The Transition to Managed Services: Increasing IT Value or Losing Control?

Managed services: Increasing value or losing control?

There’s been a lot of talk about managed services providers (MSPs) and the ways that this model is fundamentally changing how IT services are deployed, managed, and supported. It’s why the global managed services market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 11% from 2020 to 2027.¹ Some organizations are all in on the advantages MSPs offer, while others are reluctant to hand off IT tasks to an external partner. Of course, you also have those in the middle, the organizations that are selectively choosing the services that are the best fit for an MSP relationship.

Often, the hesitation to fully embrace the MSP model is due to the evolving nature of external partnerships and lack of clarity around what MSPs really offer—both in terms of services and the business value they can unlock for you. Unfortunately, in the rush to capitalize on this new model, many organizations moved forward with partners that were quick to make promises but unable to deliver results, creating skepticism and mistrust while further muddling the MSP decision.

Today, organizations are asking: How does an MSP strategy differ from traditional outsourcing, where very specific operations, such as help desk, are moved to a third-party provider? In what way is partnering with an MSP different from pursuing an IT staff augmentation strategy?

In fact, the services MSPs provide are very different from those of outsourcing or staff augmentation partners.

Outsourcing is activity bound and task oriented, and you are delegating business activities to an external organization that performs—and bills you for—work that you don’t want to perform yourself.

Staff augmentation helps you scale up or down to meet skill and staffing needs without requiring the hiring of permanent resources. This cost model is based upon an hourly rate.

Managed services providers are technology experts that monitor and maintain specific IT services in support of a more strategic, holistic approach to the technology services your organization provides to users and the business. MSPs offer several subscription models that align services and service levels with business needs.

Unlike the narrow task or activity orientation of outsourcing and staff augmentation services, MSPs are partners that undertake the management of your IT services, being responsible for the upkeep of the service itself and operations within that service, while also providing guidance on how to improve IT service delivery for long-term success. The best MSPs are committed to becoming a strategic partner that contributes to your bottom line.

The best MSPs are committed to becoming a strategic partner that contributes to your bottom line.

Managed Services Enable Your Business to Focus on What’s Core to Your Success.

The move to cloud has accelerated the adoption of managed services as IT transitions from acting as a provider of services to being a broker of services that support business along the cloud journey. Organizations have realized that there are benefits to leveraging the capabilities of a third party that can apply technology expertise, resources, and operational know-how to areas that aren’t a core competency or lever for growth. In a managed services model, your partner delivers the entire service rather than simply the operations of the service. This can provide several cost and efficiency benefits, and it’s been estimated that the successful deployment of managed services will help in reducing IT cost by 25–45% and increase operational efficiency by 45–65%.²

After all, as businesses look to increase agility and focus on digital transformation, IT resources need to align with the services that will get you there. It can be costly and ineffective to build and maintain IT skills internally in areas that aren’t core to your business, such as backup. Instead, by partnering with an MSP that can ensure that services are up and running, software updates are implemented, and infrastructure is designed to support your operations, so IT can focus on what will contribute to business differentiation and growth.

EchoStor’s ServiceNow Remote Admin and Backup-as-a-Service offerings provide you with either a comanaged or managed option that lets you decide the level of support and self-service that’s right for your organization.

EchoStor Managed Services: ServiceNow Remote Admin and Backup as a Service

EchoStor gives you the flexibility, agility, and financial benefits of a managed services model backed by an organization with deep expertise and proven business outcomes. Our ServiceNow Remote Admin and Backup-as-a-Service offerings provide you with either a comanaged or managed option that lets you decide the level of support and self-service that’s right for your organization.

For ServiceNow customers, EchoStor provides a subscription-based service for the management of your instance. As your remote admins, our team of ServiceNow experts handles all adds, changes, and updates, and supports your ServiceNow solutions with service-level agreements (SLAs) that are based upon your business needs.

EchoStor Backup as a Service is a direct-to-cloud service for file storage, network-attached storage (NAS) devices, SQL and Oracle servers, virtual machines, endpoints, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) workloads. This managed service eliminates the need to own on-premises hardware or backup software, provides immutable backup to guard against malicious ransomware, and empowers decision making with analytics.

Whether you choose a comanaged or managed approach, EchoStor eases your transition to a managed service with the confidence that comes from working closely with a team that ensures technology and business work hand in hand.

Discover how EchoStor’s ServiceNow Remote Admin and Backup as a Service can increase IT value while giving you greater control over how your business allocates resources and invests for future success.

1–2. Research Dive, Managed Services Market, by Organization Size (Small and Medium Enterprise and Large), Deployment type (Cloud and On-premise), Service Type (Security Services, Network Services, Data Center and IT infra Services, Communication and Collaboration Services, Mobility Services, Information Services), Industry Vertical (Telecom, IT, BFSI, Consumer Goods and Retail, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Education, Energy and Utilities, Media and Entertainment and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019–2027, September 2020.