The importance of IT services has skyrocketed in the recent times. According to a recent study, about 50% of organizations considered, managed services, crucial for their digital transformation plans. Also, 60% of the companies survey also revealed that they would happily pay 100% premium rates over the standard charges if they get expert sourcing, implementation, and help with change management. These statistics, point us to a behavior that is commonly seen in the IT industry today.
This is the trend of IT services and outsourcing. As the demand for IT managed services grows, so will the challenges along the way. Here are some of the challenges, IT service providers face and the ways they can be overcome-
- Adopting Cloud – Managed services providers need to ease their clients into this process of adopting cloud for their various applications. Apparently, the process is not a smooth one. IT managed service providers need to show the immense benefits of moving to the cloud to the organizations surviving on legacy systems. Often, these companies have an inherent resistance to change, especially when the change has to span the complete organization. The global cloud adoption market is predicted to be valued at $500 billion by 2020, and it is important for managed services providers to ease out the process for their clients.
- Handling, if not Exceeding Expectations – In this day and age of digital innovation, millennials have high expectations regarding the products and services they use and the experiences they get. It is the responsibility of IT service providers to keep in mind that customer expectations have risen breathtakingly and that, as a result, it is crucial to offer high-quality services consistently.
- Price-Tagging – No matter how clear a vision, an IT managed services provider has, they always face a challenge when it comes to pricing their services. Their customers have a wide array of options to choose from (their competitors), and these companies are left to decide for themselves. More often than not, they tend to focus on their USPs and are able to derive their costs from their unique propositions. But, when that is not the case, IT service providers are found in a state of deep confusion over deciding their costs.
- Integrations and Delivery of Services – For improved efficiency and productivity of delivery of IT services, providers need to establish collaboration between various vendors and suppliers. Through automation and integration, these tasks can be achieved in minimal complexity and with faster turnaround. To improve the on-cloud experience of their clients, IT managed services providers need to deliver services that add significant value to their customers. An IT services provider is essentially an extension of an organization’s IT department- one that needs no upkeep and management.
- Managing Billing and Contract Disputes – IT services providers often find themselves in a tough situation, where multiple vendor relationships need to be managed. To track the usage of services and produce accurate bills, IT services providers need to undertake standardized processes and norms of billing. To identify any discrepancies in the bills, IT service providers need to match the contract with the bill to make sure the contract is being followed.
IT organizations offering managed software development services strive to cut down their costs and manage their offerings better. With the best practices and continuous improvement in processes, these challenges can be taken care of. It is important for MSPs to understand and completely comprehend their customers’ needs. Then, they can create a working business plan to cater to their customers in a unique fashion.
