Organizations with limited IT staff and resources face growing pressure to manage both day-to-day technical operations and strategic, business-specific IT initiatives. Unfortunately, this often results in a "firefighting" approach where the most urgent break-fix issues take priority, and strategic initiatives fall by the wayside.
The reality of business IT management is that there are actually two – perhaps even three – categories of work that IT departments are responsible for, and each of these categories require their own dedicated resources, staffing, and a particular skillset to be successful.
The graphic above—created by our Founder, James Bowen, and referred to by our team as "The Shield"—illustrates a powerful framework for understanding how to optimize IT governance by strategically distributing responsibilities between internal teams and external partners.
The Two Halves of IT: Operations and Information
The left side of the "shield" represents IT Operations: encompassing standardized, universal IT practices such as infrastructure and network design, project management, cybersecurity, and help desk support. These tasks are typically grounded in widely-accepted standards and certifications (e.g., Cisco, Microsoft). Operational IT tasks are critical to keeping systems running smoothly, but are not particularly unique to one industry or organization (though variances in best practice are recognized).
The right side of the "shield", Information IT, is more specialized and proprietary. It includes business-specific technologies and innovations such as ERP systems, e-commerce platforms, record-keeping software, AI-driven analytics, and customer-facing solutions. These are the areas where strong IT management can become a competitive advantage – if your systems work better than your competitors, you're a step ahead.
The Strategic Element:
While day-to-day IT operations are critical to keeping the lights on, the true power of IT emerges when it contributes to long-term business growth and resilience. At the top of the shield—above the dotted line—is the strategic layer of IT governance, where technology and leadership intersect.
This level of IT management includes long-term strategic planning, financial forecasting, compliance, regulatory planning, and incident response management. These initiatives require foresight, cross-department collaboration, and an intimate understanding of the organization’s goals and risk landscape.
A mature Managed Service Provider (MSP) can step into this process – not to replace internal leadership, but to amplify it. Here's how:
- Strategic Planning & Forecasting: MSPs offer insights from working across industries, helping companies build robust IT roadmaps that align with future growth and technological change.
- Regulatory & Compliance Expertise: Keeping up with evolving regulations (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR, CMMC) is a full-time job. A trusted partner brings dedicated compliance specialists to reduce risk and ensure audit readiness.
- Disaster Recovery & Incident Response: From natural disasters to ransomware, organizations need tested plans in place. MSPs help develop, implement, and regularly test response strategies to minimize disruption.
- Budget Planning Support: MSPs can assist in predicting technology costs and identifying smart investments, helping organizations stretch limited budgets without sacrificing capability or security.
Why Outsource Operational IT at all?
Outsourcing Operations IT to a Managed Service Provider (MSP) offers several key benefits for organizations struggling to do more with less:
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Free Up Internal Resources: By offloading routine tasks like network maintenance, backups, and user support, your internal IT staff can focus on high-value strategic work that drives innovation and business growth.
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Access to Expertise: MSPs bring deep knowledge and experience in implementing best practices, ensuring your infrastructure is secure, compliant, and resilient.
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Scalability and Flexibility: Whether you’re expanding operations or adapting to new technologies, an MSP can scale services to meet changing needs without the overhead of hiring and training new staff.
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Improved Uptime and Reliability: With 24/7 monitoring, proactive maintenance, and rapid response to incidents, MSPs help reduce downtime and keep your systems running at peak performance.
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Strategic IT Partnership: Many MSPs also provide executive-level support such as long-term IT planning, budgeting, and disaster recovery strategies—offering guidance that extends beyond basic tech support.
By outsourcing, the time and resources to invest in your in-house talent (and build their expertise in your proprietary systems) become more available. It's an investment that's worth the change: while a network engineer or help desk technician can work in any organization, an engineer with specialized knowledge of your proprietary systems is more inclined to remain and grow within your company. When turnover can cost an organization up to two times the departed employee's salary, it makes sense to invest in an IT management strategy that promotes both growth and retention.
A Smart Division of Labor
This balanced approach doesn’t diminish the value of internal IT. Instead, it elevates it. By letting a partner handle the “left side” of the shield — the universal and repeatable functions — internal teams are empowered to concentrate on the “right side”: proprietary systems, innovation, and aligning technology directly with business outcomes.
In short, outsourcing operational IT is not just a cost-saving measure — it's a strategic move that enables organizations to maximize the impact of their IT investments, even with limited resources. Reach out to our experts today to learn more.
