CoMMIT is StartCloud's co-managed IT service for Australian businesses that already employ internal IT staff. Co-managed IT is a shared model: the client keeps their in-house IT person or team, and StartCloud takes on 24/7 threat monitoring from its Security Operations Centre, patching, backups, Essential Eight assessment and staged uplift, after-hours and leave cover, and specialist depth in cloud, networking, and Microsoft 365. Responsibilities are agreed in a written split before engagement starts, so ownership of every system and alert is explicit. It suits businesses that have outgrown a single IT hire but are not ready for a full internal team.
Co-managed IT services that back your team, not replace it
Your internal IT person knows your business. We give them a 24/7 Security Operations Centre, specialist depth, and proper cover for leave and after-hours.
CoMMIT is our co-managed IT service for Australian businesses that already have IT and need more hands, more skills, and someone watching overnight.
What Are Co-Managed IT Services?
Co-managed IT sits between doing everything yourself and outsourcing the lot. You keep your internal IT, and a provider takes on the load your team cannot realistically carry.
One team, two parts
Your IT stays in the building. We plug in alongside them with the tools, monitoring, and specialists a single person cannot realistically carry alone.
You choose the split
Hand over everything, or just security and after-hours. The line between your work and ours is set by you, and it can move as you grow.
Nothing falls through
Clear ownership on every system and every alert, so there is never a gap where each side assumed the other had it covered.
Still weighing up your options? Read our honest comparison of managed IT and hiring in-house.
Signs Your Internal IT Needs Backup
Most businesses do not go looking for co-managed IT. They arrive at it after one of these becomes a problem they can no longer work around.
Your IT person is a single point of failure
One pair of hands, no cover for leave, and nobody to call at 2am. When they are away or unwell, everything waits until they are back.
Security has outgrown the day job
Patching, alerts, Essential Eight, and threat monitoring are a full-time role on their own. They are usually the first thing to slip when tickets pile up.
The backlog never shrinks
Your team spends the day on tickets and password resets, and the projects that would actually move the business keep sliding to next quarter.
How CoMMIT Works
No big bang cutover and no handing over the keys. We map what you have, agree who owns what, then take the heaviest pieces off your team's plate.
We map what you already run
A short discovery across your systems, tools, licensing, and risks, so we know exactly what is in place before we touch anything.
We agree the split in writing
A simple responsibility matrix naming who owns what: patching, backups, alerts, onboarding, escalation. No grey areas, no assumptions.
Security and monitoring come across
Our 24/7 Security Operations Centre picks up threat monitoring and response, and we begin staged Essential Eight uplift aligned to ACSC guidance.
Your team gets an escalation path
Your IT person stops being the last line of defence. They escalate specialist work to our engineers and keep the relationships that need a face.
You get reporting you can use
Regular reporting on security posture, ticket volume, and uplift progress, in language you can take to a board without translating it first.
Who Does What
Every co-managed arrangement we set up starts with this split written down. Here is where the line usually lands.
Your team keeps
- The relationships and the walk-up requests
- Knowledge of how your business actually runs
- Day to day priorities and what matters most
- Vendor and application knowledge specific to you
- The final say on every decision
We take on
- 24/7 threat monitoring and response from our SOC
- Patching, backups, and the maintenance grind
- Essential Eight assessment and staged uplift
- After-hours, weekend, and annual leave cover
- Specialist depth in cloud, networking, and Microsoft 365
Why Choose StartCloud?
Co-managed IT lives or dies on trust between two teams. That is the part we take most seriously.
We are not here to replace your IT person
Co-managed only works if your internal team is better off for it. We arrive to make their job doable, not to quietly build a case for taking it over.
Security first, not security later
We are a cybersecurity company that does managed IT, so monitoring and Essential Eight are the starting point rather than an upsell six months in.
A Perth team you can actually visit
Our engineers are in Balcatta. Your IT person can pick up the phone and reach someone who already knows your environment.
Genuine Microsoft depth
Certified Microsoft Solutions Partner for Modern Work, so the Microsoft 365, Entra, and Copilot work your team has queued up finally gets done properly.
Co-Managed IT Questions
What are co-managed IT services?
Co-managed IT services are a shared model where your internal IT person or team works alongside a managed service provider. You keep the in-house knowledge and day to day presence, and the provider adds specialist skills, 24/7 monitoring, and cover for leave and after-hours. Responsibilities are split explicitly, so both sides know exactly what they own.
What is CoMMIT?
CoMMIT is StartCloud's co-managed IT service, short for Co-Managed Microsoft IT. It pairs your internal IT team with our Perth-based engineers and 24/7 Security Operations Centre, with the split of responsibilities agreed in writing before we start.
How is co-managed IT different from fully managed IT?
With fully managed IT, the provider runs everything. With co-managed IT, you keep your internal IT staff and the provider covers the parts they cannot realistically carry, usually security monitoring, after-hours cover, patching, and specialist project work. Co-managed suits businesses that have outgrown one person but are not ready for a full internal team.
Will co-managed IT replace our internal IT person?
No. The point of co-managed IT is to keep the person who knows your business and give them a team behind them. Most internal IT staff end up spending far less time on patching, alerts, and after-hours callouts, and far more on the projects they were hired to deliver.
Can we start with just security and add more later?
Yes, and it is the most common way businesses begin. Many start with 24/7 monitoring and Essential Eight uplift, then move patching, backups, or helpdesk overflow across once the working relationship is established.