Title: Enterprise Application Management: How to Evaluate an Outsourcing Partnership
1Enterprise Application Management
- How to Evaluate an Outsourcing Partnership
2Enterprise Application Management
- A greater number of companies today are turning
to service providers for enterprise application
management.
- Outsourcing promotes innovation and optimization
of the application environment but only if you
work with the right partner and you streamline
internal IT processes.
- According to Forresters Services Sourcing
Playbook, organizations must maintain effective
project management and internal process
consistency.
3Enterprise Application Management
- The key to a successful outsourcing relationship
starts with improving internal processes, then
selecting the right enterprise application
management provider. - To determine if youve found the best fit and to
identify any provider or internal weaknesses
before you commit to a long-term contract,
Forrester recommends you collect the following
information
4Enterprise Application Management
- Project management track record.
- When considering outsourcing enterprise
application management, companies need to
evaluate how a provider performs project
management functions. - You need to ask what percentage of complex IT
projects were delivered within established time
and cost parameters. - A high percentage indicates a competent provider
that can accurately manage project scope. - If the outsourcing providers record isnt as
strong as it should be, you may have to spend
time and money reworking projects.
- Project management expertise.
- You want to evaluate the backgrounds of the
enterprise application management providers
staff. - For example, you should find out what
percentage of the staff is PMI-certified. - Expert project management is necessary to
successfully manage IT projects and resources.
You also want to know the percentage of projects
managed through a central program management
office, or PMO. PMOs ensure consistency and
quality.
5Enterprise Application Management
- Communication and collaboration tools.
- Distributed projects rely on content sharing
tools, real-time communications and advanced
workflows. - If the provider relies on manual processes, you
risk decreased efficiency in enterprise
application management. - To promote the best possible working
relationship, you should carefully evaluate how a
service provider will work with your staff.
- Standardized internal processes.
- A service provider has to understand and
accommodate your companys numerous processes. - Its much easier if your organization follows a
single standardized development and maintenance
process that the outsourcer already has
established. - Be sure to ask for and evaluate the providers
SSAE 16 audit report for confirmation that they
create and follow appropriate processes and
procedures.
6Enterprise Application Management
- Managing to SLAs.
- Service-level agreements (SLAs) ensure
outsourcing providers meet their obligations and
service commitments. - They establish mutual responsibility.
- Companies currently using SLAs, or that have
experience with them, will be better positioned
to establish meaningful parameters with the
enterprise application management provider.
- User acceptance testing.
- An organization should have a formal internal
approval process for delivery of projects. - Prior to approval, users typically participate in
acceptance testing. This type of process is
essential to outsourcing relationships. - When working with a service provider, a company
must be able to accept systems or changes prior
to production.
7Enterprise Application Management
- Its not just the outsourcing providers
qualifications that must be carefully measured. - Companies must evaluate their own internal
processes and improve them as needed to help an
enterprise application management partnership
succeed. - Â
- Too often organizations focus only on the service
providers capabilities. Although this is a
critical component of the overall analysis, you
cant forget to look inward. - Maximum value can be derived from an outsourcing
partnership when companies improve their internal
IT processes. - Â
8Enterprise Application Management
- OneNecks enterprise application management team
is dedicated to maintaining applications in a
configuration optimized to meet each customers
specific needs. - To ensure optimal system performance and
availability, the application administrators work
closely with the database and operating system
administrators to proactively monitor and tune
each system. - OneNeck supports top tier ERP applications such
as Oracle, JD Edwards, Baan, Microsoft Dynamics
AX and more.
9About the Author
Chuck Vermillion is CEO and founder of OneNeck IT
Services, a leading provider of hosted
application management and managed services since
1997.
For more information about Enterprise
Application Management, visit http//www.oneneck.c
om today.