the benefits of an IT Managed Service are helping SMEs with business demands
One of the latest buzz terms is Gartner’s “bimodal IT” – a method of service delivery which allows IT teams to split their focus into two separate modes for stability and agility.
Stability covers the day-to-day IT operations essential to the safety and reliability of an organisation’s IT department while the agility mode centres on innovations which allow the IT team to experiment and identify new ways of using technology to meet the evolving demands of a business.
However, for many small and medium enterprise (SMEs), IT funding tends to be concentrated on the former, leaving little room for new projects or for testing out new technology or methods of working.
With Gartner predicting 75 per cent of organisations will have implemented bimodal IT strategies by 2017, where does that leave the SMEs who may be struggling to keep up?
For some businesses, the solution lies with managed services.
Bimodal IT and managed services
Outsourcing basic IT functions like the Help Desk allows IT departments to take a more holistic role in the business. With the changes in the nature of IT sourcing, Gartner believes that IT suppliers will be able to respond rapidly to requirements, while also scaling quicker solutions through the use of Cloud capabilities.
Once the daily grind tasks have been taken away from the IT team, it frees them up to invest more time in innovation, allowing the business to remain agile in a competitive marketplace. There are, however, a few key questions to ask before choosing to adopt a Managed Service solution.
1 – Can you meet our current and future needs?
While it may seem obvious, it’s crucial for a Managed Service provider to have experience in supporting the specific functions you will be outsourcing to it. Outsourcing your Help Desk, for example, isn’t going to be effective unless the provider you choose has engineers with a variety of skills who are fully qualified to repair equipment from an array of manufacturers or to work with a variety of different software solutions.
2 What service level agreements do you offer?
Anyone engaging a Managed Service provider must ensure they receive the necessary Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and double check them to make sure they align with the company’s goals and expectations.
Evaluating a potential Managed Service Provider’s typical response times and getting records of their quantified metrics of success is another good way of checking you’re picking the right company to outsource to.
3 – What varying levels of support will be offered?
Make sure your SLA covers what different levels of support will be offered. You don’t want the IT team to be distracted from new projects because your outsourced provider isn’t doing what you thought they would.
Most MSPs offer different levels of support from 24/7 coverage, remote access or on-site support. Make sure they’re offering something which meets your business requirements or, if possible, ask them to create a custom package just for your business.
To sum up. For businesses to stay afloat in a competitive marketplace, they must be able to explore avenues of technical innovation.
While SME and mid-market enterprise might struggle to implement a bimodal IT strategy within their own IT departments, outsourcing and working with an MSP can free up the time and skills necessary to focus on progress.
At Technosys we offer a Virtual IT Support Package which could answer your outsourcing problems. Our different support packages enable you to choose the right solution for your business at a cost to suit you.
You can find out more, and sign up for our free monthly Servicenow support tips here.
