Will you take work away from our IT person?

No. We agree upfront on who handles what and write it down. Your internal lead keeps the work that requires their knowledge of the business. We take what shouldn't rest on one person. The boundary is clear so nothing falls between the seats, and nothing gets stepped on.

Do we lose visibility into what is happening?

The opposite. Documentation is kept current and shared with your internal lead. Reviews happen on a regular cadence with both the internal team and leadership. You'll have more visibility into the environment than most internal only setups produce.

Can co-managed turn into fully managed later?

Yes. Several of our clients started co-managed and shifted to fully managed when their internal IT person moved into a different role or left the company. We are built to flex with your company. If you're still deciding between the two models, our co-managed vs. fully managed guide walks through how to tell which fits.

Can you help with cyber insurance questions if we have internal IT?

Yes. Most insurance applications ask about controls the internal IT person has been meaning to get to. We translate the questions, review the environment against them, and help you answer with evidence instead of guesswork. If there are gaps, we'll tell you what they are and what it takes to close them.

What is an IT Environment Review for Co-Managed IT?

A real look at what you have. Not a sales call. For co-managed situations that means understanding how the internal team operates today, what they're carrying, where the environment is exposed, and what a shared model would actually look like. You leave with a clear picture. What you do with that is up to you.

Co-Managed IT

Support for internal IT that is carrying too much alone.

Most internal IT leads are not under-skilled, they are under-supported. Co-managed IT gives them senior depth, better tooling, and a shared standard so the environment isn't sitting on one person or small team.

Schedule an IT Environment Review

The pattern

When one person becomes the single point of failure.

Internal IT often starts as one capable person who knows the systems, the people, and the workarounds. As the business grows, that person ends up owning everything, help desk, security, Microsoft 365, vendors, projects, planning, and the gaps only show up when they take a week off.

Co-managed IT is not about replacing that person. It is about making sure the environment, the security posture, and the planning do not live entirely in one place.

Where we plug in

We take the parts that should not rest on one person.

9 areas, swipe or use arrows

Escalation support

Senior engineers behind your internal lead for the issues that take real time, real depth, or after-hours coverage.

Cybersecurity oversight

Standards, controls, and review cycles aligned to CIS Controls, and to whatever insurers or customers are asking about.

Microsoft 365 management

Identity, sharing, mailboxes, licensing, and security configurations held to a written standard.

Backup and recovery

Monitoring, restore testing, and recovery planning so backups stop being something everyone hopes is fine.

Monitoring and alert follow-up

Alerts triaged and acted on, not just routed to a busy inbox.

Vendor coordination

We take the back-and-forth with ISPs, line-of-business apps, and hardware vendors off your internal team.

Project and lifecycle support

Senior help on migrations, refreshes, office moves, and the work nobody has bandwidth for.

Documentation the team can use

What exists, how it is configured, what changed, kept current and shared with your internal lead.

Leadership planning

Quarterly reviews with the people who actually decide budget, hiring, and what comes next.

How it works

Responsibilities written down, not assumed.

We start by understanding how the internal team operates today, what they own, what they wish they could hand off, and where the environment is exposed.

Then we agree on responsibilities in writing. The internal team keeps what they should keep. We take the rest, and the boundary is clear enough that nothing falls between the seats.

Reviews happen on a regular cadence with the internal lead and leadership. Adjustments are normal, the model is built to flex with the business.

A 3rd Element team member reviewing an IT operations dashboard with a client in a conference room

What co-managed IT is not

We do not show up to replace your team or compete with them.

Good internal IT people are a real asset. Co-managed IT works because we are aligned with them, not positioned against them. The point is to give them backup, better tools, and a standard the business is held to, so they can focus on the work that actually requires them. If the internal role ever changes, this same engagement can shift to fully managed IT without changing providers.

Who we work best with

Built for companies that want IT held to a standard.

Co-managed IT works best when leadership wants to put the internal team in a stronger position, not just reduce their workload, but give them the depth and backup the environment actually needs.

A strong fit

One to a few internal IT people stretched across too many responsibilities
Growing companies whose IT lead is now also the security, M365, and vendor lead
Environments that need real cybersecurity oversight without hiring for it
Internal teams that want a senior partner, not a vendor that talks past them

Not the right fit

Buyers shopping on rate alone
Companies that want a vendor to do only what they are told.
Organizations not ready to put security or standards in place.

In their words

We joined up with 3rd Element Consulting to assist with a Microsoft 365 project. We were very impressed with their level of expertise and customer service. 3rd Element has become an integral part of our IT team, providing consulting services, system support, and providing backup for our onsite team. We have recommended 3rd Element Consulting to many other companies. We look forward to a long and prosperous partnership with 3rd Element Consulting.
David Stanton, IT Director, Bell & McCoy

Common questions

Questions leadership usually asks first.

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