Co-managed IT Gives Hungerford’s Clients Access to Enterprise Tools

Co-managed IT — or hiring a managed service provider (MSP) alongside an in-house IT team — is usually the best-case scenario when it comes to a small business’s IT environment.

MSPs offer broad experience across many industries, while IT staff are deeply familiar with a single organization. Combining the two strategies offsets each strategy’s weaknesses, improving the organization’s overall IT support.

One of the major benefits of co-managed IT with an MSP, like Hungerford Technology, is that the MSP manages and deploys enterprise tools such as phishing training, remote monitoring and IT documentation.

Hungerford Covers Tool Licensing and Management

If a company’s in-house IT team wants to use the same tools an MSP uses, the company would have to pay for the software licensing individually.

Because an MSP supports many more users than an IT staff — thousands rather than dozens or hundreds — they have more resources to invest in higher quality tools and in the processes and procedures for using those enterprise tools. In the long run, this better scale results in savings in both time and money.

In-house IT teams for small businesses, on the other hand, just don’t have the scale or the resources to invest that same level of time and money into their tools. In a co-managed partnership, the MSP charges a monthly fee that covers tool licensing and management, as well as other services like budgeting and IT support.

Matt Stone, senior director of technology for Mel Trotter Ministries, said the tools Hungerford offers are essential to the nonprofit’s day-to-day operations. He estimated that just to license those enterprise tools, it would cost Mel Trotter about half of what the nonprofit pays Hungerford for all its MSP services.

That’s not to mention the time needed to simply maintain the tool. Setting up and troubleshooting issues can be time-consuming projects for a small IT team.

“The tool’s not any good if it’s not running,” Stone said. “With you guys, it’s a part of the package. It’s there, it’s a high-quality tool, and I know that you guys are maintaining it and keeping it up, and I don’t have to worry about the management and configuration elements of that.”

Remote Troubleshooting Saves Time

One of the tools Hungerford offers is a remote monitoring and management (RMM) tool that allows IT staff to remotely connect to their employees’ computers to resolve issues. RMMs have become increasingly necessary over the past five years as more organizations offer work-from-home options.

Wright Plastic Products IT Operations Manager John Christiansen said it would be exponentially harder to operate as a business without that tool, noting its reliability.

“It seems to work almost every time you need it,” he said. “We have another remote program that we install on every computer, and that one’s hit or miss.

“If you guys took it away, I would say we would have to buy it ourselves. I wouldn’t want to work without it anymore. I’m so used to it.”

This RMM tool isn’t limited to remote connections. It also can apply Windows updates to all computers companywide, protecting employees against known vulnerabilities.

Store, Organize Client Data Securely

MSPs need to document everything about their client’s IT infrastructure. From how many computers it has to administrative passwords, it’s imperative to properly organize this confidential data and access it quickly.

Digging through Excel spreadsheets or Word documents can be inefficient and insecure, and that’s why Hungerford offers an IT documentation tool. Additionally, clients aren’t left to learn a new tool on their own; they can get up to speed more quickly by adopting Hungerford’s process.

Stone said he appreciates the tool’s simplicity and how easy it is to find what he’s looking for with a quick search. He added that it’s not just about covering the cost of the tool but also about managing it.

“One of the nice things about getting it through our partnership with Hungerford is the fact that there’s a built-in piece,” Stone said. “So, it’s a high-quality product, but it’s a built-in piece of what we’re already getting. And so, it saves me from managing one more contract, managing one more vendor relationship.”

Manage Ticket Requests

When technology breaks, it’s up to the MSP or IT staff to fix it. But multiple emails or Teams messages can quickly turn chaotic, especially for a small IT team.

The solution for Hungerford is ticketing software that organizes the chaos, documents the timeline and updates the user along the way.

Additionally, ticketing systems hold IT professionals accountable by keeping historical records of completed and pending work. Clients can track ticket status to ensure service-level agreements are met.

Mel Trotter hires a small team of college interns to handle basic ticket requests, but for more challenging issues, the nonprofit can escalate them to Hungerford if necessary.

Stone said supporting Mel Trotter’s 180 employees would be impossible without a ticketing system.

“It really helps streamline the work and just really keeps us focused,” he said. “There’s always so much coming in here. I mean, we’re not a massive organization, but you know, 180 people we’re supporting on a day-to-day basis.”

Train Employees to Spot Scams

Phishing scams are on the rise, and the popularity of AI is only going to make them harder to spot.

To combat this, Hungerford offers ongoing phishing tests and quarterly training. All employees receive ongoing test emails that appear to be a phishing attack. If the user clicks on a link or opens an attachment, they must complete remedial training.

Christiansen believes the training has helped his co-workers identify the signs of a phishing scam, noting the test emails have been incredibly helpful.

“The fact that they know they can get busted for clicking on one,” he said. “It just keeps them on the alert. They know they can get caught.”

Stone said he’s been happy with phishing training, especially the test emails that keep security top of mind for his employees.

“I tell the organization, every new user, it’s a core piece of our cybersecurity strategy because we have to raise the awareness of our users,” he said.

Co-managed IT in West Michigan

Is your organization’s IT staff struggling to deploy and manage its tools? Enterprise tools cost money to implement, but they also require time and resources to manage properly, something many small businesses don’t have. An MSP can cover the cost of licensing and management in one monthly payment.

Contact us here to learn more about outsourcing some of your IT services. We’ll create a customized plan to help keep your business running smoothly while increasing security, productivity and profitability.

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