What Is Co-Managed IT?

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To be successful in business today you need technology and the expertise to manage it. Yet recruiting and retaining internal IT experts is challenging. Those who know how to support, secure, and scale technology assets are in high demand. That’s one reason many take advantage of co-managed IT.

Co-managed IT sees your internal teamwork alongside a managed service provider (MSP). Together, you improve agility and better manage complex IT environments.

You choose what roles and responsibilities stay in-house and outsource the rest. This is useful if you have an understaffed or overworked internal IT team or when you’re struggling to staff up.

The co-managed IT approach offers several advantages:

  • increased efficiency
  • external expertise
  • improved business offerings
  • cost-effectiveness
  • enhanced end-user experience
  • better retention of internal IT staff
  • security gains

We’ll discuss each in more detail next.

Increased efficiency

Co-managed IT service providers can take on a range of technology tasks. This includes upgrading software, backing up and protecting data, and troubleshooting. They can also add or provide security, support cloud migration, and maintain servers.

You might also turn to co-managed IT to help with regulatory compliance or to manage remote locations. This route is also an expeditious way to support a growing company and meet an immediate need.

When you have specialized requirements, adapt quickly by partnering with an MSP with those skills. This saves you the time and effort needed to learn that new area or to hire new people.

External expertise

Having another set of IT experts supporting your objectives can help you succeed. You don’t risk the tunnel vision of only internal people validating each other’s decisions; you get the benefit of an outsider’s perspective. Plus, the MSP experts can bring varied backgrounds. They’ll also have experience with many different clients, which could help identify fresh opportunities.

Improved business offerings

Established MSPs focus on cost-effectiveness and operational efficiency. They keep current on emerging technology trends and the ever-evolving threat landscape. Their insights can help you install best practices. You can learn how to streamline processes and improve outcomes.

You also gain an IT partner that wants to take the pressure off your internal team. This can help you achieve a competitive advantage.

Cost-effectiveness

Instead of a break-fix model or a project basis, co-managed IT is typically long-term. This can provide cost savings with a consistent budget line item that you can plan around.

You also expand IT resources without having to recruit, train, retain, and pay benefits.

Enhanced end-user experience

When someone else is handling routine tasks, your IT can install top technologies. Giving your internal team freedom to innovate can also bring greater access to time savings and real-time insights for end users.

Co-managed IT can also provide your users with 24/7/365 support. There is a support system in place when your own internal IT staff members are sick or go on vacation.

Better retention of internal IT staff

By sharing IT responsibilities, you free your people up to focus on what matters most. Co-managing IT also provides a relief valve to take pressure off of overworked teams. Aligning with a partner to achieve goals can also enhance IT staff satisfaction.

Security gains

MSPs can help improve your cybersecurity posture by identifying unnecessary complexity. They provide a fresh look at your systems. Co-managed IT experts can monitor networks and install system protection, and they can handle security patches as well as software and hardware upgrades. These experts can also put preventative measures in place to avoid downtime, handle data backup, and prepare a disaster recovery plan.

Want to learn more about co-managed IT services? Talk to our experts about the role we can play in your business success today. Call us now at (515)422-1995.

IT Services Agreement or Block Hours Support: Which Is Best for a Small Business?

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There are many types of IT support available for a business, and the two most common are “managed services” and “block hours support.” In this article, we’ll look at what these are, the advantages and disadvantages of each, and which one might be right for you.

What Is Block Hours Support?

With block hours support, you pre-pay a single provider for a certain amount and type of service. It’s usually a “block” or fixed number of hours, but it can also be a fixed dollar amount or an amount for a specific project.

What Are the Advantages of Block Hours Support?

Block hours support is usually cheaper than hiring your own staff. The provider has skilled staff with up-to-date training, so they can quickly and efficiently handle your needs. Your provider can also give you a bulk discount when you purchase more hours at a time.

And with a block hours agreement, you pay only for what you need. For example, you can save money by maintaining only the infrastructure and staff you need when you need it. That allows you to avoid a closet full of expensive hardware that you thought you were going to need or staff that don’t have enough to do.

What Are the Disadvantages of Block Hours Support?

Block hours support is what’s called a “break/fix” type of service. In other words, your provider isn’t usually involved until you have a problem. You wait until something goes wrong, and then call your provider to fix it.

That doesn’t give you the advantage of constant monitoring and management that can prevent problems before they start. That’s especially important for things such as cybersecurity, where it’s best to detect an attack and prevent damage instead of trying to fix it.

In addition, everyone’s IT operations are unique, so it helps to have someone who’s familiar with your setup when you need help. But a block hours support provider usually can’t guarantee that you’ll always get the same technician or even the best technician for your job. That means your service might be slower or less effective than a more comprehensive approach.

Reacting to a problem after it occurs also means you could experience more downtime. It could be hours before your provider can respond to your call and fix the problem. If you can’t afford to wait, you probably need a more proactive solution.

What Are the Advantages of a Managed Services Agreement?

With a managed services agreement, you typically have the option of more comprehensive services. For instance, instead of just reactive troubleshooting, your provider can continuously monitor and manage your processes such as cybersecurity.

They can also provide more “premium” services, such as more comprehensive management and even strategic planning.

What Are the Disadvantages of a Managed Services Agreement?

Compared to “block hours support,” the main disadvantage of a managed services agreement is cost. Your contract will usually be a fixed monthly fee, which you pay regardless of whether you use any services. Typically, larger organizations use more services, so this isn’t an issue for them, but for smaller businesses, it could be that contracting for managed services is overkill that could cost you money.

Which Solution is Right for You?

Block hours support works well if you don’t have a very large or complex operation, and you can afford the downtime you might experience when a problem arises.

Larger organizations can take advantage of premium services to help them save more on their operations.

Want help assessing your outsourced IT needs? Give us a call at (515)422-1995.

Making Smart IT Purchases with an MSP

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There is no shortage of business technology out there to choose from. The sheer volume of options is overwhelming, and it can be challenging to identify the right solution for your business. This article provides ideas to help you make smart IT purchases.

You want to get the most out of your IT budget in 2023, but these common factors can derail smart IT purchases:

  • Many small and medium-sized business owners don’t have a lot of technical expertise.
  • Making buying decisions based only on a budget can lead to getting tech that won’t suit your needs.
  • People get drawn in by marketing appeals or salesperson charisma.
  • Buyers want to simplify their lives, so it seems to make sense to go with the same supplier or brand. But that’s not always the best answer.

All this means that even the best-intentioned buyers can choose the wrong technology. Maybe that new system isn’t compatible with existing software and hardware. You make things more difficult for your employees instead of improving productivity. Or you can end up wasting money on something you don’t need, or getting the perfect product but at an exorbitant price.

Strategies to Support Better Tech Purchases

When it’s time to buy technology, several strategies can improve your results.

Establish your requirements

This is more than thinking, “I want X to do this and that.” Map out your current technology to see what might already meet those requirements. Plus, learn what compatibilities will be essential to effectively use the new tech.

Talk to your employees

Ask about what they would change and what they like best about the tech you’re replacing. They’re the ones who are going to be using your tech purchases on a daily basis. Buying decisions made in isolation could saddle staff with IT that frustrates them.

Think long term

This can prevent you from getting caught up in glitzy marketing or salesperson enthusiasm. Yes, it’s human to want that cool, shiny gadget with all the bells and whistles, but it may not be what your business needs, either today or down the road.

In fact, if you’re oversold technology, you could face IT budget woes in the future. On the other hand, you don’t want to buy something that you’re going to have to replace soon. That’s setting yourself up to do this all over again. You want to make a choice that is the right fit for your current requirements but that can also scale with you.

The Solution to Tech Purchase Miscues

Of course, all this takes time – a long time if you lack IT expertise. That’s time away from running your business and revenue-generating activity. Partner with a managed service provider (MSP) to simplify the process. We can look at your existing setup and learn what you need. Then, we’ll use our experience and vendor connections to get you the best deals on smart tech purchases. Call us today at (515)422-1995.

4 Tech Trends to Know About for 2023

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A new year is an opportunity to start afresh. This is also true for your technology initiatives. Your business can begin 2023 on the right foot by considering these important IT trends.

#1 Cloud migration

The pandemic pushed businesses to work remotely. Even those that said they’d never work from home saw benefits. Now, with cloud computing battle-tested, many offices are choosing to remain remote or at least hybrid, even though they could now go back.

So, expect the move to the cloud to continue for businesses looking to enjoy:

  • increased productivity and output;
  • ability to scale up and down as needed;
  • capital and space savings;
  • consistent user experience across devices;
  • easier upgrades and security patching, as IT teams can manage this all in the cloud.

Migrating to the cloud also brings sustainability benefits. Cloud data centers are more energy efficient than on-premises IT infrastructure.

#2 Automation

Any opportunity to streamline processes can support competitive advantage. That’s why many digitally savvy businesses are embracing automation.

Improve human capital use by automating workflows that take abundant employee time. You can free up employees to work on higher-value initiatives. Plus, you can reduce the risk of human data entry or data processing errors. You’ll also cut the security risk from human involvement with sensitive data.

Platforms such as Power Automate and IFTTT (IF This Then That) make it simple.

#3 Multi-factor authentication

The days of securing business technology in a single, contained setting are gone. With digital transformation, businesses are growing more diffuse. People want to access business systems from any device, whether in the office or off-site.

Yet the old approach of trusting that the user, device, or application is who or what it claims to be no longer works. Frequent data breaches prove the importance of avoiding repeating passwords across sites. Hackers can use leaked credentials to get access and take action in a business network.

Multi-factor authentication (MFA) makes that compromised access more difficult. The bad actor needs to have the username and password to a separate device for verification.

As MFA gains momentum, expect to see more use of password managers and authenticator apps. Managers keep and secure all the unique, strong passwords people need to make. Authenticators help verify users are who they say they are.

#4 Optimizing IT budget

This is not a new trend, of course. Still, with the uncertain global economic outlook for 2023, it is a higher priority. As inflation and rising costs hit businesses, optimize IT budgets to align with your goals. This can improve user and customer experience, and help you corral costs.

Many businesses reach out to managed service providers (MSPs) for help reducing spend. Our IT experts can also help you to migrate to the cloud, automate, and secure your systems. Contact us today at (515)422-1995.

How Your Business Could Benefit from a vCIO

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Businesses often hire a managed service provider (MSP) for tech support. But if that’s all you’re getting from your MSP, you could be missing out. You might gain by adding a Virtual CIO.

The typical MSP engagement involves coming in and surveying your IT infrastructure. You can expect the MSP to:

  • make sure your antivirus software is up to date (or that you have it in the first place);
  • install firewalls and other security protections;
  • patch or update any tech that needs it;
  • establish a data backup process.

Some MSPs will stop there. If that’s all they offer, you might consider expanding your view of what an IT provider can offer your business. Your tech support can also drive strategy to save money and ensure safe, smooth operations, and you may need a virtual CIO.

What is a vCIO?

Members of your C-suite are experts in their focus areas. A virtual chief information officer (vCIO) specializes in the latest technology and cybersecurity. More than “tech support,” the vCIO is a strategist invested in your business’s success, but they do this as a third party, virtually, instead of as an in-house employee.

A vCIO analyzes your IT infrastructure for weaknesses to suggest process or security reworks. They can formulate long-term technology goals based on your business objectives. Then, they’ll provide a road map for your technology strategy.

An MSP is more focused on service delivery, whereas the vCIO takes a forward-looking approach. Working with more decision-making authority, the VCIO can create an IT budget. They can also work to reduce your business expenses. One way they’ll do this is by building relationships with vendors to ensure the best rates and services. Note: you should already be saving money by working with a vCIO rather than hiring a traditional CIO.

What to look for in a vCIO?

The IT expert or experts taking on your vCIO role should bring a wide range of skills to the table. These include:

  • ability to align your IT strategy to your business goals;
  • robust knowledge of technology trends to understand what will best serve your organization;
  • project planning and management skills to ensure completion on time and within scope;
  • experience in cost optimization and measuring key performance indicator metrics;
  • ability and willingness to collaborate effectively with teams throughout the business;
  • communication skills to report to business stakeholders, and liaise with clients and vendors.

Our MSP your vCIO

Some MSPs steer clear of planning and assisting with decision-making. They hone in on today’s operational tasks and fix current problems, but our IT experts are here to add immense value to your business. Partner with us in the vCIO role. We’ll be supportive and provide a technology direction to help you grow your business.

Contact us today at (515)422-1995.

“Save Me the Money”: Why Work with an MSP

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The pandemic, a supply-chain crisis, and rising inflation are impacting the economy. In this current climate, your business may be budgeting with caution, and you might question the value of partnering with a managed service provider (MSP). Yet as counterintuitive as it may seem, adding MSP services could save you money overall.

The right MSP supports your business efficiency. You can also cut costs and get more from your IT investment. At the same time, you gain a partner to provide IT monitoring and maintenance. This can help avoid costly downtime and lost productivity from unexpected IT disruptions. Instead of reacting to problems, the MSP proactively manages your tech to ensure it meets your evolving needs.

One of the first things an MSP will do is get an overview of your business technology environment. The MSP can identify savings with an objective view of systems, software, and hardware. The MSP often lowers IT overheads by looking at all bills and subscriptions to find duplicates and the right fit for your plans. The MSP has provider relationships to draw upon and can help find the right solution at the right price. Unlike software salespeople, there’s no advantage in an MSP attempting to sell you more than you need.

Affordable IT expertise

With an MSP, you also avoid the effort and expense of recruiting, retaining, and training your own IT staff. Bringing in an IT team is increasingly expensive. Demand for such talent is high, and the labor market is tight. But with an MSP, you gain access to tech talent that has a breadth of experience, plus, the MSP is doing the hiring and HR for those experts.

Already have IT people on-site? Keep them happier by giving them challenging projects and inviting them to innovate. They can be contributing to your bottom line while the MSP’s team takes on the routine, mundane IT tasks.

Further, an MSP helps you scale without the challenges of bringing in more IT help or having to let valued staff go. An MSP can help your business migrate to the cloud, where you can grow tech capabilities without having to invest in more staff or systems. If market pressures make scaling back makes sense, you can also do that easily in the cloud with an MSP’s help.

Cost-effective IT solutions with MSPs

The MSP’s goal is to solve your tech problems. Success is boosting business efficiency and finding cost-effective IT solutions. Taking a proactive approach to IT, MSP experts can also cut cybersecurity risk, or, if the worst does happen, they can have plans in place to help your business get back up and running quickly. That can help you save money, too.

Find out more about the value of investing in MSP services. Contact us today at (515)422-1995!

SMBs Can Become a Weapon in Cyberwarfare

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Headlines today highlight Ukrainian tragedy or North Korea testing missiles. It can seem far away from your business, yet battles are being fought online, too. Your small business’s IT systems could be weaponized for cyberwarfare.

That statement may surprise you. You’ve heard of cyber targets such as:

  • critical national infrastructure;
  • election and voting organizations;
  • military databases;
  • government communication outlets.

In the days preceding Russia’s attack, 70 Ukrainian governmental organizations were hacked. Messages in Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish warned people to be afraid and expect the worst.

But, why would someone want to target your small business as part of their cyberwarfare? You may be only a stepping stone to help the attackers achieve their larger goal.

How your business can become a target

You could be the victim of a supply-chain or leap-frog attack, or you might have a business partner who is also an accountant to a defense contractor, or your business might be providing heating and air conditioning maintenance to a utility. That connection makes you interesting to hackers.

Attackers use you as a pawn in digital warfare. They expect you have fewer defenses than the highly funded end target, so they infect your network to facilitate their attack. They might send a fake invoice from your business to the target, one that is laden with a malicious payload. The client, trusting your credibility, opens the malware. From there, the attacker has access to the information they were seeking from the outset.

How to shore up your defenses

Increase your cyber vigilance. Don’t think that you are too small to be a target. Instead, create and maintain a cybersecurity plan. Follow best practices to keep your systems resilient, and ensure you have the proper protection in place.

This type of attack often leverages software vulnerabilities, so make sure that all your systems are up to date and patched, leverage antivirus tools, and stay current on the latest threats you should protect against.

Also, remind your employees about the importance of good cyber hygiene, the humans who work for you are often the weakest link. They don’t mean to cause any damage, but they click on that phishing email or go to that website with malware downloads embedded.

Multifactor authentication can also help you combat hacker access. Even if the bad actor does get a user’s credentials, they still need an approved device to get in. This makes it much more difficult to compromise your network.

It’s also a good idea to establish ongoing monitoring of any security events and install remote access controls. Geo-fencing can restrict certain foreign IP addresses, and Certificates can validate trusted computers that remotely access your systems. Then, use the data from those tools to identify any suspicious activity.

A managed service provider (MSP) can help with any of these defense tactics. We don’t want to see you turned into an unwitting weapon in someone’s cyberwarfare. Contact us today to learn more about what we can do to help reduce your attack surface.

Reach to us today at (515)422-1995.

What an MSP Can Offer Your Business

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It’s not as if the name “managed services provider ” (MSP) is that self-explanatory. You might read that business description and have no real idea what it is an MSP can do for you. We’re providing managed services … OK, but what does that mean? To make things easier, this article outlines the actual IT services an MSP provides.

Most important, an MSP provides preventative services. We detect issues before they become a problem. The mission is to protect your business against costly downtime.

Too many businesses are reactive: they wait for something to go wrong with their business technology, then they look for someone to help resolve the problem. Ours is not a break-fix approach to IT. Our job is to keep your business technology safe and available. We get to know your business. That way, we can anticipate your needs and ensure your IT is always supporting your success.

An MSP proactively monitors, patches, and updates your software. We keep your technology current and optimized. This includes your laptops, desktops, and mobile devices, plus your network and servers. We’ll also keep an eye on your firewalls, switches, and access points. That way, you can focus instead on other elements of your business.

But, wait. That’s not all

This proactive mindset extends to cybersecurity services. Hackers target small businesses, expecting them to have less protection in place. You need to defend your business. The MSP’s security experts review your systems to identify and address vulnerabilities. We can keep up with system updates, software patching, antivirus, and more to shore up your security posture. You can’t keep up with the myriad daily security alerts, because you don’t have the bandwidth. For us, it’s part of our job.

Another beneficial MSP service is strategic advice. You know the ins and outs of your business; we know the finer points about technology for businesses like yours. We get to know how you and your people work and suggest the best tools to meet your needs. We can help you decide on the right technology and the best timeline for your budget. Outsourcing IT management to us, you get a well-informed CIO on your team. That’s without having to take on the burden of recruiting and retaining top tech talent.

We can also manage your business continuity and disaster-recovery strategy. Your MSP will establish a solid data-backup plan. Plus, they’ll regularly audit recovery capabilities. They will ensure everything can be restored efficiently if the worst does happen.

Yet another business burden we take on for you is end-user support. Unless, that is, you like being the one your people call when a printer goes down or they can’t connect remotely. Our personable, professional tech experts can become your tech support team. You gain an on-call support provider responding to your users’ needs.

Get the right services managed

So, now you know what an MSP can do for you. Maybe you don’t need all those services managed by your MSP. That can work too. Many of us offer packages bundling different levels of service or capabilities. The point is that your MSP will work with you to provide reliable, safe, and efficient IT for your business. Find out more today by calling us at (515)422-1995!

Aligning Strategy and IT with Your MSP

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Scaling your business is critical to your success. Business is, after all, dynamic. Ideally, it’s growing, but it almost always needs to pivot. When that happens, you need your IT to keep pace. Working with a managed service provider (MSP) to align your strategy and IT can support and even drive agility.

There are times when your business wants to scale up or needs to scale down. Perhaps you’re releasing a new product; maybe your business is seasonal; or, as we all saw in 2020, something unexpected can come along and require you to change the way you do business. No matter what, in today’s environment, you need your technology to evolve with you.

Although MSPs can help fix technology when there are problems, they can do so much more. Taking on an MSP as a partner to help guide your changes adds value to the relationship. Here are several ways the MSP can help.

Help determine what is achievable

As a business owner, it’s part of your job to be visionary and think big. Yet you don’t want to exceed your technology capacity. Demanding more of your IT than it can handle could lead to disastrous downtime. Instead, bring in your MSP’s IT experts to consult on what is achievable and how to get there.

The phrase digital transformation is on everyone’s lips these days. You might want a digital workforce, optimized digital service, or improved business analytics. Yet you won’t get the full benefit of these initiatives if your business doesn’t have the IT framework.

Plan for technology to meet new demands

Bringing on more employees? Congrats! They’ll need computers, phones, and network access. You’ll also need the right software licenses, server capacity, and more. You’re busy enough recruiting and retaining the talent. Turn to your MSP to make sure the tech infrastructure is in place to support your changing workplace.

Working with your MSP to plan for a short-term spike in tech demands can help ensure things go smoothly. For example, knowing that you’re due to be busy, they can test systems to ensure resilience, or they’ll schedule time-consuming updates or system upgrades more conveniently.

Secure the IT whatever you do, wherever you are

In 2020, most businesses had to send employees off-site. IT needs to be changed. Now, many are trying to bring people back, and IT needs are changing again. Maybe it was work from home only before, but now, your business wants to navigate a hybrid model. Whatever the arrangement, the MSP can take on the task of protecting your systems.

When technology isn’t keeping up with your needs, your business can suffer. Employee productivity can falter, as well as morale. Your customers may not get the quality experiences they expect. Aligning IT with strategy supports smooth transitions and satisfied users with cybersecurity prioritized.

Working together for agility

Aligning with your MSP to achieve a strategy makes seamless and secure adaptation possible. IT support can plan with you to set up the reliable and resilient infrastructure you need.

Alignment comes from an ongoing discussion about business goals, budgets, and timelines. Bring in your MSP for more than break-fix support, and enjoy the benefits of more strategic IT advice and planning.

Let’s discuss your business strategy and IT needs today. Call us at (515)422-1995 to schedule a conversation.

What an MSP Does and Doesn’t Do

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Managed service providers (MSPs) pride themselves on high levels of support. Yet, there are some things we can do and others we can’t. Laundry and grocery shopping come to mind for the latter. But, more seriously, this article will explain what an MSP does and doesn’t do.

Your business faces many challenges today. You’re managing budget and employees while complying with government regulations and industry standards. Meanwhile, technology is changing the work environment, customer expectations, and market demands.

An MSP learns about your existing business technology and processes, as well as your objectives. This helps them suggest current, reliable, and secure technology solutions. Typically, you’ll engage an MSP for a consistent monthly fee. In return, you get up-to-date IT and the freedom to focus on the parts of your business you’re passionate about. You may even involve your strategic planning to streamline operations.

What an MSP Does

Let’s begin with what an MSP does do. As external IT help for your business, an MSP can:

  • support your technology in a break-fix situation;
  • help your IT infrastructure run better;
  • provide server monitoring and IT maintenance;
  • manage and meet your evolving technology needs;
  • reduce your business costs by reducing hardware and software infrastructure costs;
  • increase operational efficiency;
  • secure your systems, back up your data, and plan for disaster recovery;
  • support your users and their IT needs;
  • match your business with the right technology for the task;
  • develop strategy for your smooth cloud migration;
  • enable you to avoid recruiting and retaining your own large in-house IT team.

Sounds great, right? Before you sign the dotted line, however, keep reading to be sure that you understand what this service provider can’t do.

What an MSP Doesn’t Do

These IT professionals fix problems and help optimize your business technology. Still, they can’t do everything. Your MSP also can’t immediately fix every problem. While an MSP will understand the urgency, not every technology solution is a simple one.

You also can’t expect to never have a tech problem ever again. Yes, an MSP’s job is to monitor your hardware and software to keep it updated and secure, but they can’t prevent every issue. For instance, if an employee finds an infected thumb drive and plugs it into a business desktop, all the MSP can do is act to fix the issue.

Also, the tech team at your MSP cannot magically intuit what’s wrong with your IT infrastructure. The more information you can provide from the outset, the more focused their efforts are. When filling out a service or support ticket it helps to share:

  • who is affected;
  • the extent of the issue;
  • the urgency of the matter;
  • what you tried to do to fix it;
  • any error messages are seen.

Finally, the MSP should not be dictating policy or controlling how your business operates. Yes, these experts can offer input into how technology can help, and they can also weigh in on how proposed changes might impact your IT infrastructure, but you shouldn’t feel pressured by them to make decisions.

Partner with MSPs

Now you know what to expect of a partnership with your MSP. If a company is promising to do things on the doesn’t-do list, you might be in for terrible service.

Having a better picture of what an MSP does do, you can avoid unrealistic expectations. This can help you get the most from your investment in this IT partnership.

Questions about what we, as an MSP, can do for your particular business? Contact us today at (515)422-1995. We’d be happy to discuss it.

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