| In today's fast-moving business environment, | | | | on the service levels committed to in the contract. |
| outsourcing is a key weapon in the battle to keep | | | | What is our IT asset base? |
| pace with technological advances and deliver | | | | Many companies simply don't own and maintain a |
| effective, cost-efficient IT services. | | | | comprehensive inventory of all the IT equipment, |
| By partnering with a specialist managed services | | | | including both hardware and software, which they use. |
| provider, savvy companies and public sector | | | | An accurate asset register is an essential base point |
| organisations find that they can create a rich pool of | | | | for the initial negotiation and ongoing management of a |
| internal and external resource to provide the right | | | | managed services contract. |
| expertise, at the right time, at a manageable cost. | | | | What third-party maintenance agreements do we hold |
| But no organisation should contemplate handing vital IT | | | | for that asset base? |
| systems and services to a third party without having a | | | | If a system goes down, who is responsible for |
| true understanding of what those systems and | | | | ensuring that the relevant supplier is contacted for |
| services provide to the business and how much it | | | | help? It may be the managed services provider, or it |
| costs to run them in-house. | | | | may be the organisation itself. Either way, this needs to |
| Or, as Piers Harrison, a managed services specialist at | | | | be decided upfront, if problems are to be resolved |
| Logicalis, puts it: "You've got to understand where you | | | | quickly and with minimum confusion. |
| are now in order to decide where you need to go." | | | | What are our accommodation costs? |
| That requires organisations contemplating a managed | | | | Housing IT staff and equipment can be a costly affair. |
| services contract to ask themselves six key questions: | | | | They may be kept on company premises or moved |
| What is our current cost base? | | | | to those of the managed services provider, with a |
| No company can expect a managed services | | | | margin and administrative cost added - but the best |
| provider to deliver cost savings, unless they fully | | | | option can only be decided by comparing the costs |
| understand the capital and operational costs incurred | | | | involved. |
| by IT. These include: staff, equipment, software, | | | | What are our staffing costs? |
| accommodation, third-party suppliers, electrical power, | | | | These fall into two categories - the costs associated |
| communications and so on. | | | | with the application and infrastructure teams working |
| What service levels do we need to meet? | | | | on systems development projects; and those |
| Some systems need to be fully accessible and offer | | | | associated with the operational staff that keep them |
| reasonable response times, from Monday to Friday | | | | up and running. It is vital to understand what these |
| between the hours of 8.30am and 5.30pm. Others | | | | costs are, so that the price for the outsourced service |
| may need to operate on a 24 x 7 basis; for example, | | | | can be compared accurately with current costs to |
| an online banking system. The component costs of an | | | | facilitate sound decision making, contractual |
| outsourcing contract can vary dramatically depending | | | | negotiations, and on-going contract management. |