Running disparate systems to manage the various components of IT is not cost-effective - a single platform that is able to manage the key areas of a business' IT infrastructure makes sense.
This is according to local managed service providers, when reflecting on the industry lessons learnt in 2011.
Brent Flint, services executive for Dimension Data MEA, says businesses are looking to standardise and simplify their IT service delivery.
He adds that businesses are moving away from owning and managing their own technology. “For instance, we're seeing, through the 51 Dimension Data offices worldwide, a distinct trend among organisations towards consolidating IT assets and business processes so as to reduce maintenance, management, opex and capex challenges.”
Similarly, Garth Hayward, regional manager, Africa, at Kaseya, notes that studies conducted during 2011 showed that companies that employed managed service providers reduced their costs by between 25% and 50%.
“That serves to inform companies that, to a large extent, they need to explore the opportunity of engaging with a managed service provider that uses a modern IT automation services management tool,” says Hayward.
According to Flint, convergence of IT will be the main driver of managed serves this year. “We are witnessing a lot of convergence of IT and telecommunications firms in the market. With convergence comes the need for more specialised skills and tools to manage the environment, and hence the associated growth in related managed services.”
He explains that the larger corporates in the South African IT market have matured, thus it has become imperative for the players to differentiate themselves in order to stay ahead of the competition.
On the other hand, Hayward does not see the managed services drivers changing in 2012. “I don't believe the drivers will have changed. Companies are still going to be looking to do more with less.”
He believes that with the advent of mobile and the bring-your-own-device trend, managed service providers are eyeing consolidation policies. However, he says the pressures on a company's ability to offer an inclusive policy that incorporates these devices means they may consider the possibility of outsourcing the management and maintenance of their IT assets, as resources and tools are not available internally.
Flint says IT is moving towards a utility model, where clients are able to pay only for what they need.
“An example of this new client-oriented flexibility is the option to sign contracts for a variety of services, which they are then able to stop using when they no longer need them.”
In order to meet pricing demands, he explains, vendors are also offering on-demand services, including single-service aggregation where multiple services are managed by one vendor and clients select only those services that meet their requirements at a given time.
“This trend is also influenced by the closing of the gap between corporate and consumer IT services.”
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