SpartanTec, Inc. Wilmington: Understanding Managed Services

Many people today believe they understand managed services in today’s technologically driven world. When asked to define it, however, many people don’t know what they mean. What does it actually mean to receive managed service? What is an MSP? What can an MSP do for you?

The Customer’s View of Managed Services

Depending on who you ask, the definition of managed services varies. Customers believe that managed service is allowing the service provider to take care of setting up, installing, and configuring the equipment. They will configure the item according to your specifications, provide ongoing monitoring and patching, fine-tune settings for improved performance, and ensure that security measures are in place.

If there is any connectivity or functionality issue, the provider will address it. Providers will replace or repair hardware as needed and follow strict SLAs. They’ll also provide reports to prove they have followed the service licensing agreement. These are all valid assumptions about managed services, but there are many finer points.

MSP’s Viewpoint

Managed service providers include the management of the customer’s equipment. They expect that the initial setup will be completed by these service providers. The customer should take care of any additional installations or ask for a service that focuses more on configuration and installation.

The managed service provider will document equipment in its current operating condition. The managed service provider like SpartanTec, Inc. will establish a baseline to guide the client’s normal practice. To ensure that the operational state of the client is maintained, it may be necessary to modify the configuration based on operating issues and suggestions for vendor configuration settings.

To establish the triage and tasks for incidents as well as tasks to be performed, an order of operations will be established. These run books will guide the patching, monitoring, and security. Tickets will be used to triage any anomalies or incidents. If the equipment is covered by a warranty, and support contracts are current and valid, the MSP can work with the vendor to handle any service requests. All activities and management will be performed under strict SLAs with reports that prove their compliance.

All of these points show that customers have different goals than the MSP’s operational and sandboxing mindsets. Both parties attempt to reconcile their differing mindsets through contracting or within work statements. These attempts often fail as the interpretations of the parties are different when it comes down to managed services Wilmington.