How to Tell If Your Co-Managed IT Provider Is Actually Co-Managed
When Is “Co-Managed” Not Really Co-Managed? You’d be surprised how often that question comes up.
Lately, it’s been bugging me because at Simplex-IT, we’ve built a reputation as one of the leaders in co-managed IT services, a model where internal IT teams and managed service providers actually work together as partners.
Almost half of our business is co-managed because we find it a great way to bring the strengths of internal IT folks and the strengths of a managed service provider such as Simplex-IT together.
So, What’s the Difference? We've been finding that we've got a lot of competition, which is absolutely great and absolutely wonderful. And a lot of our potential clients and in some cases new clients are finding out that we're a little bit more expensive. But then we take a look at the agreements that they're looking at and it's not co-managed.
Co-managed is a partnership between the provider and the internal IT folks. And what we found is in a number of cases, the managed service providers are essentially monitoring or doing the absolute minimum necessary but saying to the internal IT folks:
“If you need us, call us and we’ll bill you for it.”
Not exactly a partnership.
What True Co-Managed IT Includes. Real co-managed IT is built on collaboration and shared responsibility. It should include a broad range of services designed to empower, not replace, your internal IT team.
If you take a look, here’s what’s included in co-managed with Simplex-IT:
Cybersecurity: Layered protection including DMARC, endpoint protection, firewall monitoring, MFA, and password management.
Cloud Services: Management and protection of Microsoft 365, AWS, or Azure environments to enhance agility and productivity.
Disaster Planning & Recovery: Proactive strategies to ensure business continuity and resilience.
Employee Training: Customized training for cybersecurity, software, and business productivity.
Server Support: Keeping critical hardware secure, optimized, and available.
Data Backup Solutions: Reliable, secure backups across multiple environments.
Virtual CIO: Strategic IT leadership that aligns technology with business goals.
Managed Detection & Response (MDR): Continuous threat monitoring and rapid incident response.
Helpdesk: Responsive, accessible support through phone, email, or ticketing systems.
So, if you're taking a look at co-managed, make sure you're getting value, but the key question is simple: Who is responsible for each of these areas?
In a true co-managed relationship, that is decided together. Some responsibilities stay with your internal team, while others shift to your provider. The point is collaboration, not outsourcing.
The Bottom Line. If you’re exploring co-managed IT, make sure you’re actually getting co-management, not just monitoring.
Talk with your provider and your internal IT team about whether you’ll have a real partner, one you can call and say, “Hey, I want to talk about AI. I want to talk about CoPilot. I want to talk about MDR versus EDR versus XDR.”
And know it’s a conversation, not a sales pitch.
That's co-managed. The other stuff? We used to call that “monitoring only.” We're past that, aren't we?
Still have questions about Co-Managed IT? Schedule a call with us or visit our Learning Center for more information. We're here to help!
