Co-Managed IT
Co-Managed IT
You keep control. Our engineering team covers operations and security so the work does not rest on one person.
Who it’s for
More depth for the IT team you already have
Co-Managed IT is for Austin and Central Texas organizations that already have IT in house. That might be a full internal team, or one IT lead who knows the business better than anyone. You keep the business context and the relationships. We add engineering depth and extra hands, so the work never rests on one person.
Teams usually bring us in for one or more of these reasons:
- More depth. A second set of experienced engineers on identity, devices, email, backup and the network.
- Coverage. Someone who already knows your environment when your IT lead is on vacation, out sick or buried in a busy week. After-hours coverage, if you need it, is agreed in your review.
- Security expertise. Monitoring, email protection, endpoint standards and compliance support from a team that runs them every day.
- Help with projects. Office moves, network upgrades, migrations and rollouts get done without stalling the daily queue.
Signs co-managed IT fits you
- One person is the only one who knows how your key systems are set up.
- Tickets wait when your IT lead is out.
- Security questionnaires, insurer requests or compliance work land on a team that is already full.
- Projects keep slipping behind day to day support.
- You are adding people or sites faster than your team can keep standards consistent.
- You want a second opinion before big changes to identity, email or the network.
How it works
How the work is divided
In the review, we agree who owns what and who backs whom up. You keep the relationships and the systems that depend on knowing your business. We take or share the operations and security work you want more depth on.
What you typically keep
Day to day staff relationships, line-of-business applications you already own, and the on-site presence you already provide.
What we typically take or share
Tenant hygiene, monitoring, endpoint standards, email authentication, backup and restore discipline, and security or compliance operations when those programs are in scope.
We use the review to agree who owns what, who backs whom up, and how tickets move. Every client’s division of work is different. The point is a clear working agreement, not a single template.
Responsibilities
Who handles what
Here is how the work usually splits. Your version is built around how your team already operates, and we write it down together before work starts.
| Area | ALCON DTS handles or shares | Your team keeps |
|---|---|---|
| Helpdesk and tickets | The ticket types you assign to us, worked to close | First contact for the staff relationships you already own, and the tickets you choose to keep |
| Monitoring | Monitoring of the managed environment, with early action on alerts | Priorities for your business and the final say on what gets scheduled first |
| Users and tenant | Users, licenses, groups, sharing defaults and mailbox settings, plus joiner, mover and leaver changes | Approval of who gets access, and accounts inside line-of-business applications you own |
| Identity and access | Multifactor authentication, sign-in policies and least-privilege admin roles in the directory you already run | Access policy decisions and any exceptions |
| Devices | Standards for updates, protection and encryption on in-scope laptops, desktops and mobile devices | Which devices are in scope, and local setup you already handle |
| Inbound filtering, mailbox permissions, forwarding and authentication | Mailbox ownership and who approves shared access | |
| Network | Monitoring and upkeep of the LAN, Wi-Fi, firewall and circuits, including firmware and configuration backups, when network work is in scope | Local knowledge of the building and approval of changes that affect operations |
| Backup and recovery | Backup and restore discipline and business continuity planning | Decisions on what must come back first |
| Security and compliance | Security controls and compliance support for programs such as HIPAA, NIST CSF, CMMC, Texas requirements and customer or insurer questionnaires, when in scope | The assessor, the attestation and the program itself |
| Line-of-business applications | The devices, accounts and network those applications run on, as agreed | The applications and the vendor relationships behind them |
How we work together
- Shared tickets and visibility. We agree which ticket types come to us, how tickets move between teams and how your team sees status on the work we own, and we write it into your agreement.
- Clear escalation. Every area has an owner and a backup, so an issue always has somewhere to go, including when your IT lead is out.
- Regular check-ins. We meet with your IT lead on a regular rhythm to review open work, upcoming projects and anything that changed.
- Documentation either team can use. What changed, who approved it and how to reverse it stay documented, so either team can pick up the work.
- You own the decisions. You set priorities and approve changes that affect the business. We recommend, carry out the work and tell you what we did.
On-site work with your team
Many co-managed clients keep day to day presence with their own team, and we come on site when the work needs hands in the building. Typical visits include installs and moves, network and hardware work on switches, Wi-Fi and firewalls, hands-on troubleshooting that cannot be finished remotely, and project work such as office moves and rollouts. While we are there, we work alongside your IT lead and share what we find.
Planned work is scheduled with your team ahead of time. We also agree how you request an urgent visit and how it is prioritized. Coverage area, response times, hours and how on-site time is billed are set in your review and written into your agreement.
Security and compliance when in scope
When security or compliance operations are part of the relationship, we run that work on the systems your team uses every day. You keep the assessor and the attestation.
Programs this often includes are HIPAA, NIST CSF, CMMC, Texas Cybersecurity Safe Harbor, and customer or insurer questionnaires. See Cybersecurity.
Compare
Which path fits
Full managed IT
Remote IT, Total IT, and Secure IT. We become your primary IT function when you want ALCON DTS to own day to day support. See Managed IT Services for packages and pricing.
Co-Managed IT
Your IT function stays. We take or share tenant, endpoint, email, and agreed security work.
Next step
Start with a review
We start with the environment you already run and how your team works today.
