April 2021 Newsletter

April 2021

When it comes to IT solutions, most businesses rely on one of three options. They have a dedicated in-house IT employee or team, an outsourced managed services provider (MSP) or nothing at all. There is, however, a fourth option: co-managed IT.

This hybrid option gives you an on-site IT manager or a small team AND access to an off-site IT services firm. For any business that takes IT seriously, this can prove to be an efficient and reliable option. It’s not as costly as a full on-site team, but it can be more comprehensive than relying on an MSP alone.

Simply put, the co-managed IT solution gives your business more options when it comes to getting IT and network stability and security right. It keeps you nimble when it comes to on-site issues. For instance, having an on-site IT manager means you have someone who knows the quirks of your business and its very specific needs.

But depending on the scope of your business and the size of those needs, the job has the potential to get complicated fast. This is where having access to an off-site expert IT staff can be useful. An outsourced IT firm alleviates that pain point. Your IT manager has someone to call when they need to and suddenly you have a full IT staff. These are experts in IT who understand a range of issues, from system management to industry regulations – and just about everything in between.

What Is Co-Managed IT? Is It Right For You?

Leadership is often an ambiguous idea. Author Doris Kearns Goodwin made a career in studying leadership, and nowhere is that more apparent than in her New York Times bestseller, Leadership In Turbulent Times.

In Leadership, Goodwin examines leadership through the lens of four presidents: Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson. She looks at how they saw themselves as leaders and how others saw leadership in these presidents. Each president came from very different backgrounds and defined leadership in their own way, and their words are something every business leader and entrepreneur can understand and utilize today.

Leadership In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin

This monthly publication is provided courtesy of Jeremy Valverde, CEO of Affinity Tech Solutions.

Technology Today

Insider Tips To Make Your Business Run Faster, Easier And More Profitably

Co-Managed IT Brings Everything Together.

You can have someone on-site who you can count on day to day, but when they need assistance, they have someone they can reliably call. They have access to an incredible knowledge and experience base. But it gets better!

One of the benefits of this approach is employee retention. Co-managed IT can completely shift your company culture for the better. Here’s why: small or single-person IT teams can get overwhelmed and overworked fast. This is common in IT. As a result, small-business IT departments often seem like a revolving door for those employees. It creates a broken culture.

If your on-site team lacks access to the proper tools or resources, it won’t take long for them to become overwhelmed and, eventually, burned out. If there’s a crisis, like a ransomware attack or a storage failure, and your internal IT team isn’t given the support they need to succeed, it puts undue stress on them. While they might succeed in the end, they’ll be unhappier for it and will likely start looking for a new job. With IT in such high demand, especially in 2021, it’s likely they’ll find another job, leaving you left to pick up the pieces.

Co-managed IT helps you avoid this. Plus, there are many other ways businesses can benefit from this hybrid model.

You Have Someone Who Can Address Issues Immediately.

While you can generally rely on an MSP to deliver a quick response time, it might not always be as quick as you’d like or need. With this model, you have someone to get on the issue in seconds – and they can bring in the MSP as needed.

Having An IT Manager On-Site Puts Much Of The Responsibility On Their Shoulders. While you can still be hands-on when it comes to your company’s IT, they do what needs to be done, including coordination with your MSP. This frees you up for everything and anything else.

Regulatory Compliance Becomes A Breeze.

Depending on your industry, you may have to deal with all kinds of compliance terms and regulations. Your coordinated IT team is versed in everything they need to know – and they stay on top of it as things change.

You Have To Hire Fewer People.

While you may have at least one person on staff, or maybe a small team, it’s unlikely to grow any larger – and it doesn’t need to. Not when your on-site team has access to all the tools, resources, and expertise they need to get any IT job done.

You Have A Healthier Company Culture.

This is a big one that often gets overlooked. When your on-site IT team has access to those outside resources, they’re a lot happier. Happier employees are more likely to stick around for a longer period of time, adding to the overall stability of your business (plus, less frequent hiring is another way to keep costs down).

If you haven’t yet considered co-managed IT, give it a look. You may find the IT solutions you’ve been looking for. And in a time when cyber security is more important than ever before – with more teams working remotely and cybercriminals working overtime – every business can use all the help they can get.

The Core Value Equation

Your core values are the most valuable asset you have. They help define your business, but more than that, they define your team and the work they put into the success of the business.

That success can be broken down into the Core Value Equation.

Core Values = Words = Conversations = Decisions = Actions = Results

Or distilling it further: core values = results. If you can define your values, everything that happens in your life is a direct correlation of your values, whether those things are good or bad. Your core values should be stated to and by your team; your customers should be aware of them – and they should be memorable. Companies fail at core values when they are implemented poorly – or aren’t implemented at all. In other words, they come up with a list of values and don’t live up to them.

You and your employees should all be on the same page. You should see the core values around the office; they should be talked about regularly and they should be a part of the day-to-day aspects of your business. Don’t let them just be words on paper. Give them real meaning!

Developing core values is a five-part process:

1. Discovery Process: What matters most? Core values don’t have to be “nice” – they need to be authentic to the company.
2. Design Process: They need to be sticky, viral, and memorable to the team – make a sign for the office and put them on the website.
3. Rollout Process: You want customers and employees to fall in love with the core values, so make it all about them. Make sure that the core values are visible to the company – on the wall, on the website or even in your email signature.
4. Implementation Process: Have your team forget about past experiences with the company. Your core values are about reorienting and reenergizing your employees and getting them on the same page.
5. Measurement Process: Survey your employees and get their feedback. Review employees based on a core value rating. Put it to work and make it tangible.

How can you make sure your team remembers the core values?

Keep It Simple. Miller’s Law states that most adults can store between five and nine items in their short-term memory.

Keep It Short. Choose a word, then you can have a meaning behind those words.

Keep It Clear. Avoid jargon, keep it conversational and use words everyone uses.

With that, you have the foundation to develop a strong set of core values for your companies – core values that will define your team, who they are, and their future success.

Why You Need To Unplug Every Once In A While

Putting down the phone, stepping away from the computer, and turning off the TV can do wonders. Here are just a few of the benefits you can experience:

• It Reduces Stress. The news and social media are packed with negativity. When you cut yourself off from the negativity, the stress melts away.
• It Boosts Productivity. We live in the era of information overload. Spending too much time behind a screen clutters our brains and slows us down. Take a break to get perspective and regain focus.
• It Just Helps You Feel Better. It gives your brain a chance to rest. Blue light given off by screens is overstimulating. Turning off the screen gives you a chance to recuperate mentally, emotionally, and even physically.