Taking the leap into managed services

Oracle Vice President, Mark Hurd recently posted an article on LinkedIn entitled Five Reasons Why CEOs Should Love the Cloud. 

He writes that cloud computing can help CEO's transform their businesses by enabling them to devote more of their IT budgets towards growth opportunities rather than the "maddeningly complex and expensive in-house IT environments that can't keep up with the modern business world".


The reasons Mr Hurd gives are compelling:

1. Simplify IT
2. Re-engineer the economics of IT spending
3. Accelerate and optimize your business processes.
4. Drive innovation
5. Enjoy world class security and compliance.


So what happens once you've decided to take the leap? How do you choose a managed services provider? 

It's an important but daunting task. In this blog post, I'll set out some factors to take into account when choosing a managed IT service provider.

Define your scope -   In order to maximise the benefits of managed services, it is important to clearly define the scope of your requirements. Being clear about what is required minimises costs and prevents problems arising later.

Flexibility - Above all, you need a provider that can respond to your changing needs. Chances are your organisation won't be the same 5 years from now.

Expertise - Do you trust that your provider has the necessary expertise? A good provider should communicate clearly and make it easy for you to understand the service being provided.

Reliability - A good managed services provider will work actively with your IT to minimise disruption to your business during the transition. Clear roles should be established and your service provider should implement and comply with service-level agreements (SLA's) tailored to meet your organisation's needs.

Quality & Support - Does the service provider use a well established data centre? Are you able to visit it to see for yourself? Does the provider offer a premium service and proactive support?

Customised - Once you have established the above, you should understand whether the provider can customise its service to meet your organisation's specific needs. The flexibility to customise means you only pay for what you need.

Location - For many companies the physical location of data is important for compliance reasons so it is important to understand where will the data be physically stored (e.g. within Australia vs outside of Australia).

Key takeaway:

There are many business benefits and savings that can be generated by managed services. The most successful models involve open communication between the company and a trusted provider to ensure the services provide not only meet your business needs but can also evolve as your business does.

Myriad IT
03-8530-8600