater. In a more varied, changeable, and complicated IT environment, relying solely on traditional IT departments may no longer be the best fit for many businesses -- and these departments will certainly not be able to offer the level of flexibility, productivity, and efficiency that comes with a co-managed model.

If you are interested in finding out more about how co-managed IT can positively impact your organization, get in touch with VC3.