Companies that work with outsourced IT management for a long time in the market can also be surprised with processes, tools, and services that they still do not offer or that are not performing as efficiently as possible.
At first glance this doesn’t seem like a fatal problem, after all, all customers continue to keep their agreements active. However, when one of them unexpectedly cancels the services, expenses may be higher than revenues, or even the commercial manager may not be able to win new customers in the face of competition.
In this situation, a doubt arises in the manager’s mind: “Where is my company failing?”. If your company is experiencing this moment or wants to put it away in any way, continue reading this post and pay attention to the tips to have efficient and profitable IT management.
Understand the relationship between people management and the IT area
One of the crucial points for the success of IT management is the interpersonal relationships, whether between the manager and his team or in the service of the end customer. Following this line, some attention can be given to making an optimization happen.
Team management and leadership
The business manager or leader responsible for customer IT support needs to develop their skills for managing service activities and motivating their staff. In addition, he needs to be constantly learning about new tools and skills to better manage and direct his human resources.
A team can be divided, for example, between employees who will be responsible for reactive demands and responsible for preventive demands. Thus, it will be up to the manager to analyze which team members have the profile to deal with each situation.
He will also need to regularly act on the motivation of his team members, after all, some everyday situations and customer relationships can frustrate or leave employees fatigued.
Without their correct intervention and motivation, such occurrences can generate conflicts and problems that can affect the relationship with customers.
Criteria for the formation of the support team
Conducting a selection process to replace the team or increase it must also consider the needs of the business, as well as its style of service.
Some customers choose an IT outsourced company precisely because they consider that their way of service is compatible with their needs and preferences.
So, when choosing new employees, the manager needs to keep in mind that they must have technical skills, but also the ability to offer the same standard of service and attention that is characteristic of the business.
This means motivating the team and professional talents
Some companies that offer IT management services are lean enough that the manager also owns them. This shouldn’t be a hindrance to people management — quite the opposite. In fact, it should be the reason for inspiration and example.
In addition, this feature allows the manager to easily identify the elements that are motivating for his team and create a climate of harmony among the team.
Thus, he can create goal plans, awards, partnerships, and even offer society to his best employees, as long as such strategies are advantageous for the business and, in fact, encourage their talents in the best possible way.
Identification of generational conflicts
People management must also identify points of conflict that need to be monitored and resolved, such as those caused by generational differences between company members and its customers.
People from previous generations, for example, tend to have a different relationship with technologies and processes. While it is common for IT staff to have all their steps documented, for older customers this can be a waste of time.
The same thing can happen with the suggestion of exchanging a piece of equipment that is out of date. For some generational customers such as Baby Boomers, this guidance may seem unnecessary, even explaining that such a modification could generate operational savings for your business.
Knowing this, it is necessary to seek the best ways to present such guidelines and relate them, whether to customers or employees.
Quality interaction between support and customers
Finally, companies that offer services need to understand that people management is also crucial for a good relationship with customers.
This takes into account the training and preparation of the service team, as well as the definition of processes and means for the relationship.
The more simplified and accessible, the more valuable it is to the customer. It must have preventive actions, which educate users for the best use of their resources, and reactive, with agility and promptness, following efficient processes.
In short, the relationship between people management and the IT area needs to resolve the natural conflicts between these two distinct elements — people and machines — and, based on that, create relationships of efficiency and productivity.
See the 6 biggest mistakes of IT management that should be avoided
Not properly managing personal relationships can be a mistake in IT management, but in addition to it, others can be pointed out.
1. Say “yes” often to issues that are out of bounds
When defining a service agreement with customers, the limits of responsibilities, maximum deadlines for resolution, and other elements that characterize the outsourced IT management are determined.
However, it is very common for customers to make requests beyond these parameters, and most of the time, they want them to be carried out without additional charges or within special deadlines.
It is not just about meeting well or exceeding customer expectations, but analyzing how such acceptances could impact the costs of the agreement, or how assuming responsibilities beyond what was agreed upon can set precedents for other similar situations.
As a result, hours worked on activities that were not planned end up increasing expenses to serve that customer, without necessarily increasing profits.
The hours dedicated to this work can harm other clients, and any errors or failures in such procedures can still generate conflicts over responsibilities – which can generate wear and tear.
As a consequence, the desire to please can end up bringing more problems than opportunities. In order not to make a mistake, the ideal is to carry out a thorough analysis of the request, evaluate the possibility, and delimit the actions that will be carried out.
2. Hide issues that customers should know about
The role of outsourced IT management is not only to take care of problems that arise in everyday life but also to act preventively and conduct projects in a controlled manner.
When identifying situations that can generate problems and greater damage in the future, it is the role of the manager and his staff to notify customers about what measures should be taken in a timely manner.
In the same way, problems that have been caused by the company’s lack of action or that are the result of previous management also need to be pointed out. This ensures that the company is not considered negligent and inattentive to the reality of its customers.
Many Managed Service Providers (MSPs) hide problems that could be mitigated if they acted early. This is the line of services that the N-able MSP platform allows offering, that is, it guarantees that the IT management company acts in a preventive and reactive way.
3. Not keeping up to date with industry news
The information technology sector is constantly modernizing, but many companies and managers do not properly follow up on such updates.
With this type of attitude, novelties that would generate excellent results for customers may go unnoticed, and with that, the competition may end up presenting better solutions.
4. Not planning activities
The planning of activities and processes is essential when a company serves two or more customers, but many of them do not have any type of control.
As a result, customers can be neglected, processes can be poorly executed, and the number of failures and consequences can generate several damages to the agreement.
5. Forget the importance of information security
Large companies make complex plans for the security of their data, but IT Governance is not just a concern for them.
Regardless of the size of the company, its data and information are some of the most strategic elements of the business. Leaking this information can generate a series of losses for customers and outsourced IT companies.
6. Not having different suppliers
An MSP needs to offer complete solutions and services to its customers, but this is not always the case. If a law firm that is a client of a managed services provider needs to change its notebooks, for example, it is ideal that several quotes are presented.
With a list of reliable suppliers, MSP will present options with different characteristics and conditions, but all within the needs and requirements of its customers.
In addition, in urgent situations, having multiple suppliers allows the MSP to be able to offer a solution more quickly — which is essential for its relationship with its customers.
Learn how to manage risk in an IT project
The importance of customer relationships and the management of employees and processes have already become clear so that errors such as those presented above are avoided. It is necessary to continue the panorama of the challenges and needs of IT management for another service important to its success: project management.
Some of the risks that need to be managed and mitigated are:
Organizational risks
They involve the challenges of managing people that have already been mentioned in this post, but now in a more specific way and related to a specific project.
It is necessary to define what will be the objectives of the project, who will be the employees involved in its resolution, leadership issues, etc.
Risks in project management
With a defined project, it is necessary to invest in its technical assessment, to know what the impacts are on the client’s current IT infrastructure and how to adjust the schedule to its needs so that such changes do not cause inconvenience or interruptions to the services.
One of the steps in project management is to list possible errors and the best solutions, in addition to creating a library of information and adopting a method for planning, executing, and following up.
Only with such care will the envisaged approach to project scope, schedule, and cost estimation be close to or exactly as planned.
Technical
Technical risks have to do with project-related technologies—or lack thereof. An MSP that works with the N-able MSP platform, for example, has reports and controls that guarantee action in urgent and preventive demands.
Companies that do not use a system for remote IT management run the risk of losing performance and performance information that could be crucial for optimizing actions.
External
External problems can be economic, and legal issues related to the market, and even the difficulty in hiring an IT specialist who is related to the project.
Considering these risks, management can follow some basic steps for its success. Are they:
- Identification, which is the starting point for the elaboration of a project, such as the observation of a new need;
- Analysis, which is where the possible risks are mapped considering the impact of their effects, the probability of them occurring and at what moment of execution they can happen;
- Planning, which uses all mapped needs and risks to define the best order of execution;
- Control, which is the follow-up of what has been organized so far;
- Communication, which actually occurs at different moments of the project and allows the sharing of information in a clear and efficient way;
- Execution and correction, when measurements are taken and corrections are made for the best end result.
Understand how to innovate the IT management of your business
With all these strategies applied and the same results obtained, a manager may ask himself how to make innovations in his IT management to obtain better performances. Some suggestions are:
Invest in building a good IT team
One of the great differentials of the business is still its human resources. In this way, selecting and training a team specialized in its different areas and also ensuring that it has a good relationship with customers is crucial.
It was discussed in this post that one of the great dilemmas in the IT area is communication between specialists and the target audience of their services. Thus, eliminating the noise in this communication is critical to innovation and success.
Define a market positioning and specialize in it
Another way to innovate in this market is to seek a differentiated positioning, such as focusing your services only on accounting or law firms.
This will allow the company to learn more about the routines and needs of this type of business. As a result, it will be possible to charge more for specialization and for improving the personalization of services.
Make partnerships
Outsourced IT management requires the company to be at the forefront of the constant modernization of its customers’ equipment. In other words, it is the MSP managers who need to indicate the right time for the exchange of computers, servers, etc.
Thus, having some suppliers and supporters that can offer special conditions to customers allows the company to add value to its services and create a more meaningful experience in service relationships.
When exchanging printing equipment, for example, the customer can receive a differentiated service, better prices and easier payment terms as a result of the partnership established.
Eliminate bureaucratic processes and steps
Another key point for innovation is the elimination of unnecessary and bureaucratic processes. Therefore, reviewing steps and evaluating which of them are really relevant is very important to create an efficient and valuable relationship.
Check out 6 technological trends for IT management
Another way to innovate is to insert new technologies into customer processes, services, and infrastructure.
For this, attention to new trends and technologies is essential. Watch out for news like:
1. Information security
The number of hacker attacks in Brazil and in the world is increasing, which makes data security a latent concern among companies.
However, they are not the only factors that increase the need for attention to information security. Often, it is the employees of a business who break the confidentiality of their information or weaken the network by inserting unregistered and properly secured devices.
Therefore, the evolution of strategies and tools for data security will be frequent in the coming years, mainly to keep up with the complexity of such dilemmas and risks.
2. Automations
Automations are already a reality, but they will continue to be launched with the intention of optimizing processes, reducing costs, and promoting better experiences — whether for users or their customers. Thus, MSPs will be able to incorporate such solutions both in their management and in the reality of their customers.
Automation is the mechanism responsible, for example, for receiving tickets from requests from different customers and organizing them in a dashboard of the SolarWinds MSP ADDEE platform.
For clients, this may represent optimization through tools, such as email automation software for an advertising agency.
3. Cloud computing
Cloud computing offers a number of benefits, starting with remote monitoring of clients, as well as their remote access.
By managing the data and systems used by customers in the cloud, updates and providing access are facilitated.
For a lawyer who is representing his client in another district, for example, this can be strategic to seek extra information.
Offering such solutions to the reality of small businesses is essential, and only an up-to-date and efficient MSP will be able to develop an implementation project that meets the client’s specifics — both technical and financial.
4. Internet of Things (IoT – Internet of Things )
The Internet of Things is also a trend that must be followed by managed services companies, after all, their customers are increasingly looking to modernize their structures.
Thus, knowing the new solutions that offer the connection of equipment and software in the office environment allows MSP to offer the best solutions and suggestions to its customers.
5. Digital and paperless transformation
The digitization of processes and the consequent decrease in paper are also customer demands that will intensify more and more in the coming years.
It accompanies the other technologies presented and reduces important costs for customers — including ensuring some solutions that the Internet of Things needs, such as data transmission between equipment.
6. Artificial intelligence
Architecting and allowing all evolutions to be possible, enter Artificial Intelligence and its complex analysis of Big Data data.
It aims to ensure the identification of trends and provide managed services managers and their customers with better, fact-based decision-making.
For a business, this means increasing its performance, not using its resources without the chance for business to occur, improving operational efficiency, innovating its services, and delighting its customers with increasingly personalized and surprising solutions.
By paying attention to these elements, the strategy, and using the most appropriate tools for the IT management of its customers, a company can achieve the operational efficiency necessary to scale its results.
Evaluating each one of them in the current structure of the business, the choice for better solutions and methods can solve problems that could not be identified before.
In this way, the IT outsourcer can not only correct its flaws that were not previously identified but also improve its efficiency — which allows it to win new customers without necessarily investing in it.
For companies that are starting out, starting their activities in an organized way, with the right tools and the most appropriate management methods, increases their chances of success.
Whatever the situation, a tool that guarantees the MSP’s performance in a strategic way is essential, as it ceases to act in the reactive model and starts to contribute to the success of clients.
