Finding the right Managed IT Service provider can be crucial to the success of an outsourcing program for your company. Striking the right balance between various aspects of service provisions is important, for example, in terms of cost-effectiveness and the level of on-site support. This article details the two factors of a managed IT service SLA that you should take special care of.
Resolution vs. Response
The first thing that you demand in the Service-level Agreement is that your account gets assigned a dedicated manager. This will ensure smooth communication with the provider, and faster resolution times. Also make sure that the agreement is based on resolution times rather than response times. A good provider will have provisions to counter-incentivize its account when the resolution time limits are exceeded. This means that you’ll be billed a flat amount on response and resolution within the stipulated time, and billed less when those times exceed the set limit.
Proactive vs. Reactive
Imagine a situation that the systems in your office have encountered an error. All the users are not being able to access certain crucial files. You call on the IT service provider and they respond within a time frame that is fast by any standards, and after scouring for the error for two hours, they find fault with the group policy, and the problem is corrected. That’s a good service right? Their response time was good, and they only took two hours to solve the problem. This is a reactive approach.
Now imagine another situation where the error doesn’t cause the loss of 2-3 man hours. This is not because there wasn’t an error, but because it corrected beforehand. The service provider was constantly scanning the system for possible problems and took action before it could cause damage. This is a proactive approach, and triumphs over the former because of obvious benefits.
So, before hitting a deal with the managed IT service provider of your choice, you should query what kind of central analytic system they have, whether it’s in-house or further outsourced, the technologies it implements, and the successes or failures they have had deploying it for previous clients. You may also want to know the situations, or errors, they will proof the systems against, which will ultimately define the robustness of the overall screening services. Some of the systems are now beginning to implement state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms to improve detection and better automate the screening process.
Now you know what the important aspects of a service-level agreement are in case of a managed IT service, it will be easier for you to identify and break a deal with provident IT service providers. TBS Networks is at your service to help you leverage on their managed IT services.
