As our regular readers know, we are focused on preparing to invest and getting the most from budget dollars. As technology consumption is shifting, many organizations are turning to managed services to keep up with the latest IT needs.
Investing in a managed services model allows users to switch to a consumption-based IT strategy. In the past, organizations had to make a capital purchase, planning and budgeting for their highest workload and use case. Additionally, they had to hire the appropriate administration, staffing to ensure technical know-how within the organization to get the highest business value out of the investment.
Leveraging a managed services model allows organizations to quickly adopt a particular technology without worrying about the overall complexity or having the right skill set to manage the technology in-house. With a trusted partner managing the solution, an organization is free to refocus staff on more critical missions, such as business differentiators, new lines of revenue or even improved customer experiences.
Choosing the right managed services provider can be daunting, so here are a few questions to ask a potential provider to ensure you are making a wise investment.
1. Does the provider have the right expertise?
Does the managed services provider have the domain expertise in the particular technology you want to deploy? Can they support the full lifecycle of the technology? A good managed services provider will not only be able to install a solution, get it up and running and provide typical helpdesk support, but also will be able to help your organization drive full-scale adoption of that technology across your entire business. This will make it easy for users to embrace a new way of doing business and collaborate across the organization.
2. Do they speak your language?
Do they understand your business or industry? One simple way to determine this is whether or not the provider speaks to you in terms and key performance indicators (KPIs) that are significant to you and your business. For example, if you’re a law firm, are they speaking to you in terms of billing hours and case workload? If not, the provider may not fully understand how to leverage and provide the benefits of a particular technology in a way that makes a difference in your business.
3. Does the SLA match your KPIs?
Make sure you review the provider’s service-level agreement (SLA). How quickly will the provider respond to an incident and resolve it? At a very high level, be sure your provider’s SLA aligns with your needs and whatever outcomes or KPIs you have for your business. If a certain provider is going to charge a premium to augment or modify the SLA to best fit your organization, perhaps that provider isn’t the best fit for your needs.
4. Can they prove their value?
One of the ways a provider can prove their value is by providing analytics, reporting and usage statistics. Using these reports and other usage information provided by your managed services provider, you can make better decisions around the technology platform you’re deploying with them.
Keeping up-to-date with the latest and greatest technology doesn’t have to be a nightmare, thanks to managed services. And by taking time to determine the answers to these four questions, you are sure to find the best managed services provider for you and your organization.
Have we left anything out? Comment below with your suggestions.
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