Co-Managed IT

Co-managed IT means we support your in-house IT person or team rather than replacing them: helpdesk overflow, monitoring and security tools, project help, holiday cover and a second line when something needs more than one pair of hands.

Co-managed IT

Backup for your in-house IT

Co-managed IT is a shared arrangement: your own IT person or team stays in charge, and we sit behind them with extra hands, tools and experience. They keep the knowledge of your business and the relationships with your staff. We take the overflow, cover the gaps and help with the work that needs more than one person.

It suits businesses that have outgrown one person doing everything, or that rely on a single IT manager who can’t be on holiday, off sick and answering the phone all at once. It isn’t about replacing anyone.

We agree in writing who does what, so nothing falls between the two teams and your IT lead always knows what we’ve changed. We’re based in east Cardiff and work with businesses across South Wales, so when something needs hands on, we can be there in person.

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Helpdesk overflow

We pick up calls and tickets when your team is busy or away.

Monitoring and security

The tools we use for our managed clients, working alongside yours.

Project help

Extra people for migrations, moves and upgrades.

Escalation

A second line for problems that need another pair of eyes.

What we can take on

Pick the parts you need

Every co-managed arrangement is different. You might want us on the helpdesk every day, or only want cover for holidays and a number to ring when something goes badly wrong.

Helpdesk overflow

When your IT person is in a meeting, on a project or snowed under, staff can call or log a ticket with us. We handle everyday requests such as password resets, new starters, printers and Microsoft 365 problems, and pass anything that needs local knowledge back to your team.

Holiday and sickness cover

If your IT lead is away, we cover. Access and documentation are agreed in advance, so a two-week holiday doesn’t mean two weeks of problems waiting for their return.

Monitoring and security tools

We can add the monitoring, backup checks, anti-virus and anti-spam we use for our managed clients, and help enforce multi-factor authentication and the Cyber Essentials standard. Alerts can go to your team, to us, or both.

Projects

Office moves, Microsoft 365 migrations, new firewalls or a laptop refresh often need more hands than an in-house team has. We can run the project or work under your IT lead’s direction.

Escalation

A second line for problems that need a fresh pair of eyes or experience your team hasn’t needed before, from a stubborn network fault to something that looks like a security problem.

Sounding board

Sometimes an in-house IT person mainly needs someone to talk things through with: whether a firewall is worth replacing, how to roll out a new Microsoft 365 security setting, or why a backup keeps failing.

Who it’s for

When co-managed IT makes sense

You have one IT person stretched across support, projects and security
Your IT manager wants better tools without buying and running them alone
A big project is coming that your team can’t fit around the day job
Holidays and sickness leave the business with no IT cover
You want a second opinion on security from a team that deals with it every day

If you don’t have anyone in-house, our managed IT service is usually a better fit: we become your IT department, from £40 per user per month + VAT.

How it works

Clear lines, no stepping on toes

Talk. We meet your IT lead to understand your systems, what they’re happy doing and where they want help.
Agree. We put responsibilities in writing: who answers which calls, who owns which systems, how we escalate to each other and what we can change without asking.
Connect. We get the access and documentation we need, add our tools where agreed and introduce ourselves to your staff.
Review. We check in regularly with your IT lead and adjust the split as your needs change.

Working together

Your IT lead stays in charge

Ross Owen founded Alphabyte IT in 2009 after working in IT at large Cardiff law firms, so we know what it’s like to be the in-house team: too many calls, too few hands and everything urgent at once.

A co-managed arrangement only works if your in-house team trusts it. So we work to their standards and priorities, we document what we do, and we don’t change their systems without agreement. They get a team to lean on, not one looking over their shoulder.

Your IT lead also gets a team to think out loud with. Whatever the question, from licensing to a tricky network change, they don’t have to work it out alone.

Cost

Priced to fit the split

Because every arrangement is different, we quote co-managed IT once we know what you want us to cover. A business that only wants holiday cover and escalation needs far less from us than one that wants us on the helpdesk every day.

We’ll give you a fixed quote before you commit. As with our managed clients, Microsoft 365 licences, new hardware and software are extra, and projects such as office moves and migrations are quoted separately.

Security

Two teams, one standard

Sharing IT between two teams shouldn’t mean weaker security. Our engineers use their own named accounts with multi-factor authentication, never a shared login, and access can be limited to the systems we’ve agreed to look after.

Everything we touch is kept to the Cyber Essentials standard, the same as for our managed clients. If you’re working towards Cyber Essentials or Cyber Essentials Plus, we can help your team close the gaps and prepare for the assessment.

When someone leaves either team, their access is removed as soon as it’s no longer needed, and we keep a record of what we changed and why, so your IT lead can always see the full picture.

Questions

Co-managed IT: FAQs

What is co-managed IT?

Co-managed IT is when a business with its own IT person or team shares the work with an outside IT company. Your team stays in charge and keeps the local knowledge. We add helpdesk capacity, monitoring and security tools, project help, holiday cover and a second line of support.

Will you replace our IT person?

No. The point of co-managed IT is to support your in-house team, not to take over. If you later decide you’d like us to manage everything, we can talk about that, but it’s your decision, not our aim.

Who do our staff call?

Whatever we agree. You might keep your IT lead as the first point of contact and use us for overflow and escalation, or send everyday calls to us so your IT person can focus on projects. We write it down so everyone knows.

Do we have to use your tools?

No. If your team already has monitoring, backup or security tools they’re happy with, we work with them. Where there are gaps, we can add the tools we use for our managed clients.

How much does co-managed IT cost?

It depends on how much you want us to cover. We agree the scope first and give you a fixed quote before you commit. Projects are quoted separately.

It’s very simple

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