The Operational Framework for your MSP (Managed Services Provider)

Hardware asset management can be one of the toughest challenges for businesses to manage these days. With employees working remotely, tracking and managing assets is more cumbersome than before. Plus, if your main business isn’t tracking and managing hardware assets, it makes sense to find someone whose sole expertise is. This is why many companies are looking to outsource their hardware asset management to an MSP (managed services provider).

The first step is figuring out if outsourcing your HAM is the right solution for your company.  6 Questions for Figuring Out When It’s Time for IT Managed Services gives you the right questions to consider if you’re feeling like your asset management is out of control.

Full benefits from an Managed Services Provider

Before you partner with a MSP, there are some steps to take to make sure the relationship runs smoothly and that you continue to get the value that comes with outsourcing. In a recent Gartner report, the two main reasons companies failed to receive the full benefits from their outsourcing vendors were 1) lack of governance and oversight with the vendor and 2) lack of defined expectations beyond typical operational deliverables. In fact, they state, “Without effective vendor management, 75% of outsourcing savings can disappear within 18 months.”

So, what exactly are “the defined expectations beyond operational deliverables?”  We’ve found there to be three main areas:

1. The vision for the future
2. The desired customer experience (CX)
3. The infrastructure required to deliver 1 & 2

Next, you need to find the right MSP to partner with. The list of HAM managed service providers is long and unless you really understand not only your HAM needs, but also how you need the vendor to work with your organization, you could end up with a headache bigger than just messy asset management. You want to be sure you’re working with a reputable vendor who’s willing and able to accommodate your specific and often changing needs, while going above and beyond to keep your PII safe and guaranteeing the highest levels of security. The last thing any company wants is to find themselves in the position of Morgan Stanley bank, who’s facing large fines and legal troubles because of poorly managed ITAD practices.

The MSP Operational Framework

You want to be sure you’re set up to not only find and hire the right vendor but also manage them in a way that delivers the highest value for your time and money, with the least amount of extra effort. To help ensure you have a framework that creates clear alignment between your defined expectations and the MSP you choose, Gartner defined these 4 elements of an operational framework:

• Contract
• Performance
• Relationship
• Risk and Compliance

How can a Managed Services Provider help?

When you’ve taken the steps above and have found the right MSP for your business, you’ll quickly see the benefits of entrusting your hardware asset management to an MSP. Their experience and skillset in HAM will provide insight and recommendations for improvements you wouldn’t otherwise be able to realize. By fostering a well thought out, mutually agreed upon plan, your MSP’s expertise can help businesses:

• Quickly and easily meet HAM goals and objectives
• Decrease operational costs due to bad data and lost assets
• Better forecast needs and spend
• Decrease security risks
• Allow employees to focus on their core business

AssetTrack Pro® is the foundation for an MSP

At the end of the day, you need a collaborative, trusted partnership. To ensure we can deliver the results you need, we offer our AssetTrack Pro® solution, built on AssetTrack®, the leading app for ServiceNow.

An AssetTrack Pro® solution provides complete transparency and accountability into managing assets, key performance indicators (KPIs), and service level agreements (SLAs). AssetTrack Pro provides the manpower and knowhow for a world-class ITAM operation built on best practices, with a trusted team of experts who are willing and able to design a solution to meet you where you’re at.

AssetTrack® Pro will operationally and digitally transform your infrastructure by delivering:

• Accurate Data:Asset data is easily accessible, up-to-date, secure, and compliant with complete chain of custody
• Performance:Ensure a successful HAM program, so your employees are free to focus on your core business
• Predictability: Forecast spend, utilization and needs using past data to predict the future needs
• Savings:Reduce capital and operating expenses while allowing workers to be more efficient, productive, and focused
• Control: Allow for better utilization, redeployment, or recycling/donation of current assets
• Security: Maintain a secure, responsible asset recovery process that covers transporting, wiping or shredding hard drives, identifying remaining asset value, remarketing, or ethical recycling
• Flexibility: Get a custom solution that can accommodate your changing needs and wants at any stage of the process

We’ve found that when there is clear alignment on purpose and a good framework to manage the contract, relationship, performance, and security, enterprises accelerate their drive toward a better customer experience and operational transformation.

Let us get started tailoring a solution for you today.