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So here I am…I’ve spent big money on enterprise software and now my team are telling me they have issues in implementing and integrating the software. They tell me the best return I can expect from my investment is about 50%. What do I do?

I see 4 options in front of me:

1) In-source: Bring on some additional capable subject matter experts to help move the implementation along.
2) Outsource: Get someone else to deal with the problems.
3) Do neither! Bring in a managed service provider (MSP) with expertise in this space to deliver specific outcomes aligned with the business case and my business priorities.
4) Right off the investment and opt for something different: Ouch! Not under my remit.

I get my team to carry out some analysis and when we put it all on a white board, we find out that actually the only thing that matters to me and my organisation are the outcomes. I don’t care much about the technology. I don’t want my staff to be working on activities and have so many steps removed from the business front line. I want to free them up to get closer to the business and help drive the initiatives mandated by the board.

But….and this is a big caveat….I want to continue to be the Master of my own destiny. I want to retain control. And I feel (rightly or wrongly), that outsourcing will take that control away from me.

So I am left with one option….identify a MSP who can demonstrate it is fully aligned with delivering against my business goals and objectives. I don’t want a rip and replace approach. I don’t need new capabilities over and beyond what I have purchased (and stacked up on the shelves). All I need are outcomes from the technology I paid a lot of money for.

And my last ask of the MSP is to help introduce best practice into my organisation. After all, they are subject matter experts. I want them to train my people. And over time I want the MSP to reduce the noise, so they can focus on their core expertise delivering business outcomes, which I am happy to pay a premium for.

Augmentation in practice

This is exactly what happened to two very large enterprises Fusion have been working with. One is of the world’s largest producers of engines, and the other is one of the largest media companies in the world. Both went through the exact same journey I depicted earlier.

And our approach? We delivered an outcomes based service packed with capabilities to manage their vast ITSM product portfolio. In both instances, we provided a plan of execution which loosely speaking followed:

1) Stabilise
2) Automate
3) Exploit

The outcomes from the service were:

1) Improve uptime of the ITSM platform from 75% to 99+%
2) Enable level 1 and 2 support desk to handle more than 50% of the overall ticket volumes related to ITSM over 12 months

We addressed the first outcome through a Stabilisation Programme enforcing strict changes management policies applied to the entire technology stack. For both clients, this single act improved quality of service by over 25% within 2 months.

To address the second outcome, we constructed a bespoke training programme for the clients’ level 1 & 2 support staff, which was coupled with a set of Continuous Service Improvement and Roadmap work to reduce process friction points and provide a more connected system bridging the organisational silos. The chart below shows how over the 12 month period we achieved these two critical outcomes.

Augmentation as the Force Multiplier

Ultimately, what the clients ended up with were support staff capable of supporting over 50% of the ticket volumes supporting end users around the world, while Fusion continued to provide deep dive technical support for the more difficult tasks at hand. This meant both clients still have control over their own destinies, while getting significant leg up to achieve the original business case metrics.
If you see yourself in the same situation as I explained above, why not get in touch.

Keyvan Shirnia
Head of Managed Services

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