There are a lot of terms that float around the IT industry, and for those who do not live and breathe computer networks, it can get confusing. Add to that the fact that virutally every IT professional and expert has their own frame of reference, and things really start to get foggy. The truth is, in an industry that is ever-changing and rapidly evolving, it can be quite difficult to pinpoint exactly what everyone is talking about, unless it is your job to do so. One such topic is that of outsourcing vs. managed services.
Ask ten IT professionals to define managed services and you’ll probably receive ten different responses. However, those differences are probably nuanced, as you can expect at least the main ideas to be consistent across the board. Still, the point at which outsourcing crosses the line into managed services is likely to remain a bit blurry.
Outsourcing as a concept is about 30 years old. The genesis of the idea began when Eastman Kodak decided to outsource it’s IT operations in the late 1980’s. As IT concepts tend to do, otsourcing has evolved, grown and adapated into services such as Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), hosting and offshoring. The dot com boom ushered in new terms like Application Services Provider (ASP), which seemed to disappear almost as quickly as it appeared. The latest iteration, which has become prolific in recent years, is the idea of the ‘cloud’ – which to most people, is synonymous with digital outsourcing.
This is where the confusion arises. Outsourcing has become a general term to include basically any service which a company can pitch to another provider or organization – and as a catch-all, becomes almost impossible to definitively identify other than any cost or time saving approach.
Enter the term ‘managed services’, which is becoming more significant by the day. Managed services reflect the increasing demand for outcome-driven models, such as SLA’s. It is a more descriptive concept, delivering specific solutions that transcend cost savings to support evolving business expectations.
Managed services utilize cloud technologies, but go beyond simply deploying solutions to provide complete management of the network operations. Even though an IT term, managed services is less about the technology provided, and more about resources, people, processes and tools.
A professional and reputable managed services provider (MSP) can implement their service regardless of how your technology is deployed. In other words, they can be delivering service to your company whether your equipment is in your facilty or hosted at their facility. They can manage your operations whether from a local data center or in the cloud. Increasingly, data operations are hybrid solutions that incorporate aspects of all the best practices in IT networking and communications. The managed services IT professional can work their magic – from cost savings to cyber security – in any data center environment, as long as they have the right tools.
In the end, managed services are a form of outsourced processes, but it doesn’t end there. Managed services provide a complete suite of tools, skills, processes, and strategies to effectively manage the operations of a company.
At Alliance IT, we can take on as little or as much as your company requires. Call today for a consultation, and we can discuss your current operations and brainstorm as to the best opportunities to help you optimize your business.
