Co-Managed IT Support in Singapore
Co-managed IT support in Singapore explained: how the model splits responsibilities between your internal IT team and an external provider, what it costs and when it fits. Watch the video above, read the answers below, or go straight to the full transcript. For our service scope, see our managed IT services page.
What is co-managed IT support?
In a co-managed model you keep your internal IT people, and an external provider takes the parts of the workload they cannot cover, under one agreed set of responsibilities. Your team stays in charge; the provider makes them stronger.
How is co-managed different from fully outsourced IT?
In a fully outsourced model the provider takes over everything: the helpdesk, the servers, the network, the vendors and the strategy. In a co-managed model the internal team leads and the provider fills the gaps the team chooses to hand over. Done properly, the internal IT manager should feel more capable after the provider arrives, not less.
Who does what in a co-managed arrangement?
A common split in Singapore: the internal team keeps the work that needs business context, such as supporting the trading floor, dealing with department heads and managing line of business applications. The provider takes the work that needs scale, tooling or 24/7 cover: monitoring, patching, backups, security operations, after hours support and specialist projects such as an office move, a cloud migration or a MAS TRM remediation programme. The responsibilities document should name exactly who owns what, system by system, so nothing sits in the gap.
Why do firms choose co-managed instead of hiring?
Three reasons. Coverage: one or two internal people cannot be on call every night and weekend, and a co-managed partner gives you a bench so leave, illness and resignations stop being single points of failure. Tooling: you get the provider’s monitoring, patching and documentation platforms as part of the service, usually for less than the licence cost of buying them yourself. Depth: nobody is an expert in Microsoft 365, networking, cybersecurity and MAS compliance at once, and co-managed gives your team a specialist to call in each area without four more salaries.
What does co-managed IT support cost?
Usually a fixed monthly fee for the agreed block of responsibilities, plus project rates for the larger one off pieces. You should expect the responsibilities document to name exactly who owns what, system by system, before any work starts.
Is co-managed right for your firm?
It tends to fit firms with one to five IT staff, somewhere between about fifty and five hundred users, where the team is good but buried. If you have no internal IT at all, fully managed support is usually the better route. If your team comfortably covers everything, you probably do not need a provider yet.
Full transcript
If your firm has an IT manager or a small IT team, but they are stretched, this video is for you. We are going to explain what co-managed IT support is, how it differs from fully outsourced IT, and how to tell whether it fits your situation.
So what does co-managed actually mean? In a fully outsourced model, the provider takes over everything: the helpdesk, the servers, the network, the vendors, the strategy. In a co-managed model, you keep your internal IT people, and we take the parts of the workload they cannot cover, under one agreed set of responsibilities. Your team stays in charge. We make them stronger.
What gets shared varies, but there is a common split we see in Singapore. The internal team keeps the work that needs business context: supporting the trading floor, dealing with department heads, managing line of business applications. We take the work that needs scale, tooling or twenty four seven cover: monitoring, patching, backups, security operations, after hours support, and the specialist projects that come up twice a year, like an office move, a cloud migration or a MAS TRM remediation programme.
Why do firms choose this instead of hiring? Three reasons.
First, coverage. One or two internal people cannot be on call every night and weekend. A co-managed partner gives you a bench, so leave, illness and resignations stop being single points of failure.
Second, tooling. Good monitoring, patching and documentation platforms cost serious money. In a co-managed arrangement you get the provider’s entire toolset as part of the service, usually for less than the licence cost of buying it yourself.
Third, depth. Nobody can be an expert in Microsoft 365, networking, cybersecurity and MAS compliance at once. Co-managed gives your team a specialist to call in each area, without four more salaries.
Why do some firms hesitate? Usually a worry about stepping on toes. Done badly, a provider arrives, takes the interesting work, and the internal team feels undermined. Done properly, the responsibilities are written down, the internal team leads, and the provider fills the gaps they choose to hand over. The internal IT manager should feel more capable after we arrive, not less. That is the test we hold ourselves to.
How does the commercial side work? Usually a fixed monthly fee for the agreed block of responsibilities, plus project rates for the bigger one off pieces. You should expect the responsibilities document to name exactly who owns what, system by system, so nothing sits in the gap between your team and ours.
Is co-managed right for you? It tends to fit firms with one to five IT staff, somewhere between about fifty and five hundred users, where the team is good but buried. If you have no internal IT at all, fully managed is usually the better route. If your team comfortably covers everything, you probably do not need us yet.
If you want to explore what a split of responsibilities would look like for your team, talk to us at globalitn.com. We will map it with your IT manager, not around them.