It’s no longer enough for organizations to solely think about management and support from their managed service provider (MSP). As the world around us experiences continual change, your business needs to continuously evolve. This business evolution requires organizations to zero in on outcomes that drive business value.

We worked with IDC to identify 5 questions that organizations need to consider when selecting their managed services partner. Here’s a quick summary of the key points from the Analyst Connection report:

1. Seek business outcomes for business value from managed services
   

   Perhaps the most important question to ask yourself – what business outcomes are you seeking? If you’re going to gain real business value from your managed service, it’s essential that your provider is held accountable to delivering outcomes that enable your organization to evolve.

   These outcomes should be grounded in results that make a real difference to your organization, such as speed to market, accelerated product/service launches and other measurable improvements. These outcomes will, if managed correctly, enable your provider to deliver quantifiable business value. Take action now and ask your MSP what outcomes they will commit to.



2. Transform your operating model to ensure value
   

   Changes to the operating model will be required for firms to truly take advantage of the value that can be gained from a managed service, over and above the standard IT outcomes.

   Beyond the people, process and technology components, organizations need to bundle migration and modernization with the management of applications. A modular approach will accelerate outcome delivery. In addition, operating models must bring closer collaboration between IT and the business so they can align on the outcomes that matter.

   Take action now by looking to create shared dashboards with a focus on real business metrics. This will provide a clearer view of where time and attention should be focused in relation to the required business outcomes.



3. Offset your talent gaps by integrating an MSP into your business
   

   Every organization is aware of the war for talent, knowing that it’s not possible to recruit and retain all the skills required now or for the future, as the technology landscape evolves so rapidly.

   Talent from an MSP needs to blur the lines between technology and business expertise in order to deliver on IT’s role in achieving business outcomes. Advisory and strategic skills are in demand and in particular, help is needed to address organizational change management. Your MSP should also bring people with skills in new and emerging technologies, people who are dedicated to keeping up with rapid advances in technology. Take action now by interrogating your partner on their people and skill sets, being sure to keep one eye on skills for the future.



4. Leverage automation, AI and analytics
   

   For organizations to respond rapidly to the unforeseen, advanced automation and analytics can help.

   Automation should be a fundamental part of a managed service, accelerating the completion of IT tasks from development to deployment and ongoing management. The role of AI should not be underestimated when it comes to evolving IT, driving efficiencies and linking business processes to IT. In addition, automation, AI and analytics should help organizations to assess service quality, track and forecast demand, and shine a light on business value metrics such as ROI, savings, speed and frequency of deployment, and FinOps.

   Take action now to connect analytics to dashboards, automation to processes and AI to your analytics.



5. Identifying the critical capabilities, you need from your MSP
   

   When you’re considering an MSP for a strategic long-term partnership, there are certain core capabilities you should be seeking.

   Most importantly, you need to ensure your partner will commit to being measured on business value delivery, and they should be helping you to identify the right metrics that will show this value as your business and technology landscape evolves.

   Beyond that commitment to value, it’s critical your MSP has an End-to-End portfolio of capabilities, broad yet deep expertise across multiple cloud environments, services, operating models and platforms, and on-demand access to both business and technology skills.

   The technology of your organization is there to support your business. Your managed service partner should be helping to transform your IT and evolve your business.

For a deeper view across these topics, read the IDC Analyst Connection from David Tapper and Peter Marston.