Solution Provider Logicalis Helps IT Pros
Identify Common Managed Services Pitfalls Before Signing
on the Dotted Line
Farmington Hills, MI, July 20,
2010 – Most savvy executives already know that a
well-designed managed services plan can make an almost immediate
positive impact on their business’ IT budget. But there are
pitfalls that even the most experienced CIOs and IT managers can
fall into, leaving valuable dollars on the table and even more
flowing out of the company’s checkbook. Logicalis, an international
provider of integrated information and communications technology
(ICT) solutions and services, has identified six of the most costly
mistakes IT execs make when designing their companies’ managed
services contracts. More information about Logicalis’ managed
services offerings can be found at http://www.us.logicalis.com/ms.
“A major pitfall customers fall into when
negotiating a managed services contract is not fully understanding
the level of effort required to manage their environment and not
being able to compare that to the level of effort proposed in a
managed services contract,” says Mike Alley, practice director,
outsourcing solutions, for Logicalis. “So, the number one
consideration when entering into a managed services contract is to
ensure that the appropriate level of effort for managing your
environment and supporting changes is included in the recurring
costs of the contract. If not, you will find yourself with
unexpected internal or external incremental costs.”
To help IT pros achieve the greatest level of
efficiency and cost-effectiveness with managed services, Logicalis
experts say to watch out for these common and costly mistakes.
Costly Mistakes to Avoid in Managed
Services Contracts
1.
Failing to Prioritize: Often companies fail to
take the time necessary to correctly label the urgency
classification for the devices they have under their managed
services contract. You might have a high service level on a
test/dev server that is unnecessary. Prioritizing your
infrastructure needs prevents this, helps you purchase the right
level of service for each device, and leaves you protected, while
saving money at the same time.
2. Paying
for What You Don’t Own: On a quarterly basis, take an
inventory of the devices you have under your managed services
contract. Sometimes companies find they are paying to monitor
devices that they no longer own. Accurate inventory practices
will ensure you pay for only the equipment you currently
operate.
3.
Ignoring Ticket Volumes: To decide the level of
service you need for different areas of your computing environment,
examine your ticket volume. Reviewing past tickets tells you how
much work it is to support each aspect of your infrastructure,
taking the guesswork out of choosing an accurate service level to
remain properly supported.
- Organizations that used virtualization,
managed services and outsourcing to save money are finding the same
technologies can now help them grow. Read more in “Optimize
Operations” here: http://www.us.logicalis.com/grow.
4.
Overpaying for Clustering: If you have a clustered
environment, single incidents on one server most likely won’t
affect your end users. Take advantage of this by maintaining
a lower urgency classification on these servers, letting your
investment in clustering technology work for you to lower your
management costs.
- Managed services represent a paradigm
shift for IT departments away from the time-honored presumption
that being responsible for IT means doing everything
yourself. Read more in “Efficiency On Demand” here: http://www.us.logicalis.com/ms.
5. Being
Unprepared for Change: Be aware of the volume of change
requests associated with configuration items being managed and
ensure that the contract supports them. If you don’t have
enough time in your monthly contract to support the volume or types
of changes normal for your environment, you will incur significant
incremental costs.
6.
Missing the Fine Print: Make sure your contract
clearly states the incremental costs of adding or deleting
configuration items covered by the contract so you can predict your
costs if the environment shrinks or grows.
“Outsourcing select technology tasks makes
financial sense,” Alley says. “The key to making managed
services work for you is setting up the contract right from the
start, avoiding common mistakes, and finding a managed services
provider that will work with you as if they were your business
partner.”
About Logicalis
Logicalis is an international
provider of integrated information and communications technology
(ICT) solutions and services founded on a superior breadth of
knowledge and expertise in communications and collaboration; data
center optimization; application development and integration; and
outsourcing and managed services.
With its international headquarters in the UK,
Logicalis Group employs over 1,900 people worldwide, including
highly trained service specialists who design, specify, deploy and
manage complex ICT infrastructures to meet the needs of over 6,500
corporate and public sector customers. To achieve this,
Logicalis maintains strong partnerships with technology leaders
such as Cisco, HP, IBM and Microsoft.
The Logicalis Group has annualized revenues in
excess of $1 billion, from operations in the UK, US, Germany, Latin
America and Asia Pacific, and is fast establishing itself as one of
the leading IT and Communications service providers, specializing
in the areas of advanced technologies and services.
The Logicalis Group is a division of Datatec Limited, a $4.2
billion revenue business listed on the Johannesburg and London AIM
Stock Exchanges (LSE/JSE: DTC).
For more information about Logicalis, visit
http://www.us.logicalis.com/.