7 Best Practices of Successful managed Service Providers

The managed service provider (MSP) market is growing. In a MarketsandMarkets study, sales in 2019 were estimated at more than $ 193 billion, a compound annual rate of 12.5%.

The study also indicated that the percentage of companies using MSP increased from around 30% to 50% in the last year alone. However, these are just the macro numbers. The growth of individual MSPs varies considerably. According to the study, a significant proportion of MSP has seen their business grow 20% or more annually. However, about half of them only grow about 10% or less.

We are now four months away in 2018 and I think it is fair to say that none of us really knows what to expect in the coming months, with global changes that will have consequences for all of us. So how can we ensure that as an IT company we do everything we can to remain successful and decisively profitable? Through my conversations and discussions over the past few months with Datto MSP partners in Asia, I have been able to identify some of the important best practices that have been shared by the most successful companies and that I would now like to share with you Some Managed Services Best Practices:

1. Be the person you are going to

For managed service providers, it is important to define exactly what your company is doing, what services it specializes in, and what advantage it has over competitors in your area.

It is important to be able to communicate the value of your business to potential customers. An effective way to stand out from other IT providers is to develop a high level of experience in a specific area or areas. For example, an MSP that focuses on serving SMEs in health and finance, or an MSP that specializes in a particular service or technology (for example, disaster recovery and backup). This decision should depend on your personal preferences and potential clients in your area. By serving clients with similar requirements, you can accumulate experience over time that can be applied to all clients. Suddenly you will be the "go to" person for something.

2. Be picky about customers.

Many new IT service providers take on whatever job they may get. This makes sense when you are just starting out, but as your business grows, it is important to be more selective with your customers. The first step: identify your ideal client. This is determined in part by your specific areas of expertise, but additional factors must be considered. For example, it is important to consider the effort required to support the customer environment. When it comes to current customers, don't be afraid to cut ties. In general, if a client does not fit well, it is best to end your relationship with him.

3. Build customer trust

It is important that IT service providers strengthen customer trust by accessing and protecting their private technologies and data, on which their livelihood depends.

Always be sure to keep your promises, since without them there will be no trust or relationship. Offering unbiased technology advice to your clients will make you a trusted advisor. Of course, you must generate sales and make a profit, but that does not mean that you are selling your customers the most expensive products you can. It is more important to recommend technologies that help them succeed regardless of their costs. Providing customers with the right tools and first-class technical support builds trust and ensures a long-term business relationship.

4. Standardize technology offerings

Standardization enables you to develop expertise in the technologies you use, reducing the time and effort required to implement and manage them. This also makes it easier to manage relationships with a limited number of providers. Be sure to choose technologies that support many different IT environments. Many successful IT service providers publish a catalog of services to ensure that current and potential customers understand the options available to them. It must be so detailed that there is no confusion about what each service offers, but not so technical as to lose it in general.

5. Prize for a victory

Developing a pricing strategy is about achieving the desired and / or required margins for the services you provide. It is important to understand your own costs - look at what you need to make a margin and then make a profit. Many IT providers, especially those who are new to the business, make the mistake of underestimating their services to beat the competition on price. Instead, think about how you can make your services stand out from the competition and tell us why your service is getting a higher price. IT service providers use a variety of pricing models today, and theirs will be determined by your business needs. Many IT providers pay per user or per device, while others choose a fixed-price model or a hybrid of the two.

6. Develop a sales and marketing process.

Many IT service providers have problems with sales and marketing. In some cases, this is because they come for technical rather than commercial reasons. Others, especially small businesses, may not have time to spend on sales and marketing. If you want to grow your business, it is essential to develop a repeatable sales process.

7. go to school

Education is essential in a constantly changing industry. Peer groups are a popular choice for IT service providers who want to continue their education. These groups meet locally or online and allow members to learn from each other in formal and informal settings. Members are encouraged to network and share ideas. Another option is to request certification of certain technologies that you use to provide services. Many technology providers offer specific product training and certification programs, and there are several organizations that offer more general IT training opportunities. Continuing education and certification are essential to remain competitive in an ever-changing industry.

Engagement Models

 Each company is unique, which is why we believe that each relationship requires a unique strategy. We understand the challenges customers face at different stages of the software life cycle. Through its experience in multiple engagements, EVRY has developed methods and processes to enable collaborative harmony with its customers for the new product roadmap, application management, reengineering, and third-party testing.

By following the CMMI DEV Maturity Level 5 and CMMI SVC Maturity Level 5 processes, as well as the ISO 9001: 2015 and ISO / IEC 27001: 2013 procedures, you can be sure that performance remains constant. We also consider the needs and concerns of offshoring before submitting a site, fixed price, time and material model or a build, operate and transfer model. A carefully designed Managed Services Engagement Model helps our clients manage their risk and balance their delivery strategy and cost for key business functions. EVRY offers different engagement models as follows:

Offshore model on site

When developing a tailored strategy, we evaluate the type of project and define processes that ensure that the results meet the agreed standards. We have demonstrated our knowledge of both on-site and off-site operations and recommend a combination that offers our customers an optimal combination of speed, economy and flexibility and ensures long-lasting, quality relationships.

An on-site team coordinates and manages requirements gathering, project definition, planning, milestone and results qualification, as well as user implementation and training. All development, testing, support and maintenance activities are carried out from our offshore development facilities in Bangalore and Chandigarh, India.

Mixed equipment and delivery property

A competent team with the right mix of resources will only work on client projects. EVRY will take responsibility for delivery and proactively build the repository for key insight. The process-oriented transfer of resources, as well as the mandatory overlap time and the Knowledge Management System (KMS) guarantee normal business.

Designated infrastructure

EVRY will assign work areas within its facilities to ensure closeness and cohesion within the team. EVRY configures all the hardware and software resources necessary for the project in a specific area. One of the decisive factors for the success of the Pavilion® is the establishment of the development / test environment. The environment replicates the production environment.

Scalability and visibility of the project.

EVRY uses process adaptation guidelines to meet customer requirements at the Pavilion®. The client not only sets the standard for this engagement, but is also involved in managing the tasks of the offshore team. This unique model helps clients achieve higher levels of productivity and profitability. EVRY will offer software solutions while clients focus their time and efforts on meeting their clients' needs.

Managed services

EVRY offers managed services that focus on SLA / KPI management in IT applications, infrastructure and operations. Given the ever-changing business complexity and the emergence of disruptive technologies, the focus has never been on business and IT alignment anymore. EVRY's managed services approach to customer loyalty is demonstrated by a history of past commitments and innovations in meeting business metrics, productivity and profitability. Our solutions continue to be a measure of the success of our customers and EVRY. This is complemented by:

• A global delivery model
• Flexible but clearly defined transition model
• Domain and technology experts.
• Customized governance model
• An Managed Services engagement model that can be tailored to the changing needs of the business.

With our commitment to managed service, we are ready to work with the company to help them meet and exceed their business metrics, productivity improvements, and profitability goals. We draw on our expertise in providing managed services for a variety of services, including application management, data engineering, quality assurance, mobility, Internet of Things, infrastructure, and cloud activation.

What Outsourcing Engagement Model is Right for you?

Outsourcing should be a strategic partnership, not simply handing over tasks to third parties. To do this correctly, wise preparation is required.

When implemented correctly, strategic partnerships are a happy collaboration in which expectations for delivery and results are clear from the start. By involving external minds, you can innovate and take your product to a level that goes beyond what your internal team may have accomplished. New ideas can come from anywhere.

A proper planning phase is important. It's not just about thinking about the future, it's also about being on the same page with your outsourcing provider every day and benefiting from their expertise, rather than just looking at outsourcing as an easy way to outsource real estate work. . You must choose the appropriate Managed Services Engagement Model that is transparent to both parties and provides sound governance for all aspects of the relationship.

To accomplish this, it is helpful to understand the various outsourcing contracting models and best apply them to your situation: software development in the case described here.

A commitment model is a framework that defines collaboration between a client and an outsourcing provider. It determines a level of control and responsibility and provides a basis for further development of relationships. There is no "best" universal model that meets the requirements of every business.

How do you choose a commitment model that is right for your business? Here is a brief overview of the most popular models, divided into tactical and strategic engagements.

Tactical engagement models:

* Staffing is the simplest model This approach enables companies to expand existing internal employees with outsourced employees. The typical customer business driver for such a model is cost reduction. It may work well in the short term, but requires a high level of customer engagement to monitor extended staff. This means that project management and technical leadership remain on the client side, while development or routine testing can be complemented, for example, with offshore or nearshore resources provided by an outsourcing provider.

It is not necessary to argue that the degree of innovation of suppliers subcontracted with this model will be quite low in most cases. The smaller the area of ​​responsibility, the fewer drivers there are for innovations.

With the staff augmentation model, the range of responsibility is often quite limited. It may include technical implementation tasks as well as prototyping, but the product vision and decision-making freedom of extended team members are so limited that it is no easier to think outside the box.

It is important to set reasonable expectations and build a relationship between a customer and an outsourcing provider where the party is responsible for the steps in the product development cycle. This helps to avoid solving unpleasant problems in the future.

* Project-based is a time-based participation model that is effective for projects where requirements are unlikely to change during the development process. It reduces costs and time to market by using an external provider with the necessary technical and specialized knowledge. However, if requirements change frequently or the planned order size spans more than one transaction project, it is best to consider strategic inclusion models such as the Offshore / Nearshore Development Center (ODC / NDC) or Product 2.0 (PDS 2.0) [3].

* Tactical Consulting is a generic term for a range of value-added services. The customer's business driver here is access to expertise not available internally, such as user experience design, architecture and technology consulting, security assessment, etc. It is usually provided by an outsourcing provider as a fixed-price, time-limited activity, although due to the insecure nature of R&D work, the T&M basis can also be considered.

Strategic engagement models

The following three models belong to the strategic group because they are based on long-term and more innovative relationships between a client and an outsourcing provider organization.

* The Offshore / Nearshore Development Center is a flexible engagement model that significantly increases clients' product development capabilities. If the product requirements are controlled by a customer, the employees of the Offshore Development Center / Nearshore (ODC / NDC) are managed by an outsourcing provider. This model can support a variety of projects and activities, such as new product development, modernization and maintenance of older products, testing services, and other long-term activities. However, customers looking for disruptive innovations and increased vendor responsibility should consider the PDS 2.0 model, which is next on our list.

* Product Development Services 2.0 is the most innovative strategic engagement model that maximizes the results of an outsourcing relationship. The term PDS 2.0 comes from Forrester's comparison of traditional PDSs, which were carried out through project-based or ODC models, with a new innovative approach, in which the outsourced provider has a wide range of responsibilities to the design and create a product together with a customer. Once the product has been launched, the supplier, motivated by a results-oriented contract, continues with the optimization and sustainability of the product. In this way, the entire product life cycle can be outsourced to a strategic partner.

* Strategic consulting is values-based advice that aims to improve the efficiency of the process and the product quality of a client's organization. It generally encompasses all aspects of the people / processes / technology triangle that have a major impact on a client's transformation and strategic decision making.

The key to success is choosing an appropriate engagement model. By ensuring that your tactical and strategic plans are shared with your partner, you can create a solid foundation for further innovation. There's no need to stop at one level or another: evolve over time through participation models to gain more value from long-lasting and fruitful partnerships.

What Outsourcing Engagement Model is Right for you?

Outsourcing should be a strategic partnership, not simply handing over tasks to third parties. To do this correctly, wise preparation is required.

When implemented correctly, strategic partnerships are a happy collaboration in which expectations for delivery and results are clear from the start. By involving external minds, you can innovate and take your product to a level that goes beyond what your internal team may have accomplished. New ideas can come from anywhere.

A proper planning phase is important. It's not just about thinking about the future, it's also about being on the same page with your outsourcing provider every day and benefiting from their expertise, rather than just looking at outsourcing as an easy way to outsource real estate work. . You must choose the appropriate Managed Services Engagement Model that is transparent to both parties and provides sound governance for all aspects of the relationship.

To accomplish this, it is helpful to understand the various outsourcing contracting models and best apply them to your situation: software development in the case described here.

A commitment model is a framework that defines collaboration between a client and an outsourcing provider. It determines a level of control and responsibility and provides a basis for further development of relationships. There is no "best" universal model that meets the requirements of every business.

How do you choose a commitment model that is right for your business? Here is a brief overview of the most popular models, divided into tactical and strategic engagements.

Tactical engagement models:

* Staffing is the simplest model This approach enables companies to expand existing internal employees with outsourced employees. The typical customer business driver for such a model is cost reduction. It may work well in the short term, but requires a high level of customer engagement to monitor extended staff. This means that project management and technical leadership remain on the client side, while development or routine testing can be complemented, for example, with offshore or nearshore resources provided by an outsourcing provider.

It is not necessary to argue that the degree of innovation of suppliers subcontracted with this model will be quite low in most cases. The smaller the area of ​​responsibility, the fewer drivers there are for innovations.

With the staff augmentation model, the range of responsibility is often quite limited. It may include technical implementation tasks as well as prototyping, but the product vision and decision-making freedom of extended team members are so limited that it is no easier to think outside the box.

It is important to set reasonable expectations and build a relationship between a customer and an outsourcing provider where the party is responsible for the steps in the product development cycle. This helps to avoid solving unpleasant problems in the future.

* Project-based is a time-based participation model that is effective for projects where requirements are unlikely to change during the development process. It reduces costs and time to market by using an external provider with the necessary technical and specialized knowledge. However, if requirements change frequently or the planned order size spans more than one transaction project, it is best to consider strategic inclusion models such as the Offshore / Nearshore Development Center (ODC / NDC) or Product 2.0 (PDS 2.0) [3].

* Tactical Consulting is a generic term for a range of value-added services. The customer's business driver here is access to expertise not available internally, such as user experience design, architecture and technology consulting, security assessment, etc. It is usually provided by an outsourcing provider as a fixed-price, time-limited activity, although due to the insecure nature of R&D work, the T&M basis can also be considered.

Strategic engagement models

The following three models belong to the strategic group because they are based on long-term and more innovative relationships between a client and an outsourcing provider organization.

* The Offshore / Nearshore Development Center is a flexible engagement model that significantly increases clients' product development capabilities. If the product requirements are controlled by a customer, the employees of the Offshore Development Center / Nearshore (ODC / NDC) are managed by an outsourcing provider. This model can support a variety of projects and activities, such as new product development, modernization and maintenance of older products, testing services, and other long-term activities. However, customers looking for disruptive innovations and increased vendor responsibility should consider the PDS 2.0 model, which is next on our list.

* Product Development Services 2.0 is the most innovative strategic engagement model that maximizes the results of an outsourcing relationship. The term PDS 2.0 comes from Forrester's comparison of traditional PDSs, which were carried out through project-based or ODC models, with a new innovative approach, in which the outsourced provider has a wide range of responsibilities to the design and create a product together with a customer. Once the product has been launched, the supplier, motivated by a results-oriented contract, continues with the optimization and sustainability of the product. In this way, the entire product life cycle can be outsourced to a strategic partner.

* Strategic consulting is values-based advice that aims to improve the efficiency of the process and the product quality of a client's organization. It generally encompasses all aspects of the people / processes / technology triangle that have a major impact on a client's transformation and strategic decision making.

The key to success is choosing an appropriate engagement model. By ensuring that your tactical and strategic plans are shared with your partner, you can create a solid foundation for further innovation. There's no need to stop at one level or another: evolve over time through participation models to gain more value from long-lasting and fruitful partnerships.

Smart Hand Services: When Your Time is Worth Money

In your company's IT department, the point comes when a task must be performed and no one is available or cannot process it. Maybe it's after business hours. The task can be small or large: basic diagnosis; Plug in a cable. Add IP addresses to a firewall. Regardless, no one is available. And the task has to be done, otherwise there are serious consequences. So it makes sense to get a Managed IT Smart Hands Services from a company like Externetworks. Your time and that of your employees are best used for tasks that grow your business, and not for maintaining your IT infrastructure.

On-site assistance service

For many growing companies, maintaining an expensive and highly trained IT team onsite 24 hours a day may not be profitable. For some, this may never be a realistic part of their growth model or business plan. However, these companies continue to require certain services to be provided to meet their operational needs. This is where an intelligent hand service system comes into play. Smart Hands offers the highest level of service, offering remote management, facility customization, and device troubleshooting 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The cost of a Smart Hands service plan is often offset by minimizing downtime and service interruptions by freeing key people for other important tasks and automating daily maintenance tasks and services. With Smart Hands packages, companies don't have to give up control or adaptation of their infrastructure. Immediate responses to data breaches not only improve your company's productivity, but also reduce the risk of liability issues.

What Kind Of Tasks Can Smart Hands handle?

Smart hand packs vary according to your business requirements, as do the tasks involved. The best way to think in smart hands is as a concierge in a busy hotel. They always meet your requirements and can also react immediately to urgent circumstances or questions as soon as they arise. A concierge can also work with other clients, but information is not shared, so there are no security issues. A concierge provides you with the highest quality support in limited areas, rather than trying to act as your swimming guide and instructor. Smart Hands employees use their resources more efficiently to perform various functions towards their external staff. Smart Hands services may include:

•      Configure a firewall
• Complex cable configurations
• Placement device management.
• Test devices and fix error.
• Rack and stacking services
• Shipping and receiving
• Automated maintenance
• Backups
• Pack and unpack
• Inventory
• Detect and respond to threats.
• Moving equipment
• Operating system and server installation.
• Power cycle
• On-site / off-site technical support and troubleshooting
• The remote server restarts.
• Cloud cross-connect

Smart Hands vs. Remote Hands

There are a few things we need to know when we talk about remote hands and smart hands.

Remote hands

Remote hands can include things like securing wiring, checking port numbers, observing or reporting indicators on devices, basic environment monitoring, and restarting the server. These data center services are provided under a data center contract at no additional cost.

When talking about remote hands, keep in mind that these are all things that can be done without on-site data center technicians entering devices. When a technician really needs to join the team, we enter the smart hands area.

Smart hands

Smart hands involve more complex tasks than remote hands. These data center services include colocation device management, firewall configuration, media and supply management, complex cable configurations, device testing and troubleshooting, circuit and rack and stack testing. Smart hands are services that are generally billed hourly.

It is important for us to clarify which services are in remote hands and which are in smart hands when we speak to a data center. We do not want surprises on the first invoice. Unexpected costs are never fun.

Remote hands and smart hands in the data center come in handy when we don't have anyone available to manage the task. Or maybe the person who normally does this is out of town and needs someone if necessary. These are the two reasons why we want to use experienced data center technicians.

Ask in the data center what is included and what is not, so that we cannot experience surprises with the next invoice. If you have any questions about how RACK59 can support your placement project with our support services, please arrange a site visit or contact us using the button below.

SD-WAN Providers

The introduction of SD-WAN Providers is accelerating rapidly. According to an IDG study, almost 69% of IT experts are piloting or have SD-WAN in production. This is because SD-WAN helps companies gain better insight and control over their network performance, maximize bandwidth allocation, and automate many management functions. Since most companies are interested in it, IT managers must understand which SD-WAN approaches maximize interoperability and visibility, as edge devices and their configuration play a key role in the overall performance of the solution. Here is a quick guide.

SD-WAN Edge Devices and Interoperability

SD-WAN devices must be able to communicate seamlessly with other resources on your company's existing private networks. However, some SD-WAN devices may need to be deployed at each location to do this. Depending on how your private network and locations are configured, your SD-WAN peripheral devices may not communicate well with your private network and other IT infrastructures. Most SD-WAN peripheral devices communicate from one location to another or from one location to the cloud, effectively protecting them from much of your existing WAN infrastructure. It is essentially a new component that does not work well in your current IT test environment.

If you think of your corporate WAN as a litter box, the analogy for adding SD-WAN is like adding a separate litter box to your existing litter box. This smaller, separate SD-WAN sandbox cannot be seen or played by any of the other "kids".

As a result, you will experience these challenges:

Lack of visibility: Some SD-WAN devices do not work together or do not offer a unified view showing how the various elements work as a consistent unit in the larger network system.

Poor management and poor performance: Network optimization is difficult without a single dashboard and unified control tools because the data is fragmented. IT managers cannot effectively solve WAN problems. As a result, finding the root causes becomes an exercise in which multiple portals for network administrators and signal providers are reviewed and compared. Trying to find a clear answer that solves your problem becomes a game of frustration and waste of time.

Restricted security: Network visibility plays an important role in helping security experts understand how data and traffic flow in the IT environment. Without it, your IT team cannot detect lateral movements and other signs of an attack. Assessing network behavior becomes a challenge that reduces your security situation.

Visibility is one of the main advantages of SD-WAN, and buyers can inadvertently undermine the value of their IT investment. Given interoperability, transparency and security, careful design and considerations are important in creating the best solution for your IT environment.

Ensure maximum visibility and performance with SD-WAN built into the WAN infrastructure

A sure way to maximize interoperability and visibility is to migrate to a single software defined network platform where SD-WAN is embedded in the network structure. With these solutions, each SD-WAN instance works on the same backbone, stays in sync, and creates a unified view of performance. A unified global network provides businesses with the same benefits as an SD-WAN edge device and the benefits of a network built entirely on software-defined principles:

• A unique and consistent IT infrastructure that guarantees quality of service worldwide.
• Simplified network deployment with the freedom to combine any desired type of connectivity for any network environment (private and direct connections to cloud providers and public Internet connection)
• Unlimited number of segmented virtual networks - upstream / downstream test environments with private access as needed
• A single online portal with comprehensive analytics and controls spanning all WANs in the IT environment
• Easy access to a wide range of additional features, including routing, firewall, and direct cloud connections