IT Service Providers: Practice What You Preach

David Fink, director of products and technology, Ensono

Enterprise technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, and clients demand that their IT service provider evaluate all options to ensure the most effective solutions are in place to run infrastructure operations efficiently. That outside expertise is what clients (current and prospective) require from IT service partners – employing agile practices for speed-to-market, utilizing the most current tools, and knowing how to leverage them to meet their evolving needs. To do this, it is critical for service providers to take a good look at their own infrastructure and processes, and practice what they preach.

As an outsourcing provider, it is critical to integrate best-in-class technology within internal operations to ensure infrastructure management for clients is as efficient as possible. But almost equally important is to implement more general “back-office” tools, including project and asset management solutions because you have to run your business too. These tools can also operate as the foundation for the services provided directly through client-facing management portals. With that foundation in place, the IT service provider can begin to evaluate the various solutions that will best increase efficiencies in the least disruptive manner, while enhancing the client experience.

From the Inside Out

The best IT service providers make certain clients are set up for success now as well as in the future. Whether services are cloud-based or span from the mainframe to the cloud, these data center services must be constructed to be scalable and agile. And that is exactly how outsourcing providers need to treat their own IT solutions – scalable and agile to meet the demands of our business, and our clients’ demands.

Think About Your Clients’ Experience

Data services are booming, with new offerings coming to market more rapidly than ever before. Clients are utilizing services in ways that didn’t exist even one year ago, and outsourcers are tasked with becoming experts on, and making recommendations for, the latest technology developments. Before advocating any course of action, IT service providers must take the client experience into consideration. Is the process to add, tweak or remove services disruptive for the customer? Does the service enable the customer to easily access mission critical data? In order to serve as a reliable resource, IT providers must put themselves in the clients’ position and have a complete understanding of the end-user experience.

Improving the way clients collaborate and govern IT resources begins with a firm services foundation. This enables clients to operate for today and optimize for tomorrow, knowing their service provider is consistently examining the IT landscape and leveraging that expertise on their behalf. Implementing solutions to improve business with a holistic approach, in turn, creates a better experience for the client. We chose PMG’s Enterprise Service Platform as our customer self-provisioning tool because it is an easy-to-use, flexible solution that is customizable to meet each client’s unique requirements. It also enables our own business process management.

Keeping the Same Cadence

As a best practice, IT services firms generally evaluate client services every 12 months. But are the firms keeping the same cadence internally?

As a trusted service provider, it is essential that a schedule is followed to assess and upgrade internal infrastructure and services. Though it may seem daunting to make the time and resource investment during a whirlwind of client activity, it’s crucial to evaluate internal and client-facing solutions every 6-12 months, and upgrade as needed. It is our responsibility to provide best in-class services. The only way to make certain we’re doing just that is to continually assess our own infrastructure, processes, and technology solutions, and confirm we’re as efficient and agile as clients need us to be.

About the Author:

David Fink
DIRECTOR, PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGY, ENSONO

David is a 28-year IT industry veteran and certified ITIL expert who has worked for Ensono for the past two decades. In his role as the Director of Products and Technology, David is responsible for Ensono’s Operational Support Systems and Business Support Systems (OSS/BSS). This role requires a laser-like focus on helping Ensono’s customers be more successful and providing a great user experience. During his career with Ensono, David has held many different positions that have enabled him to hone and develop process management, customer service, leadership and communication skills. He enjoys the challenges presented by the ever-changing IT landscape and is a big believer in Zig Ziglar’s philosophy that “you can get everything in life you want if you’ll just help enough other people get what they want.”