Co-Managed IT

Co-managed IT: senior backup for the IT team you already have.

Co-managed IT is a model where an outside IT partner works alongside your internal IT staff instead of replacing them. Your team keeps ownership of strategy, budgets, and daily support; the partner adds senior capacity and specialist depth — identity, endpoints, cloud, and security. For a startup or mid-sized company with a small IT function, it’s how you get enterprise-grade Microsoft 365, Entra ID, and security work done without hiring three more people.

The Split

What your team keeps vs. what we plug in for.

You stay in control. We flex the split to your team — from senior escalation to running most of the identity and security stack.

Your internal team keeps

IT strategy, budget, and vendor relationships
Day-to-day helpdesk and “where’s my file” support
Institutional knowledge of your people and apps
The final call on priorities
Owning the relationship with leadership

We plug in for

Microsoft 365 & Entra ID administration and hardening
Conditional Access & phishing-resistant MFA design
Intune / endpoint management and remote-hire provisioning
Email security (SPF/DKIM/DMARC), anti-phishing, BEC response
Security reviews + customer security-questionnaire support
Documentation and escalation for the hard stuff

How Handoffs Work

No black boxes.

Shared visibility

We work inside your tenant and your ticketing/Slack — not a portal you can’t see. You always know what we touched and why.

Clear ownership per area

For each system (Entra, Intune, email, endpoints) we agree who owns changes and who reviews them. Nothing falls between chairs.

Change you can follow

Configuration changes come with a short written rationale, so your team learns the environment instead of depending on us.

Escalation path

When something breaks at 4pm before a launch, there’s a named person to call — not a queue.

A Good Fit If

You have roughly 0–5 people doing IT and the security/identity workload has outgrown them.
You’re a startup from seed to Series C where IT suddenly matters and no one owns it full-time.
You’re a mid-sized company whose small IT team can’t specialize in identity, endpoints, and security all at once.
Your one IT person needs senior backup, coverage, and a second set of hands — not a pink slip.
You’re remote-first and need laptops to reach new hires already managed and encrypted.

Probably Not a Fit If

You want to fully outsource IT and have no internal counterpart — that’s traditional managed IT, and we’ll point you to a good MSP.
You’re an enterprise with a staffed security org — you likely need specialists, not augmentation.
You want the cheapest possible break/fix vendor. We optimize for done-right, not lowest hourly.

We’ll tell you in the first conversation if it isn’t a fit.

Comparison

Co-managed vs. fully-managed vs. internal-only.

Internal-only ITCo-managed IT (Intragreat)Fully-managed (MSP)
Who owns strategyYouYouThe MSP
Best forTeams with depth in every areaStartups, mid-sized companies & small IT teamsCompanies with no internal IT
Internal IT roleDoes everythingKeeps control, gains senior capacityMinimal or none
Specialist depth (Entra, Intune, security)Limited by headcountOn tapVaries by MSP
Speed to add capabilitySlow (hire, train)Fast (plug in)Fast, but you cede control
Security-questionnaire helpOn your ownIncluded where relevantSometimes

Internal-only maximizes control but caps out on depth and coverage; fully-managed maximizes offload but cedes control and context; co-managed keeps your team in charge while giving them enterprise-grade depth on demand.

FAQ

Common questions.

What is co-managed IT?

Co-managed IT is a model where an outside IT partner works alongside your internal IT staff instead of replacing them. Your team keeps ownership of strategy, budgets, and daily support; the partner adds senior capacity and specialist depth — identity, endpoints, cloud, and security. For a small team, it’s how you get enterprise-grade work done without hiring several more people.

How is co-managed IT different from a traditional MSP?

A traditional managed service provider (MSP) typically takes over IT entirely and runs it for you. Co-managed IT keeps your internal team in charge and fills specific gaps alongside them. The difference is control and context: with co-managed IT you don’t hand over the keys, and the person doing your identity or security work is adding to your team’s knowledge, not replacing it.

How much does co-managed IT cost for a startup or small team?

It’s scoped to what you actually hand off, so it flexes from light senior escalation to running most of your identity and security stack. We don’t lock you into per-seat pricing or a long contract to start. The honest answer is that cost depends on scope — the fastest way to a real number is a short call after the free review.

Will you replace our IT person?

No — the opposite. Co-managed IT exists to back up and extend the people you already have, not to push them out. Your IT person keeps owning the relationships and the roadmap; we take the specialist and overflow work off their plate so they’re effective instead of overwhelmed.

Can we start with a single project instead of ongoing help?

Yes. Many engagements begin as a defined consulting project — a Microsoft 365 rollout, a Conditional Access deployment, a security review — and only become ongoing if it’s useful. There’s no requirement to commit to a retainer up front.

Do you work with remote-first companies?

Yes. Most of our work is delivered remotely and securely inside your own Microsoft 365 tenant, which suits distributed teams well. We’re on-site when it helps in the Bay Area, Sacramento, and Reno, but remote-first companies anywhere in the US are a core part of who we work with.

Get Started

Extend your IT team without hiring for it yet.

Start with a free Microsoft 365 and security review, then scope the split. Start small; no long lock-in.