Strategic co-managed IT partnership: best practices and benchmarks

A strategic, co-managed IT partnership works best with simple and consistent practices. Start with clear intake, planned changes, tight access, and tested recovery. Add dashboards that leaders and engineers both trust. Best practices to adopt Use outcome-based frameworks to guide controls and roles. Keep them lightweight and repeatable. NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 and the CIS Controls are widely used references for aligning work with risk. Plan recovery targets by system importance. Many organizations set faster targets for critical apps and slower ones for the rest. Use targets that fit your business, then test them. Benchmarks to guide planning (not guarantees) Service levels: Well-run desks often sustain ~95% SLA adherence . Treat this as a healthy target. ( Freshservice ) Recovery: For important apps, teams commonly plan an RTO of ~4 hours , adjusted by risk and budget. ( AWS Documentation) Backlog: Case studies show ~40% backlog reduction after process and tooling improvements. Use as a directional goal. ( Jade Global) Time savings: Independent trials report meaningful time savings from modern AI tools across writing and analysis tasks. How to use benchmarks well Set your baseline first. Pick a few targets. Review monthly, then adjust. Benchmarks are guides, not guarantees. Your mix of systems, users, and constraints will shape the results. Takeaway: A strategic co-managed IT partnership pairs simple practices with realistic targets, then proves improvements over time.

Co-managed IT partnership: best practices and benchmarks

A strategic, co-managed IT partnership works best with simple and consistent practices. Start with clear intake, planned changes, tight access, and tested recovery. Add dashboards that leaders and engineers both trust.

Best practices to adopt

Use outcome-based frameworks to guide controls and roles. Keep them lightweight and repeatable. NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 and the CIS Controls are widely used references for aligning work with risk.

Plan recovery targets by system importance. Many organizations set faster targets for critical apps and slower ones for the rest. Use targets that fit your business, then test them.

Benchmarks to guide planning (not guarantees)

Service levels: Well-run desks often sustain ~95% SLA adherence. Treat this as a healthy target. (Freshservice)
Recovery: For important apps, teams commonly plan an RTO of ~4 hours, adjusted by risk and budget. (AWS Documentation)
Backlog: Case studies show ~40% backlog reduction after process and tooling improvements. Use as a directional goal. (Jade Global)
Time savings: Independent trials report meaningful time savings from modern AI tools across writing and analysis tasks.

How to use benchmarks well

Set your baseline first. Pick a few targets. Review monthly, then adjust. Benchmarks are guides, not guarantees. Your mix of systems, users, and constraints will shape the results.

Takeaway: A strategic co-managed IT partnership pairs simple practices with realistic targets, then proves improvements over time.