New Post has been published on E-N Computers
New Post has been published on http://encomputers.com/outsource-i-t-department-managed-services-provider-msp/
Should I outsource my I.T. Department to a Managed Services Provider (MSP)?
Due to the pervasiveness of computing services in our workplaces today, many smaller organizations require higher-level support positions (e.g. database administrator, network and/or server administrator, custom report writer) but do not have a need for those services on a full time basis. As each of these roles become more complex, it is increasingly difficult to find just one or two individuals that can perform them all. The result is organizations paying higher-level salaries to fund those positions. However, these employees find themselves filling in some of their workday hours with lower level help desk tasks. In short, you end up paying high wages to an employee that replaces keyboards and toner cartridges part of the time.
A managed services provider (MSP) can solve these issues in many ways. If vetted and chosen properly, they can provide all the needed expertise and often much more. Yet the resulting costs can be significantly lower because the contracting organization is only paying for the expertise as it is actually required.
One way you can secure a MSP is on a time and materials (T&M) basis, where you only pay for the hours needed, albeit at a seemingly higher rate. Yet, that rate is not as prohibitive when one considers all that goes into the service: salary, health insurance, retirement plans, floor space (the cost of which is easily underestimated or overlooked), equipment provided (I.T. types usually need better than average equipment to perform their tasks), and miscellaneous overhead costs such as heating / AC, electricity, and so forth. Rather than funding all these costs, your organization pays a single hourly rate. One drawback of a time and material approach is that it often requires more oversight from within your organization. That, in turn, increases your internal vendor management costs. Often one of your tech savvy employees familiar with the work will need to review hours spent on each issue and manage overall budgets. Without this oversight, you might not achieve the results you’re looking for. Then, the outside vendor may have to stop work and wait on budget approvals before proceeding.
Alternately, and especially if you want to manage your MSP with non-technical staff, you can establish an agreement on a monthly or annual flat fee basis. You should carefully consider your needs, response times, projects, and what constitutes a crisis requiring after hours support. Build these factors into the scope of the agreement. Usually items outside of the agreement scope are still performed on a T&M basis, but this will be the exception and not the rule. Agreeing on the scope and money up front allows both parties to work together without having to constantly manage a budget of hours. Doing so often limits the reporting of issues.
There are quite a few questions that you should answer before signing any commitments for either a T&M or flat fee agreement. You should resolve these issues internally before beginning a discussion with prospective MSPs:
What types of indirect support tasks are your I.T. staff doing that you expect to continue? Examples include: an annual or even semi-annual systems assessment, oversight of all I.T. related support contracts, oversight of subscriptions to things like antivirus software, teleconferencing services, spam filtering, etc. Do you anticipate that the MSP will do the oversight?
Do you expect an I.T. representative will provide technical advice in various meetings of other departments? Will the MSP have someone available for that?
Another service might be that an I.T. staff member is on site for all board of director meetings just in case support is needed or for annual retreats.
Is I.T. supplementing administrative staff performing non-technical duties such as updating lists or reviewing security camera footage? Often users don’t want to take the time to learn systems they don’t often interface with. Instead, they ask I.T. to do their job for them. I.T. ends up doing it because it’s less work than training the user or giving the full access to the system.
You must ask and answer all these questions as well as others that are unique to your situation. You should gather a wide cross section of your employees and make every attempt to uncover all the different ways in which they rely on I.T. In addition, the groups should engage in some out-of-the-box thinking. Doing so will get them to identify not only what services they are receiving now, but what they would like to see in a utopian world. You never know. An MSP may have cost effective ways to solve previously unsolvable issues.
Now that you’re ready to begin vetting the prospective MSPs, there are a myriad questions you should consider:
How much support does the MSP plan to provide remotely? Do they plan to provide a significant amount of support via their call center? Is a toll free number provided, and at what cost? Carefully consider this issue if your employees have gotten used to hands-on, in person support. To realize the desired cost savings, you and your employees may need to be flexible and open-minded on this issue, with a positive educational effort to smooth the way. For instance, although an increased need for remote support might be necessary for a mobile workforce, having a previously unavailable 24/7/365 hotline may be a huge benefit that more than offsets any inconvenience.
Does your organization have explicit preferences for any particular technology? For instance, do you have specific enterprise software or agency-wide health records program that the MSP will support? If so, have they exhibited sufficient expertise in this area? How many of their other clients use this program? Are you the only one? If the latter is true you’ll know their will be a learning curve for them to support you, is their a plan to overcome that hurdle?
Do you have industry specific regulatory requirements that your MSP will need to learn or be familiar with? Common regulations MSP encounter are: HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, data breach Red-Flag rules for lenders, and PCI compliance. Additionally, you may rely on I.T. for ISO documentation.
On a similar note, have you become comfortable with a particular back-end technology such as servers from Dell or HP? Firewalls and routers from Cisco or Juniper? Virtual servers configured with Hyper-V as opposed to VMWare? Even remote access via Citrix Systems? All of this is important, as you must first ensure the prospective MSP has the needed expertise for these systems. In addition, you must ask if the MSP plans to continue with these systems into the foreseeable future (Two years? Three? Five?) or if they will hit you with an overhaul plan shortly after the ink dries on the contract.
Will the MSP be hiring your existing I.T. staff? If you’re assuming this to be the case, will they continue to support your organization, although now working for the MSP? Remember that not only will these employees no longer be under your control; their well-being will no longer be up to you either.
Will the MSP offer them a comparable pay rate? For instance, if your organization is in an urban area where pay rates are higher due to the cost of living, but the MSP is headquartered in more of a rural area? What rate will the MSP offer your departing I.T. staff? Will it be enough to keep them engaged? Will the MSP ‘grandfather’ in such things as years of service, number of annual vacation days, etc.? These are more than sentimental questions. If you are expecting these staff members to continue serving you, will the MSP treat them in a way to make that idea likely? Nothing is guaranteed, but if the MSP plans to greatly reduce their wages and benefits, most, if not all, will likely depart within six months. Where will that leave you and your organization?
And even if these employees remain with the MSP, will they in fact continue to perform work for your organization alone? Especially for the higher end positions (database administrator, network admin, etc.) you must understand that the MSP will want to maximize their effectiveness, which will likely see them performing these duties the entire day, which will result in their time being spent only partially on your organization. However, if you have a favorite in-person help desk employee that is well liked, you may be able to negotiate for their continued on-site presence.
Although this seems to be a daunting prospect, one thing is for sure. When considering a contract with a prospect it will be expensive for both parties to enter into a dysfunctional relationship. An experienced MSP will work to ensure you’re a fit for their business as much as you will work to ensure their fit for yours.
Keith Robertson is an adjunct faculty member at Blue Ridge Community College in Weyers Cave, VA where he teaches User Support and Help Desk Principles.
[Featured image from intelcorechallenge.com]
