Managed IT as a Service White Paper

Demand growth for managed IT services

Managed Service Providers need to deliver proactive support and services to their clients - helping to identify and prevent issues before they occur.

Growth orientated companies should have a clear vision of their future infrastructure requirements - and a transitional pathway to achieve it.

In 2014 two thirds of end-user IT decision makers use managed services. The market for Managed Services is set to grow by 11.6% per annum reaching €230bn by 2018.

Proactive management essential

Roadmap critical to future success

Managed IT as a ServiceWHAT MAKES IT RIGHT FOR YOUR ORGANISATION

Complete, centralised control and support for every aspect of your physical and virtual infrastructure.

MANAGED IT AS A SERVICE // WHITE PAPER – NOVEMBER 2014

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CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION PAGE 3

2. THE MANAGED IT MARKET: WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY PAGE 4

3. WHAT MAKES A MANAGED IT PROVIDER? PAGE 5

An IT health checkProactive monitoringRemote resolutionEngineering expertiseSecuring the enterprise: prevention is better than cureManaging the database

4. WHAT CUSTOMERS SHOULD EXPECT PAGE 7

ManagementAvailabilityAgilityRoadmap

5. BENEFITS FOR THE IT MANAGER PAGE 8

Predictable costsValue creationVisibilityExpertiseSecurity & governanceService excellenceFlexibilityClarity of roadmap

6. CUSTOMER CASE STUDY: CAMPION INSURANCE PAGE 10

7. CONCLUSIONS PAGE 11


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1. INTRODUCTIONTo understand what constitutes ‘managed services’ in the realm of IT, can be complex for any organisation looking to make this strategic move.

With companies of all shapes and sizes offering managed IT – or at least claiming to – it can be very difficult to differentiate those providers offering a comprehensive operating model from those providing a light-touch service. Or even to define what exactly constitutes managed IT.

In this report we will examine what you should expect from managed IT, and from those organisations seeking to style themselves as a managed services provider (MSP). We will start by assessing what the market makes of managed IT, looking at what analysts and other expert onlookers can tell us about trends. We will ask what managed IT as a service covers, how it differs from traditional reactive services provision, and what should be the key benefits – and drawbacks – of deploying managed IT.

But let us begin by asking: what exactly is managed IT and how can it deliver significant business value?

About Trilogy Technologies

Trilogy Technologies is the trusted IT services partner of choice for growth orientated organisations. Designing, implementing and managing agile infrastructure as a service, Trilogy helps IT leaders protect their business from external risks whilst enabling those who drive strategy to realise its full potential. At Trilogy Technologies, our mission is to empower IT functions to transform and innovate so they can meet the demands and aspirations of the business.


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The 5 key distinguishing characteristics of managed service providers

1 Network operations centre

2 Help desk service

3 Remote monitoring and management of client’s IT assets

4 Proactive maintenance of assets

5 Predictable billing

2. THE MANAGED IT MARKET: WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY“Managed services is the proactive management of an IT asset or object, by a third party typically known as an MSP, on behalf of a customer. The operative distinction that sets apart an MSP is the proactive delivery of its service, as compared to reactive IT services, which have been around for decades.”

Or so says industry body MSPAlliance, which has defined managed services with the above paragraph – agreed upon by a conglomeration of top managed services executives – for more than 10 years. The organisation also defines the five key “distinguishing characteristics” of managed services providers, the first of which is having a network operations centre of some kind.

The second defining feature is to run a help desk service, the third is to be capable of remotely monitoring and managing the majority of a customers’ IT assets, and the fourth is to provide proactive – rather than reactive – maintenance of those assets. The final characteristic, as defined by MSPAlliance, is providing predictable billing that allows the customer to anticipate accurately what their costs are likely to be.

Whatever the hallmarks of being a managed services provider are, numerous firms across the industry claim MSP status. A recent survey by industry publication CRN finds that three quarters of companies in the traditional IT reseller space claim they provide some form of managed service. Some 82.9 per cent of these claim that they offer services they have developed themselves. However, a total of 88 per cent of resellers that claim to provide managed services reveal they also work with at least one external partner to do so.

The same survey finds that two thirds of end-user IT decision makers use managed services to some extent – including 12.4 per cent that claim they use them extensively. Managed security is the single most popular offering, being used by about a third of respondents.

Ninety-six per cent of end users are at least ‘satisfied’ with the service they get from their managed services partners, with about one in six claiming to be ‘very happy’.

Cost emerges as the biggest perceived barrier to adopting managed services, having been cited by 61.2% of respondents, ahead of loss of control by 59.2%.

Research from IT industry body channel CompTIA sheds light on what is stopping resellers and other more traditional players from branching deeper into managed services, with two in five claiming they are waiting to see the impact of cloud computing on the market. Some 31% wish to focus their energies on their core competencies, with one in four citing a lack of a compelling return-on-investment.

The statistics clearly show that the numbers both offering and consuming managed services are increasing. Market-watcher Insight forecasts that global managed services revenue will stretch to $152bn this year, before growing at a compound annual growth rate of 11.6% to reach a worth of $230bn in four years’ time.

The market is evidently huge, and growing exponentially, with more and more companies in the IT sector clamouring to get involved, styling themselves as a managed IT provider. But how many of them can truly be considered an MSP?

12.4 percent that claim they use them

extensively

Managed IT service usage

Two thirds of end-user IT decision makers use managed services to some extent

Revenue will stretch to $152bn this year, before growing at a compound annual growth rate of 11.6 percent to reach a worth of $230bn in four years’ time.

2014 2018

$239bn

$152bn

Global managed services revenue


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A number of break-fix service providers may have simply changed the name above the door and the ‘About Us’ section of the website in a bid to convince the market – perhaps even themselves – that what they are offering is a managed service. But, if the trigger for support is initiated solely from a customer telephone call or email, it begs the question, what exactly is being managed?

Smart tools help with the discovery, monitoring and management of server and systems infrastructure giving complete and accurate estate visibility for performance and reliability. Investment in such tools is significant, and a true MSP will have evolved its competency to take advantage of the high levels of automation and intelligence available today.

An IT Health CheckThe bedrock of true managed IT provision is proactive monitoring, analysis, remediation and consultative advice. The first step in turning on Managed IT as a Service typically involves swiftly identifying and fixing any underlying issues inherent in an infrastructure.

Activating monitoring for a client that has never used it before is likely to shed light on a number of issues. Common problems may include disk space and faults with existing hardware. The goal should be to quickly produce a comprehensive overview of how a client’s IT estate is performing, encompassing all major desktop and datacentre hardware. Once problems have been diagnosed, work must begin on fixing them, which could involve major surgery or just a tune-up. Depending on the nature and severity of the issues, remediation will be completed over a period of time to deliver a healthy platform.

Proactive MonitoringOnce the monitoring is up and running, the name of the game is being proactive. The performance of the customer’s IT infrastructure must be monitored round-the-clock with alerts and other updates fed back in real time.

In a true Managed IT as a Service, customers should be free to determine how much or little involvement they want in remediating issues raised by these alerts. Clients with a comparatively large in-house IT function may wish simply to be informed of critical alerts and take responsibility for addressing issues themselves. In this case, based on its experience, the MSP will fine tune the monitoring solution to cater for the customer’s needs, relevant skills sets and available resources.

Either way, the onus is on the managed IT provider to rapidly and accurately diagnose, filter and prioritise issues via effective remote monitoring, taking away the hard work and headaches that may previously have blighted an IT department. Customers will be fed carefully filtered alerts pertaining to areas and problems that are important, rather than being deluged by hundreds of notifications relating to every little anomaly.

Organisations with a preference for a more fully out-sourced service, will expect their managed IT provider to handle all resolutions directly.

3. WHAT MAKES A MANAGED IT PROVIDER?For decades IT services providers have offered services based on a reactive break-fix model that relies on instruction, rather than dialogue. It tends to work thus: the client reports a problem, logs it with the service provider, who sends out an engineer (often at some expense to the customer) who endeavours to fix the problem.

// Smart monitoring tools help with the discovery, monitoring and management of server and systems infrastructure giving complete and accurate estate visibility for performance and reliability. //


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// The performance of customer IT must be monitored round-the-clock with alerts and other updates fed back in real time. //

Remote ResolutionPerhaps the biggest innate difference between a ‘man-on-the-ground’ with a reactive break-fix service and genuine managed IT as a service, is the depth of automation and technology driven remediation delivered by the provider. A correctly resourced MSP will have the tools and experience along with a dedicated team responding to IT problems either generated by monitoring alerts or raised by customers, remediating and fixing well over 95% of these remotely.

Engineering ExpertiseEven for managed IT providers offering customers an almost 100% remote fix solution, also offering expert on-premise support and remediation will always be necessary. Having a depth and breadth of hands-on technical knowhow and resources available on-demand is crucial to providing customer peace of mind.

Once again, the needs of each client will differ greatly, and a managed IT provider needs to be adaptable to the customer’s existing set-up. For organisations with more complex IT needs, or even limited in-house resource, a managed IT provider may even provide full-time on-site staff as the situation requires.

Securing the Enterprise: Prevention is Better than CureSurely the biggest advantage of Managed IT as a Service, is the ability to foresee potential issues, allowing the managed IT provider to take steps to head them off before they become problematic. Opting for managed, rather than in-house security services gives organisations the added peace of mind that their defences will be continuously monitored, maintained and updated to the highest standard.

Therefore a provider delivering services such as automated patching, live security updates, proactive monitoring, application control and device management for a customer’s systems adds considerable value to an organisation by ensuring the security of the enterprise’s IT estate.

Managing the DatabaseManaging a client’s datacentre and desktop hardware is the bread and butter for most managed IT providers. Far fewer can lay claim to the same levels of expertise on high-end enterprise databases, missing out on covering what we all know is a critical part of an organisation’s IT estate.

As data grows exponentially, so too does the requirement to manage, monitor, administer and support database environments, predominantly Oracle and Microsoft SQL.

Most of these environments, if not already managed should be fully audited so that any incumbent problems can be swiftly and accurately identified and addressed. Subsequent recommendations should define what is required to bring the infrastructure up to best practice, and a clearly defined programme of services outlined to ensure premium continuity of service.

// Surely the biggest advantage of Managed IT as a Service, is the ability to foresee potential issues, allowing the managed IT provider to take steps to head them off before they become problematic. //


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4. WHAT CUSTOMERS SHOULD EXPECTHaving determined how to go about deploying Managed IT as a Service and what your services partner will offer on a day-to-day basis, the next question to address is what characteristics a managed IT provider should possess and how those will manifest in the services deployed.

ManagementIt may seem obvious, but the first role of the managed IT provider is to manage client IT. That means maintaining what may be a varied, complex and intricate IT estate. Adopting a managed IT provision should not just mean that everyday maintenance tasks are handled behind the scenes expertly and expeditiously. It should also mean that the provider is monitoring performance trends and ensuring that the IT Infrastructure is delivering on the future capacity and performance requirements of the business.

The additional value-add will be the metrics and data provided by their management platform which allows the MSP to work with the customer to be that strategic advisor, providing an information source for decisions and plans around the customer’s IT estate.

AvailabilityWith the dependency on IT continuing to grow, IT teams are becoming increasingly under pressure to deliver 100% uptime even out of business hours. A Managed IT provider utilising its expertise and available toolset can dramatically help with this challenge by foreseeing potential problems long before they occur and taking the appropriate steps to maintain a seamless service. Managing a client’s IT is of no benefit if the role of constant firefighter is simply switched from an internal to an external team.

A managed IT partner needs to offer a flawless service to its customers, ensuring optimal uptime for core services, access to data and systems whenever it is required, and peak performance across the board.

AgilityAs clients require new technologies, more or less computing power, or greater or fewer users, so their managed IT provider must give them the freedom to focus on what their business needs, not just what the IT department has the resources to permit.

A Managed IT as a Service partner will monitor and manage the capacity of the infrastructure to cope with the demands of the organisation, present and future. This will determine the flexibility of the IT function and ultimately the organisation itself, to deliver on its strategic goals.

RoadmapIT now plays a strategic role in business which necessitates the creation and delivery of an IT roadmap. The IT Manager/CIO needs to be able to work with a Managed IT partner who has the right level of experience and expertise to create, support and execute this plan. With the appropriate level of knowledge gleaned from proactive monitoring, coupled with the IT partner’s knowledge of the client’s infrastructure and its work with Global Technology Partners, a managed IT provider should act both as a trusted partner and an extension of the clients’ internal IT department. This will help them define how they should add to, develop and refine their IT Roadmap to drive the strategic business outcomes over the longer term.

// A managed IT partner needs to offer a flawless service to its customers //

Some 82.9 percent of these claim that they offer services they have developed themselves

88 percent of resellers that claim to provide managed services reveal they also work with at least one external partner to do so.

Companies offering Managed IT Services

Three quarters of companies in the traditional IT reseller space claim they provide some form of managed service


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5. BENEFITS FOR THE IT MANAGERManaged IT should not just be an airy concept embraced by CIOs and CEOs in the name of appearing innovative. Managed IT as a service is nothing more than a buzzword if it does not deliver clear, demonstrable benefits to IT managers and the companies they serve. Technology and how it is deployed can and should drive value to companies in terms of operational improvements, cost savings, staff happiness, employee retention, and business performance. Below are some of the core benefits IT professionals should expect from a managed IT as a service provider.

Predictable costsDeploying managed IT should give businesses predictable, annuity-based costs, with pricing structures clearly set out in long-term contracts. Furthermore, proactive monitoring – in addition to offering remote fixing the vast majority of the time – allows businesses to anticipate issues before they become debilitating. Thus enabling IT managers to avoid the costs of downtime, lost productivity, and urgent, unexpected investments in replacing failing IT.

Value CreationThe big shift in IT delivery is going to be in how services are governed and how service providers actually add value. Service reporting that simply records SLA performance does not add any value to the customer. It is the correct analysis of this information that should enable the Managed Services provider to offer the client valuable advice. A leading edge Managed IT as a Service Provider will be expected to deliver a predictive view on the infrastructure and services that they manage so that the customer understands three things: How agile is my IT and where are the constraints or bottlenecks? (Can I easily add new locations, change my work practices etc.), how secure is my environment? And how much capacity is there for me to increase workloads without investment or cost? This implies much more emphasis on analysis and advice with “what if” modelling and those companies that simply offer monitoring and a help desk will fall by the wayside.

Visibility IT infrastructure is a fundamental part of every organisation’s operations today and stakeholders need to be sure they can rely on it. Working with a partner who can provide real-time infrastructure visibility gives those organisations the flexibility to view on-demand its systems’ health as well as complete IT service management transparency. A true Managed IT as a Service provider will offer this through a full Portal Framework view, delivering real time data and trending information to help forecast for the future, minimize downtime, optimise performance and make sure that the CIO is in control.

ExpertiseFor even the biggest multinationals, the use of a managed IT provider should give them the benefit of a depth and breadth of expertise beyond the reach of their in-house teams. Using a managed IT provider effectively means having experts with skills covering the entire IT estate, overseeing the performance of their IT around the clock. The vast majority of internal IT teams lack the resources to provide anywhere near the same level of specialised knowledge across the board dedicated to the continual management and monitoring of their IT.

// a full Portal Framework view, delivering real time data and trending information to help forecast for the future, minimize downtime, optimise performance and make sure that the CIO is in control. //

with about one in six claiming to be

‘very happy’

Customer Satisfaction Results

96% of end users are at least ‘satisfied’ with the service they get from their managed services partners


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// A managed IT provider can offer the ability to oversee a client’s IT estate and address any urgent issues every second of every day //

Security & GovernanceMore organisations are today tasked with the need to deliver good governance and compliance which includes the operation of its IT Systems and security of data, in many cases critical elements of the fundamentals of the organisations’ operational being.

Working with an MSP with access to professional security experts, allows the customer to develop strong, clear policies and standards around security and governance, e.g password policies, data protection, encryption etc. Combined with monitoring and proactive updating, this makes it the safest way to run your technology estate.

Service ExcellenceThe IT Department is constantly challenged to deliver a better experience to the key stake-holders namely end-users and customers, ultimately benefiting the organisation and reflecting positively on them as a key enabler of organisational success.

Working with a Managed IT Service provider to deliver remote monitoring, management and remediation capabilities should provide IT leaders with a comprehensiveness of support they may be challenged to deliver purely through internal management alone. A managed IT provider can offer the ability to oversee a client’s IT estate and address any urgent issues every second of every day – allowing the internal IT team time to focus on projects strategic to the business.

FlexibilityOne of the most obvious benefits of managed IT is the freedom it offers businesses to tailor its technology to its needs and plans on an ongoing basis. For IT managers finding themselves in need of scaling up – or down – their IT usage, capacity, or software licensing, managed IT allows them to benefit from a flexible model. A managed IT provision should give clients the scope to expand, shrink or otherwise alter the size and shape of its IT operation, without facing hefty capital costs.

Clarity of roadmapThe insights provided by Managed IT as a Service over an extended period of time should arm IT chiefs with the insight to make well-informed decisions about its IT strategy and investments. Relying solely on internal teams – or a traditional break-fix maintenance provider – often means an IT manager’s role is reduced to that of a problem solver. Having the kind of overview of IT performance afforded by your Service Partner allows IT managers to make better long-term investment decisions, grounded in fact. Using a managed IT provider also frees up CIOs to be able to operate in much more top-down strategic roles.

Summary of benefits to the IT manager

1 Predictable costs

2 Value creation

3 Visibility

4 Expertise

5 Security & governance

6 Service excellence

7 Flexibility

8 Clarity of roadmap


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Campion Insurance has evolved to become one of Ireland’s most modern and innovative commercial and personal lines brokers with a staff of over 150 people and offices in ten locations throughout Ireland and the UK.

Ciaran Brosnan, took on the role of IT Manager at Campion Insurance, to find a managed services contract which had not been delivering the benefits Campion had hoped.

“At Campion we understand the critical nature of technology”, explains Brosnan. “Technology is used to manage and grow our business, achieve competitive advantage, increase customer service and loyalty, achieve faster time to market and increase efficiency and profitability. We have invested a lot of money in our technology over the years and we needed a robust managed service solution to allow us to focus on our business. We needed a Managed Service Provider that would sit down and say: ‘here’s the roadmap, this is why things are not working, this is what has to happen’.”

The nature of the Campion business means downtime is unacceptable. “Insurance is a high-transaction business. If it shuts off for any amount of time, it is disastrous,” Brosnan explains.

When the insurance firm sought out a new managed services provider, the brief was to pick a partner that the company could work with for years to come.

“We were looking for a reliable partner, a long-term partner, a trusted partner; one that would become part of our IT department,” said Brosnan.

Having picked Trilogy, the managed IT provider was quick to identify the three core problems putting undue strain

on Campion’s IT infrastructure: its server hardware; its communications infrastructure; and an industry software application for insurance providers – the highly specialised nature of which makes it unsuitable for outsourcing.

With the necessary investments and improvements made, the insurer’s head of IT was able to deliver on his brief to operate more strategically and drive the company forward through better and more innovative use of IT. Trilogy plays an important role in shaping future strategies which in turn influence the achievement of business goals.

“We decide where we are going then we ask Trilogy to help us get where we need to go,” says Brosnan. “We need the best advice, and not just someone who wants to charge what is most profitable for them. With Trilogy it is a partnership – they are an extension of what we do.”

The results are evident. In addition to cost and efficiency savings, the number of problems logged each month has dropped to a typical total of between 50 and 60 – a large number of which stem from the insurance application not under Trilogy’s control.

“Previously they were running at double that, sometimes as high as 150,” adds Brosnan. “It has just been a huge improvement.”

“Trilogy’s Managed IT as a Service solution enables us to focus on our core competencies while reducing our total cost of IT ownership” concludes Brosnan. “Through this relationship Trilogy is bringing great value to Campion, with a strong delivery capacity, a modern and reliable infrastructure and robust processes. This is indeed a transformational partnership.”

6. CUSTOMER CASE STUDY: CAMPION INSURANCE

// At Campion we understand the critical nature of technology // John McCarthy, Chief Finance Officer, Campion Insurance

L –R: John Casey, Sales Director Trilogy, John McCarthy, Chief Finance Officer Campion Insurance, Edel Creely, Group Managing Director Trilogy.


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7. CONCLUSIONS

• To be a true managed IT provider, a company must offer proactive monitoring, remote services and a range of skilled, talented and experienced people who will support the IT department to deliver agile infrastructures and services to their organisation.

• A managed IT provider should help clients set out a clear technology roadmap to assist in achieving business goals, and work with them on an ongoing basis to define IT strategy.

• A managed IT service should give users the flexibility to scale up or down and change the specifications of the service.

• The role of the IT director, and the wider IT department is changing; business leaders have an increasing interest in IT, and an understanding of its importance. There is greater desire to use technology not only to create efficiencies, but to drive company growth and meet business objectives. IT leaders are expected to spearhead and embody this change.

• The majority of traditional IT resellers and services providers claim they now offer managed services in one way, shape, or form; but many are simply reselling off-the-shelf services.

• The market for managed IT is already huge, and growing fast. However, many customers still see major barriers to embracing such services. The need for professional and reputable providers of genuine managed IT – not just reactive services – has never been greater.

DUBLIN OFFICE

Trilogy Technologies Ltd. No. 1 High Street, Dublin 8, Ireland

Tel: +353 (0)1 476 8050

LONDON OFFICE

Trilogy Technologies (UK) Ltd. Halton House, 20-23 Holborn, London EC1N 2JD, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)20 7440 6500

www.trilogytechnologies.com


Documents

Managed IT as a Service White Paper