Important quality criteria for managed service providers
IT technology is becoming an increasingly important competitive factor for companies. However, internal IT resources are increasingly overburdened with the task of coping with the growing demands of an ever-shrinking talent pool. This critical situation makes it necessary to examine external alternatives. A strategic partnership within the framework of managed services is considered the best solution. But what quality criteria should a managed service provider (MSP) fulfill?
Companies are currently struggling with three major challenges: their digital transformation, strengthening their resilience and the shortage of skilled workers. As the study Voice of our Clients of the global IT service provider CGI Group shows, they often fail because of their internal silo boundaries, which prevent the development of cross-departmental end-to-end solutions. As a logical consequence of this dilemma, companies are increasingly working with managed service providers. This is no longer just about cost-effective IT services according to an SLA agreement, but about solving complex tasks that can be solved much better, faster and more flexibly by external specialists. The prerequisite for this is intensive cooperation that also takes into account the maturity level of the respective company. The following list shows which quality criteria a managed service provider (MSP) must meet in order to help companies with their digital transformation:
- Range of servicesManaged services come from the external provision of IT infrastructure, such as servers, clients or storage. Transferred to the cloud model, this is the lowest layer (Infrastructure-as-a-Service or IaaS for short) of the stack. But that alone is no longer enough. Instead, an MSP must be able to cover all layers - such as Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) - and integrate them with the latest automation and AI solutions, from the hardware to the application.
- Depth of integration and partnershipThe solution must be tailored to the maturity level of the company's IT, which is why a maturity level analysis is carried out at the start of every collaboration. The more intensive and long-term it is, the more effective it is. The goal is a lasting strategic partnership that relieves companies of IT tasks and allows them to concentrate on achieving their business goals.
- Flexibility and provider diagnosticsGiven the pace of digital innovation, an MSP must be able not only to deliver standard services, but also to constantly adapt new solutions, for example from the provider market in the AI sector, which is changing almost daily. They must be at the forefront of technological developments and use them to meet company-specific needs. An MSP must therefore not be tied to specific providers and their offerings. Provider diagnostics (analogous to cloud agnostic: running an application on different clouds at the same time, editor's note) is also a must in order to rule out dependencies.
- Automation and AIArtificial intelligence is now indispensable for more than just data analysis, forecasting, complex planning and process automation. Corresponding expertise is therefore an essential part of an MSP's service portfolio. They must be able to correctly analyze a company's AI maturity level and, based on this, implement AI projects that create real added value.
- Consolidation and complexity managementConsolidating the IT landscape is currently one of the most difficult, but also most important tasks for companies in order to make it manageable, agile and affordable. The quality profile of an MSP therefore includes mastering complex IT infrastructures and application landscapes, restructuring and modernizing them and integrating them into business processes.
- Transformation and focus on resultsIT is not an end in itself, but a tool for achieving the company's goals. Analogously, this also applies to an MSP. The value of its services and performance is therefore no longer reflected in the fulfillment rate of SLAs. Rather, it is crucial to not only consider pure IT services, but to increasingly focus on business results.
"Companies are currently struggling with a multitude of challenges," explains Ralf Bauer, President CGI Germany. "The economic situation is difficult, the pressure to innovate is high, complexity is high, the shortage of skilled workers is a dangerous brake on growth and IT resources urgently need to be consolidated. In this situation, companies need a competent and long-term oriented partner who not only provides IT services, but also keeps an eye on the company's success."
Source and further information: www.cgi.com/de
This article originally appeared on m-q.ch - https://www.m-q.ch/de/wichtige-qualitaetskriterien-fuer-managed-service-provider/
