Moving to IT managed services benefits local governments in many ways. A managed services provider can optimize and secure their infrastructure, reducing costs and helping to improve services for their communities. However, sometimes there are reasons for not switching that are based in organizational culture; for example, leadership may want to maintain control over some systems or lack trust in outsiders. Internal users may prefer working with familiar faces on-site.
The Best of Both Worlds – an MSP Partnership with Local Government IT
One solution for a government IT department is a hybrid managed services model, where the internal team partners with an MSP to deliver critical IT services. And this is the trend. A recent study by StateScoop found that more than half of IT leaders surveyed believed that in the future “managed services will coexist with traditional IT.”
That’s because there are clear benefits to partnering with an MSP. Today’s shortage of technology workers makes managed services attractive. In a time when qualified technology workers continue to be hard to find, it’s an easier way to staff a team. That’s especially true given the steep learning curve for many IT roles. At two or three years an IT employee is only beginning to demonstrate real value to their organization. However, the average worker is at their job for less than four years (and the tenure for millennial and younger employees is even shorter.) Employees may not appreciate the routine work of supporting a help desk or updating servers when there are larger, more interesting projects available. The hamster wheel of employee onboarding, training and then departure has a real impact on an organization’s morale and goals. In contrast an MSP is already staffed with employees who are experts in supporting IT systems.
A managed services provider also brings more experience to a local government IT team. They can help with decisions on the tech stack, identify security blind spots, support one-off projects, and even provide knowledge transfer to employees. The hybrid model offers more opportunities for developing expertise in newer technologies and implementing best practices, giving organizations insights into tools and practices from a partner with extensive experience.
Local Government Teams Can Benefit from Partner Support
Every day, local governments are under pressure to move fast and demonstrate value to their citizens. And today, local government agencies have more projects on their plates than ever before. By partnering with an MSP, an internal IT team can shift tasks that don’t relate to core competencies over to a trusted third party so that they can concentrate on high-value projects, instead of problems with their networks or servers.
Local government IT teams often rely on one or more jacks-of-all-trades who can handle hardware, networks, and project management. They’re essential to the success of their agencies. And they may even enjoy the variety and challenge of their work. But the growth in software that government teams need to manage (and the cyber threats facing their agencies) means that no one can do it all. But by hiring a managed services provider, they can finally focus on delivering what their agency needs – end results for their citizens.
If your IT team is burdened by the day-to-day work of keeping your systems running and secure, talk to our specialists to learn how InterDev can help. We have decades of experience partnering with local governments to provide Managed IT Services, strategy, and project support.
