For many years at our MSP, we treated co-managed clients almost the same way as fully managed ones.
We had similar processes, a similar cadence of meetings, a similar account management team, and the same reports.
But over time, we realized something simple but very important: co-managed clients are fundamentally different.
Their needs, expectations, and communication styles require a completely different approach.
When Your Point of Contact Is Technical, Everything Changes
In a managed relationship, the goal is to give business leaders peace of mind, ensuring that everything “just works.”
In a co-managed relationship, the point of contact is usually an IT leader who wants:
- To understand every change and approve it
- Access to your tools and documentation
- Regular technical meetings
- Transparency about how you operate
In other words, they don’t just want the cake; they want to know the ingredients and the recipe.
If your processes and communication don’t reflect that, frustration builds on both sides.
Different Clients, Different Delivery
Co-managed clients aren’t harder, they’re just different.
They expect to be part of the process. They want to collaborate, not delegate.
This means your vCIO, account management, and service delivery teams need to adjust how they operate.
For us, that shift meant:
- Creating a dedicated co-managed onboarding process
- Having vCIOs specific to co-managed clients that are more technical
- Giving clients visibility into our stack, tools, and processes
- Involving our technology partners directly with co-managed clients
Once we embraced these differences instead of resisting them, our relationships strengthened.
A New Role: The Co-Managed vCIO
This evolution gave rise to a new role: the Co-Managed vCIO.
Someone who speaks the language of IT leaders can dive deep into technical detail, but still connects the dots to business strategy.
The Co-Managed vCIO isn’t competing with the client’s IT team; they’re empowering it.
Want to Go Deeper? Join Our Webinar
If you’re an MSP owner, vCIO manager, or vCIO working with technical points of contact, this webinar is for you.
Join me for our free webinar:
“The Co-Managed vCIO” – October 16 at 1PM ET
We’ll explore:
- The key differences between managed and co-managed services
- How to adapt your delivery
- What makes a great co-managed vCIO
- How to involve your technology partners strategically
Simon is the President of S3 Technologies, a leading Canadian MSP he co-founded in 2003. He built and scaled the vCIO team which eventually lead to him co-founding Propel Your MSP in 2018 to help MSPs with their vCIO services.
