What Is AMS? Application Management Services Explained

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What Is AMS? How To Choose an AMS
Provider Application Management Services (AMS)
refers to the process of outsourcing various
aspects of application management and support to
a third-party service provider. This blog
explains what AMS is, the different types of
AMS, the AMS process, the benefits of outsourcing
application management, and how to choose the
right AMS provider.
Application Management Services (AMS) refers to
the process of outsourcing various aspects of
application management and support to a
third-party service provider. AMS providers take
responsibility for managing applications
throughout their lifecycle from development to
maintenance and support. This allows
organizations to focus on their core business
while benefiting from the expertise,
scalability, and cost efficiencies of AMS
providers. This blog explains what AMS is, the
different types of AMS, the AMS process, the
benefits of outsourcing application management,
and how to choose the right AMS provider.
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What is AMS?
Application Management Services (AMS) refers to
managing application activities throughout the
various phases of application lifecycle
management. It typically includes planning,
analysis, design, development, testing,
deployment, and application maintenance. An
Application Management Services provider assumes
partial or complete responsibility for the
maintenance, support, and evolution of a
customer's custom or packaged applications. The
AMS provider also executes tasks like application
maintenance, application enhancement,
application modification, batch cycle monitoring,
application troubleshooting, and more. This also
helps the customer organization focus on its core
competencies by outsourcing the management of
its non-core applications to AMS providers. AMS
providers can leverage economies of scale in
tools, technologies, and manpower to optimally
manage the outsourced applications. In essence,
Application Management Services involve
leveraging the expertise of specialized
professionals at an external service provider
during the different stages of the application
lifecycle. It also helps to optimize application
performance, cost, and efficiency. Types of
AMS- There are several main types of Application
Management Services
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Application Maintenance and Support- Application
Maintenance and Support is the most common type
of Application Management Services provided by
AMS vendors. It includes activities that ensure
applications run smoothly and meet the business
and user requirements over time. Application
Support encompasses tasks like fixing bugs,
making minor modifications, monitoring batch
jobs, troubleshooting issues, answering user
queries, and providing workarounds. The aim is to
keep applications running optimally with minimum
downtime. An AMS provider takes over
responsibility for performing these routine
maintenance and support tasks, allowing the
in-house team to focus on strategic
initiatives. Application Enhancement- Applicatio
n Enhancement refers to improving existing
applications based on changing business needs. An
AMS provider can take on the job of enhancing
applications so that the in-house IT team can
focus on other priorities. Application
enhancement involves activities like modifying
reports and dashboards, adding new fields and
data elements, upgrading database versions,
integrating with other systems, redesigning
interfaces, and improving performance. The goal
is to make applications more efficient,
user-friendly, and able to support business
growth. Application enhancement can range from
minor tweaks to major overhauls and upgrades. By
outsourcing application enhancement to an AMS
vendor, organizations can also access specialized
skills, leverage process frameworks, and benefit
from fast turnaround times. Application
Development- Outsourcing the entire development
of custom or packaged applications to an AMS
vendor is known as Application Development. The
AMS provider takes on responsibility for
designing, developing, testing, and deploying
new applications as per the client's
requirements. This also allows the client's IT
team to focus on other tasks while leveraging the
experience, skills, and tools of the AMS
provider. Benefits of outsourcing application
development include access to a larger pool of
developers, cost savings due to economies of
scale, adherence to industry best practices and
process frameworks, and faster time to market.
The AMS provider follows a structured development
life cycle covering
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phases like requirement gathering, architecture
design, development, testing, deployment, and
maintenance. Infrastructure Management- Infrastr
ucture Management refers to outsourcing the
maintenance and management of underlying applicati
on infrastructure to an AMS provider. This
includes platforms like application servers,
databases, middleware, web servers, and other
components that support applications. An AMS
vendor takes on the responsibilities of
monitoring, patching, backup, performance tuning,
and security of the infrastructure. By
outsourcing infrastructure management,
organizations can benefit from the expertise of
administrators specialized in specific
infrastructure components. The AMS provider
implements best practices and automation to
optimize infrastructure performance,
availability, and cost. Outsourcing
infrastructure management also allows the
in-house team to focus on higher-value
activities. It is done while ensuring
applications run smoothly on a stable and secure
infrastructure. Application Testing- Application
Testing as part of Application Management
Services involves outsourcing the testing
of applications to an AMS provider. The AMS
vendor deploys testers who have specialized
skills and tools to perform different types of
testing like functional testing, security
testing, performance testing, regression
testing, and integration testing. The tests
ensure that applications work as expected, meet
business requirements, and are secure, stable,
and scalable. By outsourcing application
testing, organizations can reduce the time spent
on testing, gain access to advanced testing
techniques and technologies, and improve overall
test coverage. An AMS provider follows a
well-defined testing methodology and maintains
test plans, cases, scripts, data, and
environments. The in-house team focuses on
development while the AMS vendor manages all
testing requirements to validate the quality of
applications.
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Helpdesk Support- Helpdesk Support is a common
Application Management Service where an AMS
provider takes over the first and second-level
support for end users of an organization's
applications. The AMS vendor deploys and manages
a team of support agents who handle user queries,
complaints, and issue reports related to
applications. Support agents investigate
problems, resolve basic issues, provide
workarounds, and escalate complex issues to the
client's internal team. Organizations benefit
from lower support costs due to economies of
scale, round-the-clock support coverage, and
faster issue resolution. The AMS provider
typically uses tools like ticketing systems,
knowledge bases, and workflow automation to
improve the efficiency of application support.
Outsourcing helpdesk support allows the in-house
team to focus on strategic tasks while end users
get timely resolution of issues from the AMS
vendor's support team. Deployment
Management- Deployment Management involves
outsourcing the rollout of new or updated
applications to an AMS provider. The Application
Management Services vendor handles all stages of
the deployment process from planning to
post-implementation support. This includes
conducting impact analyses, creating deployment
blueprints, scheduling rollouts in staged
environments, regression testing after
deployment, change management communication, and
training end users. With the help of outsourcing
deployment management, organizations can minimize
deployment risks and downtime through the
experience and expertise of the AMS provider. The
AMS vendor follows best practices and uses
automation tools to streamline the deployment
process. They also maintain deployment standards
and procedures. Outsourcing deployment management
allows the internal IT team to focus on
development while the AMS provider ensures new
applications are deployed smoothly and with
minimum disruption. Read Also- Importance Of
Application Support and Maintenance for Your
Business in 2023 AMS Process- The typical
Application Management Services process includes
the following stages
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• Assessment - The AMS provider conducts an initial
  assessment of the client's applications,
• infrastructure, and requirements. This includes
  understanding the application landscape, current
  issues, performance metrics, support processes,
  etc.
• Planning - Based on the assessment, the AMS
  provider develops a plan detailing the services
  to be provided, work breakdown structure,
  timelines, resources, and costs. The plan is
  presented to the client for approval.
• Mobilization - Once the plan is approved, the
  application management services provider
  assembles the required team and tools,
  establishes communication channels, and formally
  takes over the management of the client's
  applications.
• Management - The AMS provider manages the
  applications on an ongoing basis as per the
  agreed plan. This includes activities like
  maintenance support, enhancements, testing,
  infrastructure management, helpdesk support, etc.
• Monitoring - Key performance metrics like issue
  resolution time, downtime, response time, etc.
  are monitored to ensure Service Level Agreements
  (SLAs) are met.
• Reporting - Regular reports are submitted to the
  client detailing work done, issues encountered,
  metric performance, upcoming work, etc.
• Optimization - Based on monitoring and feedback,
  the AMS provider identifies opportunities to
  optimize the management of applications to
  improve efficiency, performance and reduce
  costs.
• Governance - Governance processes ensure
  compliance with the client's security, data
  management, and operational policies.
• Review - Periodic reviews are conducted with the
  client to evaluate performance, verify alignment
  with business priorities and identify areas for
  improvement.

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• Benefits of AMS-
• The main benefits of Application Management
  Services include
• Cost Savings - AMS providers can manage
  applications more efficiently due to economies
  of scale, standardization, and automation. This
  leads to lower overall costs.
• Access to Expertise - Organizations gain access
  to the expertise of professionals specialized in
  managing different types of applications and
  technologies.
• Improved Efficiency - AMS providers follow proven
  methodologies and best practices to optimize the
  management of applications. This improves
  performance and efficiency.
• Risk Mitigation - Outsourcing application
  management tasks reduce risks related to talent
  gaps, technology changes, and compliance issues.
• Scalability - AMS providers can scale resources
  and infrastructure quickly to meet fluctuations
  in demand. This provides more flexibility.
• Standardization - AMS providers standardize
  processes, tools, and documentation which leads
  to more managed and repeatable application
  management.
• Compliance - AMS providers have robust processes
  and controls in place to ensure applications are
  managed in a compliant manner.
• Business Continuity - AMS providers have business
  continuity plans and disaster recovery
  arrangements in place to minimize business impact.

How To Choose an AMS Provider-
Here are some tips on how to choose the right
Application Management Services provider
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• Understand Your Requirements - Make a list of the
  specific AMS functions you need and
• the objectives you want to achieve. This will
  also help narrow down suitable providers.
• Gather Proposals - Get proposals from multiple
  potential providers detailing their services,
  experience, methodologies, and costs. Compare and
  evaluate them.
• Check Credentials - Ensure the provider has
  experience in managing applications similar to
  yours. Check client references and case studies.
• Assess Capabilities - Evaluate the provider's
  tools, technologies, processes, and expertise to
  ensure they are suitable for your needs. Consider
  their resourcing and scalability.
• Evaluate Security and Compliance - Check if the
  provider has robust security controls and
  processes in place to meet your compliance
  requirements. Ask for certifications.
• Review SLAs - Study the provider's proposed
  Service Level Agreements in detail to understand
  obligations, penalties, and escalation
  mechanisms.
• Assess Transition Plan - Request the provider's
  plan for transitioning existing applications to
  their management. Evaluate feasibility and risks
  involved.
• Examine Costs - Compare the all-in costs per
  application along with any additional costs and
  hidden fees. Ask for a detailed cost breakup.
• Check Reviews - Read online reviews and check
  with other clients of the provider to learn
  about their experience and quality of service.
• Sign a Contract - Negotiate and sign a contract
  that is comprehensive and protects your
  interests. The contract should specify the scope
  of work, SLAs, and terms of termination.
• Conclusion
• Application Management Services provide
  organizations with an effective way to optimize
  the management of their applications. By
  outsourcing to an experienced AMS provider,
  businesses can reduce costs, improve
  efficiencies, access specialized expertise and
  mitigate risks related to applications. Choosing
  the right provider based on your requirements is
  also essential to ensure your

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objectives are met. Outsourcing application
management allows businesses to shift focus to
strategic initiatives that directly impact
growth while ensuring applications perform
effectively through every stage of their
lifecycle. Source of This Post- Click
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