One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to the Managed Service Provider sector

Sunrise Software has published a paper outlining the benefits of an ITIL based solution for Managed Service Providers. The paper states that there is no ‘one size fits all’ for MSPs to provide critical Customer Support. While MSPs have many similarities, each still has their own processes for managing customer service data, therefore an ITIL based system that can be customised to the specific and complex requirements of each MSP is currently the best fit available.

Author of the paper, Neil Penny, Product Director at Sunrise Software, explains; “Not for nothing is ITIL, now in its 3rd iteration, globally recognised as the standard by which to manage IT. Given that IT departments within large organisations are effectively acting as an MSP to the business, it makes sense that the solutions they use to manage critical Customer Support would be a good basis for a solution suitable for MSPs managing external customers. It is important that the base product is comprehensive enough to deliver all the standard functions with plenty of flexibility to also provide the unique functionality that each MSP requires.”

MSPs need to be able to manage diverse service contracts with attendant customer hierarchies and billing structures, multiple Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and back to back third party agreements. They also need to be able to catalogue all their products and services, keeping track of entitlements, renewals, credits, penalties and terminations.

The paper goes on to give examples citing Endava, a company that delivers full project lifecycles, from application delivery and testing through to support, hosting and managed services for some of the world’s leading financial institutions. Its customers rely on their IT systems to provide accurate information 100% of the time, failure to meet SLAs can lead to severe penalties for Endava, so a powerful Service Desk solution is vital.

Another example is Cognito, whose solutions enable market-leading organisations to deliver excellent customer service at a lower cost by using a SaaS-based Service Delivery Platform. The platform is integrated with handheld applications to operate intelligent workflow, scheduling, tracking, parts management and reporting capabilities, for its mobile workforce.

Neil Penny concludes; “Each MSP has its own unique blend of products and services, and a broad spectrum of customers to support. However, the one thing that they all have in common is their absolute need to have all the right technical and often multi-tier service contract information to hand in order to provide effective customer service – whether by phone, email, online or event in the field at a customer site.”