Give Your Internal IT Team More Capability, Capacity and Control

Your internal IT team understands your business. They know your people, your applications, your priorities and the technology decisions that have shaped your organization.

But even strong IT teams can become overwhelmed.

As organizations grow, technology becomes more complex. Cybersecurity requirements increase. Users expect faster support. Systems need to remain available around the clock. Projects compete with day-to-day support, and specialized expertise is often needed faster than an internal team can reasonably develop it.

Edge Solutions Group's Co-Managed IT Services help in-house IT teams operate more effectively without replacing the people, knowledge and relationships you already have.

We provide the tools, processes, security capabilities, technical expertise and additional resources your team can plug into as needed - creating a scalable IT operating model designed for mid-market organizations.

Edge Solutions Group primarily serves organizations throughout Southern California while providing Co-Managed IT Services to businesses and distributed IT teams worldwide.

What Are Co-Managed IT Services?

Co-Managed IT Services combine the strengths of your internal IT department with the resources and capabilities of an experienced Managed Service Provider.

Instead of outsourcing your entire IT environment, your organization determines which responsibilities remain internal and where Edge can add the greatest value.

Your IT team stays in control.

Edge provides the additional infrastructure, processes, people and expertise needed to strengthen it.

That might include:

Service desk and end-user support

Remote monitoring and management

Cybersecurity monitoring and response

Endpoint management and patching

IT documentation

Backup and disaster recovery oversight

Microsoft 365 administration

Network management

Vendor coordination

Security policies and procedures

IT project resources

Escalation support

Strategic technology planning

Specialized engineering expertise

The result is a flexible partnership that can evolve as your organization grows.

Is your IT team spending too much time reacting to problems instead of improving the business?

Co-managed IT can help shift valuable internal resources away from repetitive operational work and toward higher-value initiatives.

Give Your IT Team Enterprise-Level Tools Without Building Everything Yourself

One of the greatest challenges facing mid-market IT organizations is scale.

Large enterprises can invest in sophisticated monitoring platforms, cybersecurity systems, automation, documentation tools, service-management technology and specialized personnel.

An individual mid-market company may find it difficult to justify the cost of building that same technology stack internally.

Edge Solutions Group changes that equation.

Our clients gain access to a proven technology ecosystem, standardized operating procedures, security controls and IT management practices developed across many environments.

Think of it as a plug-and-play IT operating platform for your existing technology department.

Your team can benefit from capabilities normally associated with a much larger IT organization without having to purchase, implement, integrate and manage every platform independently.

What could your IT department accomplish if the foundational tools and processes were already in place?

Instead of reinventing IT operations internally, your team can leverage Edge's existing investments, experience and scale.

Improve IT Productivity and Eliminate Operational Bottlenecks

Talented IT professionals frequently become trapped doing work that does not make the best use of their skills.

A senior engineer may spend hours troubleshooting routine user issues.

An IT director may become the escalation point for every technical problem.

Important infrastructure projects get delayed because support tickets take priority.

Documentation falls behind because there is always another urgent issue.

Eventually, the internal IT team becomes the bottleneck.

Edge helps create a more structured division of responsibility.

Routine support, monitoring, maintenance and defined operational activities can be handled by Edge while your internal IT professionals concentrate on the areas where their institutional knowledge provides the greatest advantage.

Are your most experienced IT employees spending their time on the work that creates the most value?

If the answer is no, co-managed IT can help redesign the workload.

Add IT Resources Without Adding Full-Time Headcount

Technology requirements rarely grow in a perfectly predictable way.

Your organization may suddenly need additional resources for:

A new office

A cloud migration

A Microsoft 365 project

A cybersecurity initiative

Infrastructure upgrades

Employee onboarding

An acquisition

Compliance preparation

A major application deployment

An unexpected technical problem

Hiring a full-time specialist for every technology discipline is rarely practical.

With Edge Solutions Group, your internal team gains access to additional technical resources when needed.

You can expand capacity during projects, obtain specialized expertise for difficult problems or escalate issues beyond the capabilities of your existing team without maintaining all of those resources internally.

What happens today when your IT team encounters a problem outside its expertise - or simply runs out of hours in the day?

A co-managed relationship gives your team somewhere to turn.

Reduce Downtime Through Proactive IT Management

The most expensive technology problems are often the ones nobody sees coming.

Failed backups, outdated systems, storage shortages, security vulnerabilities, network problems and aging equipment can quietly develop until they cause an interruption.

Edge's monitoring, management and standardized procedures help identify and address problems before they become business disruptions.

Our goal is not simply to respond quickly when technology fails.

It is to reduce how often those failures happen in the first place.

That proactive approach can improve system reliability, reduce emergency work and give both your IT department and business leadership greater confidence in the technology environment.

How much productivity does your organization lose when employees cannot access the systems they need?

Preventing downtime is often considerably more valuable than responding to it.

Strengthen Cybersecurity Without Making Your IT Team Do Everything

Cybersecurity has become too specialized and too important to treat as another item on an IT administrator's task list.

Organizations must manage endpoints, identities, email security, vulnerabilities, backups, monitoring, incident response, policies and user risk while keeping up with a constantly evolving threat landscape.

Co-Managed IT Services allow your internal technology team to remain closely involved in cybersecurity while leveraging Edge's security tools, procedures and expertise.

This creates multiple layers of protection while reducing the burden on internal personnel.

Does your IT team have the time, tools and specialized resources to continuously manage cybersecurity while also supporting the business?

Edge helps close that gap.

Create Better Processes and Greater Accountability

Technology becomes difficult to scale when processes exist primarily in the heads of individual employees.

Successful IT organizations need repeatable procedures.

Edge helps bring structure to areas such as:

Ticket management

Escalation procedures

Documentation

Change management

User onboarding and offboarding

Security standards

Patch management

Asset management

Backup verification

Vendor management

Technology planning

Clear processes reduce dependency on any single employee and make technology operations easier to manage, measure and improve.

They also create a more consistent experience for employees throughout your organization.

Make IT Spending More Predictable

Unpredictable technology expenses make budgeting difficult.

Emergency consulting, unexpected projects, unplanned software purchases and reactive repairs can create significant swings in IT spending.

A co-managed IT model allows organizations to establish a more predictable operating cost while maintaining flexibility for larger projects and strategic initiatives.

It also gives leadership greater visibility into the true cost of operating the technology environment.

Would greater visibility and predictability make IT budgeting easier for your leadership team?

Technology spending should support business planning - not continually disrupt it.

Support Your IT Team Instead of Replacing It

Some internal IT professionals understandably worry that bringing in a Managed Service Provider means outsourcing their jobs.

That is not the objective of Edge's co-managed model.

We want your internal team to succeed.

Your employees bring institutional knowledge, business relationships and experience that an outside provider cannot duplicate.

Edge brings scale, additional expertise, mature processes, tools and additional technical capacity.

Together, those capabilities create a stronger technology organization.

Internal IT maintains ownership and influence while gaining a partner capable of helping when additional resources are required.

Co-Managed IT Services for Growing Mid-Market Businesses

Co-Managed IT Services are particularly effective for organizations that:

Have an existing IT director, CIO or technology team

Are growing faster than their IT department

Operate multiple locations

Support remote or distributed employees

Have increasing cybersecurity or compliance requirements

Need better IT processes and documentation

Want access to specialized technical expertise

Are struggling to recruit experienced IT personnel

Need additional resources for major technology projects

Want enterprise-grade IT tools without enterprise-level overhead

For many organizations, the question is no longer whether IT should be managed internally or outsourced.

The better question is:

What combination of internal expertise and external resources will create the strongest technology organization for our business?

Extend the Capabilities of Your IT Department with Edge Solutions Group

Your internal IT team should not have to solve every technology problem alone.

Edge Solutions Group provides the people, processes, technology platforms, cybersecurity capabilities and operational expertise needed to help your existing IT organization perform at a higher level.

Whether you need help managing daily operations, strengthening cybersecurity, improving processes, expanding service desk capacity, completing major projects or providing escalation resources for your internal engineers, Edge can build a co-managed relationship around the capabilities you actually need.

You retain the knowledge, control and relationships of your internal team.

We provide the additional scale and expertise.

What could your IT organization accomplish with the right partner behind it?

Edge Solutions Group provides Co-Managed IT Services throughout Southern California and supports organizations worldwide.

Contact Edge Solutions Group to learn how we can help your internal IT team become more productive, scalable, secure and effective.

Co-Managed IT Services FAQ

What are Co-Managed IT Services?

Co-Managed IT Services are a partnership between an organization's internal IT team and an external Managed Service Provider, or MSP.

Rather than outsourcing all technology responsibilities, the internal team and MSP divide responsibilities based on the organization's needs, capabilities and priorities.

For example, your internal IT team might continue managing strategic applications and business relationships while Edge Solutions Group provides service desk support, cybersecurity monitoring, endpoint management, infrastructure monitoring, project resources or specialized engineering expertise.

The objective is to make your internal IT team stronger - not replace it.

What is the difference between Managed IT Services and Co-Managed IT Services?

The primary difference is who retains responsibility for day-to-day technology management.

With fully Managed IT Services, an MSP typically assumes responsibility for most or all IT operations.

With Co-Managed IT Services, your internal IT team remains actively involved while the MSP provides additional resources, tools and expertise.

Co-managed IT is particularly useful for mid-market organizations that already have capable IT personnel but need more capacity, better processes, stronger cybersecurity or access to specialized expertise.

Will a Co-Managed IT provider replace our internal IT department?

No. A well-designed co-managed IT relationship should complement your internal team rather than replace it.

Your employees possess valuable institutional knowledge about your organization, applications, workflows and people. Edge Solutions Group adds resources, proven processes, enterprise-grade tools and specialized expertise that can help those employees operate more effectively.

The goal is to eliminate bottlenecks and give your internal team more time to focus on strategic work.

What responsibilities can Edge Solutions Group handle in a Co-Managed IT relationship?

Every co-managed engagement can be structured differently based on the capabilities and priorities of your internal technology team.

Edge can assist with areas including:

  • IT service desk and end-user support
  • Remote monitoring and management
  • Endpoint management
  • Patch management
  • Cybersecurity monitoring
  • Managed detection and response
  • Microsoft 365 management
  • Email security
  • Identity and access management
  • Backup and disaster recovery
  • Network management
  • IT documentation
  • User onboarding and offboarding
  • Vendor management
  • IT project implementation
  • Infrastructure management
  • Technology planning
  • Escalation support
  • Security and compliance initiatives

Responsibilities can change over time as your organization grows or your internal resources change.

Who is a good fit for Co-Managed IT Services?

Co-Managed IT Services are typically a good fit for mid-market organizations that already employ an IT director, CIO, systems administrator, help desk team or other internal technology personnel.

They can be particularly valuable for organizations that:

  • Have approximately 75 or more employees
  • Operate multiple offices
  • Support remote or hybrid employees
  • Have significant cybersecurity requirements
  • Work in regulated industries
  • Need better IT processes and documentation
  • Are growing faster than their technology team
  • Need specialized engineering expertise
  • Want to improve IT service levels
  • Have difficulty recruiting experienced IT professionals
  • Need additional resources for technology projects

Professional services firms, financial organizations, accounting firms, wealth management companies, law firms and other knowledge-driven businesses can often benefit significantly from a co-managed IT model.

How can Co-Managed IT Services improve the productivity of our internal IT team?

Co-managed IT can remove repetitive operational work that prevents experienced IT professionals from concentrating on strategic initiatives.

For example, senior internal employees may currently spend significant amounts of time handling password resets, endpoint issues, patching, monitoring alerts or routine troubleshooting.

Edge can take responsibility for selected operational activities while your internal team focuses on initiatives such as technology strategy, application improvement, automation, business process improvement and organizational growth.

The result is often greater productivity without immediately increasing internal headcount.

Can Co-Managed IT Services reduce IT downtime?

Yes. One of the primary benefits of co-managed IT is the ability to introduce more proactive monitoring and standardized maintenance.

Edge Solutions Group can help continuously monitor servers, endpoints, networks, backups and other infrastructure so potential problems can be identified before they become major outages.

Standardized patching, monitoring, documentation, escalation and preventive maintenance can also reduce the number of technology problems that become business disruptions.

The objective is not simply to respond faster when something breaks. It is to reduce the likelihood that it breaks in the first place.

How does Co-Managed IT improve cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity increasingly requires specialized technology, continuous monitoring and dedicated expertise.

A co-managed relationship allows your internal IT team to remain involved in security decisions while leveraging Edge Solutions Group's cybersecurity technology, processes and personnel.

Depending on your requirements, this can include endpoint security, email protection, identity security, multifactor authentication, managed detection and response, security monitoring, vulnerability management, backup protection, security policies and incident response planning.

This layered approach can significantly strengthen security without requiring your organization to build every capability internally.

Can Co-Managed IT Services help with compliance?

Yes. Co-Managed IT Services can help organizations establish and maintain many of the technology controls required by cybersecurity frameworks, customer requirements and regulatory obligations.

Edge can help support areas such as:

  • Access controls
  • Multifactor authentication
  • Endpoint security
  • Security monitoring
  • Patch management
  • Backup procedures
  • Documentation
  • User onboarding and termination procedures
  • Security policies
  • Incident response procedures
  • Asset management
  • Vendor management
  • Evidence collection and reporting

Specific compliance requirements vary by organization and industry, so technology controls should be aligned with the frameworks and regulatory requirements applicable to your business.

How do Co-Managed IT Services make our IT budget more predictable?

A co-managed service model converts many technology management activities into a predictable recurring operating expense.

Instead of continually purchasing individual tools, engaging consultants for emergencies or hiring additional specialists every time a new technology requirement appears, organizations can access a broader set of capabilities through one structured relationship.

Projects, hardware purchases and unusual initiatives may still involve separate costs, but ongoing technology operations become easier to forecast.

This allows leadership to understand more clearly what it costs to support, secure and maintain the organization's technology environment.

Can Co-Managed IT reduce the need to hire additional IT employees?

In many situations, yes.

Hiring experienced technology professionals can be expensive and time-consuming. It can also be difficult to justify full-time positions for specialized skills that may only be needed periodically.

A co-managed IT relationship gives your organization access to a broader team without requiring you to hire an employee for every technology discipline.

It can also provide additional capacity when your internal team experiences rapid growth, employee absences, major projects or unusually high support demands.

Can Edge provide additional IT resources for projects?

Yes.

One of the advantages of working with Edge Solutions Group is the ability to expand your available technology resources when necessary.

Your organization may need additional expertise for projects such as:

  • Cloud migrations
  • Microsoft 365 initiatives
  • Office moves
  • Infrastructure upgrades
  • Network replacements
  • Cybersecurity improvements
  • Acquisitions and integrations
  • New office deployments
  • Application migrations
  • Endpoint deployments
  • Business continuity projects

Instead of pulling your internal IT employees away from normal responsibilities, Edge can supplement your team with additional project management and engineering resources.

How are responsibilities divided between Edge and our internal IT team?

The division of responsibilities should be clearly established at the beginning of the engagement.

Some organizations ask Edge to manage the service desk while their internal IT team handles infrastructure and applications.

Others retain frontline support internally while Edge manages cybersecurity, monitoring, escalation and advanced engineering.

There is no single correct model.

The best approach is to identify where your internal team provides the greatest value and where outside resources can remove bottlenecks, strengthen capabilities or improve reliability.

Edge then helps create a defined responsibility and escalation structure around those priorities.

Will our IT team still have visibility and control?

Yes.

Transparency is essential to a successful co-managed IT partnership.

Your internal technology team should maintain visibility into systems, support issues, documentation, security events and infrastructure management.

Edge works collaboratively with internal IT personnel rather than operating as a disconnected outside vendor.

The goal is to establish a shared operating model in which both teams understand their responsibilities and can work together efficiently.

What happens when our internal IT team needs help with a difficult problem?

Edge can provide an escalation path to additional technical resources.

This is one of the most valuable aspects of a co-managed relationship.

An internal administrator or IT director no longer needs to be the final escalation point for every problem. When an issue requires additional expertise, Edge can bring in engineers with experience in the relevant technology.

This gives your internal staff access to a larger technical bench without maintaining every skill set internally.

Can Co-Managed IT Services support multiple offices and remote employees?

Yes.

Co-Managed IT Services are well suited for organizations with multiple offices, remote employees and distributed workforces.

Modern monitoring, management, cybersecurity and collaboration technologies make it possible to support employees and infrastructure across many locations through a standardized operating model.

Edge Solutions Group primarily serves organizations throughout Southern California but provides Co-Managed IT Services to organizations across the United States and worldwide.

Does Edge provide Co-Managed IT Services outside Southern California?

Yes.

Edge Solutions Group is based in Southern California and has deep experience supporting businesses in the region, but Co-Managed IT Services can be delivered to organizations worldwide.

Remote monitoring, cloud management, cybersecurity, service desk support and technology administration can be delivered across geographic boundaries.

This makes co-managed IT particularly useful for organizations with multiple offices, international operations or distributed employees.

How quickly can a Co-Managed IT partnership scale?

A co-managed relationship can scale much faster than an organization can typically recruit, hire and onboard multiple specialized IT employees.

Once the operating model, technology environment and responsibilities have been established, additional resources can be brought into the engagement as business requirements change.

This allows organizations to respond more effectively to acquisitions, growth, major projects, new locations or temporary increases in technology demand.

What technology tools do we gain access to through Co-Managed IT Services?

One of the benefits of working with an established Managed Service Provider is access to technology platforms that have already been selected, implemented, integrated and standardized.

Depending on the engagement, these may include tools for:

  • Remote monitoring and management
  • Endpoint management
  • Cybersecurity
  • Managed detection and response
  • Email security
  • Identity protection
  • Documentation
  • Backup and recovery
  • IT service management
  • Automation
  • Network management
  • Reporting

Because Edge deploys these technologies across multiple organizations, clients can take advantage of capabilities and purchasing scale that may be difficult for an individual mid-market organization to reproduce independently.

How much do Co-Managed IT Services cost?

The cost of Co-Managed IT Services depends on several factors, including the size of your organization, number of users and devices, technology environment, required cybersecurity services, service desk requirements and division of responsibility between Edge and your internal IT team.

Unlike a one-size-fits-all outsourced IT contract, a co-managed engagement can be designed around the specific capabilities your organization needs.

The objective is to create a predictable IT operating model while avoiding the cost of unnecessarily duplicating resources you already have internally.

How do we know whether Co-Managed IT is better than hiring more employees?

The answer depends on what problem you are trying to solve.

Hiring an additional employee may make sense when you have a permanent need for a specific role and enough work to keep that person fully utilized.

Co-managed IT may provide greater value when your organization needs several different capabilities - such as cybersecurity, service desk support, cloud expertise, infrastructure management and project engineering - but does not need another full-time employee in every discipline.

Many organizations use both approaches: maintaining a strong internal team while using Edge to provide scale, specialization and operational support.

What should we look for in a Co-Managed IT Services provider?

Look for a provider that is willing to work collaboratively with your existing IT personnel rather than forcing your organization into a rigid outsourced model.

Important considerations include:

  • Mature IT management processes
  • Strong cybersecurity capabilities
  • Clear documentation practices
  • Defined escalation procedures
  • Experience with mid-market businesses
  • Access to specialized engineers
  • Scalable service desk resources
  • Standardized technology platforms
  • Transparent communication
  • Strategic technology expertise
  • Clearly defined roles and responsibilities

Most importantly, your provider should see your internal IT team as a partner.

Why choose Edge Solutions Group for Co-Managed IT Services?

Edge Solutions Group combines the personal attention and accountability of a technology partner with the tools, security capabilities, procedures and expertise of a mature Managed Service Provider.

We help internal IT organizations gain access to a broader technology platform without having to build every capability themselves.

Our approach is designed around three principles:

Strengthen your team.
We supplement your internal technology professionals rather than diminishing their role.

Standardize operations.
We introduce proven tools, processes, documentation and procedures that make IT easier to manage and scale.

Provide expertise when you need it.
Your internal team gains access to additional service desk, cybersecurity, project and engineering resources without having to hire every capability internally.

The result is an IT organization with greater capacity, stronger security, improved processes and additional resources available when challenges arise.

Is Co-Managed IT Right for Your Organization?

Consider asking your leadership and IT team:

Is our internal IT team spending too much time reacting to problems?

Are important technology projects continually being delayed?

Are senior IT employees handling work that could be managed by other resources?

Would our cybersecurity posture benefit from additional tools and expertise?

Do we have enough resources when a key IT employee is unavailable?

Can our current IT processes scale as the organization grows?

Are we confident that our systems, backups and security tools are being consistently monitored?

Would additional engineering expertise help our internal IT team solve problems faster?

Is our technology spending predictable?

Could our organization benefit from enterprise-level IT capabilities without building an enterprise-sized IT department?

If several of these questions resonate with your organization, a co-managed approach may be a strong fit.

Build a Stronger IT Organization with Edge Solutions Group

Your internal IT team should not have to choose between supporting today's business and building tomorrow's technology environment.

Edge Solutions Group's Co-Managed IT Services provide the additional people, processes, cybersecurity capabilities, technology platforms and expertise your team needs to operate at a higher level.

Maintain control of your IT environment while gaining access to a larger team and a mature IT operating platform.

Contact Edge Solutions Group to discuss how Co-Managed IT Services can strengthen your internal IT team, improve productivity, reduce downtime and create a more scalable technology environment.