How are Outsourced IT Services and IT Strategic Partnerships Different

What Is an Outsourced IT Services Provider?

An outsourced IT provider traditionally manages the day-to-day technology support needs for your company. This can include operating system updates on your desktops, laptops, and in-house servers and responding to it-doesn't work problems. These IT providers are called MSPs or managed service providers.

IT service providers with cybersecurity expertise will provide advanced network security proactive monitoring and prevent breaches in real-time. This is the level of IT infrastructure expertise that today's companies need. These service providers are referred to as MSSPs, managed security services providers. They usually work with, not replace, your MSP or internal IT team.

What Is a Strategic Business Technology Partner?

Regardless of your company's size, industry, or time in business, there are important strategic IT services that MSPs and MSSPs don't provide.

Your strategic business IT partner brings a proven track record in both business and technology. They work beside you, the company leader, to continuously align your valuable technology with your long-term goals. Think of this team member as your company's fractional CIO.

How Is a Strategic Business Technology Partner Different Than an Outsourced IT Services Provider?

Outsourced IT Services Provider

Task-focused

Hired based on lowest cost

Specific technical skills

Day-to-day narrow scope of services

No engagement with your business planning

Strategic Business Technology Partner

Strategy-focused

Hired based on long-term value

Broad technical and business expertise

Collaborative business leader peer

Scalable with your company's growth

Technology is viewed as a resource tool, not a task

What Is an Outsourced IT Provider?

What Is a Strategic IT Partner?

How Are Outsourcing and Partnering Different?

What Do IT People Do?

How Does Strategic IT Partnering Work?

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Partnering Means Your Company Can Look Like This

Companies committed to responsible growth know they need the right team. Partnering means you can build the team that's right for you right now. As your company's need change, you can quickly adapt with this flexible model.

Strategic IT partnering opens the door to the broad business and technology expertise that your company might not have otherwise.

Staffing all of these skills internally is expensive.

The hiring competition is high, and many SMBs are unable to compete. Companies often underestimate the actual costs of hiring vs. outsourcing these day-to-day support skills.

IT employees expect company leadership that understands them, speaks their language, and bridges the business-technology gap. This means you need to hire technology expertise from the top down, a costly approach.

Outsourcing each of these niche areas leads to a disconnected collection of providers that someone in your company will need to manage. This makes the strategic IT partnership an attractive alternative. Instead of many providers, you have one or two business-focused partners with all of the same technical skills.

How Does Strategic Technology Partnering Work?

Making the decision to work with a techology partner can feel complicated, expensive, and unnecessary. After all, everything seems to be working just fine. Why disrupt it? We get it.

But here's the reality. Your customers, competitors, and business landscape are continually changing. Your technology framework has never been more important to the long-term growth of your company. Keeping your technology investments aligned with strategy isn't easy. It requires ongoing attention and awareness of the changes quietly happening around you. You need the expertise of people who live and breath this stuff every day.

We Listen

We start with a conversation. We'll learn more about your company, answer your questions, and you will learn about us. Does this feel right for everyone?

We help you pick the services and level of control that are right for your company right now.

We Learn

Then we'll run your first technology discovery. We call this the where are you now big picture.

This becomes the foundation for our joint working roadmap.

We Share

We compile the results of your technology discovery. Then we prepare a plain English summary, highlight the action items, and share them with you.

We Plan Together

We'll detail an action plan, explain why, and decide how to move ahead. A reliable technology framework that meets your needs now and into the future is the peace of mind every company leader wants.

What's the Next Step?

We know every company is different. Your immediate needs are a combination of where you are now, the customers you serve, your comfort level with technology, and your budget. For those rasons, we've designed 3 services plans that you customize.

As your company changes, your needs will too. We believe the IT outsourcing services provided should be flexible and easy to change.