Business needs are constantly changing, especially when it comes to IT. As companies progress on their digital transformation journeys, they may be faced with compatibility issues: how they understand and implement IT infrastructure can become incompatible with how they go about supporting it.
By Hayward Rose, head of partner organisation sub-Saharan Africa at Cisco Systems
That is where managed service providers (MSPs) can help. But even MSPs themselves are constantly changing. What role and purpose do they serve today, and what value do they yield for their customers?
Managed services – then and now
Managed services have evolved in a way that mirrors how enterprises have used IT. With the advent of more powerful computers in the late 1980s and early 1990s, companies started to see the value of digitising tasks, increasing productivity levels, and keeping up with consumer and client behaviour and trends. MSPs assumed the role of those who fix what’s broken, offering help desk or outsourcing capabilities divorced from day-to-day enterprise operations.
But today, IT teams and administrators have taken on a more strategic role in their respective companies. It’s less about just supporting the business and more about being responsible for the outcomes that technology can provide.
The same goes for managed services. MSPs have to be more agile than ever. The modern MSP must provide hardware, software, and services, as well as be agile in its pricing and delivery performance to meet the changing needs of its customers. A business’s IT requirements are then offloaded and transformed into a distinct, cloud-like experience through service level agreements (SLAs) and service level objectives (SLOs).
In this way, managed services offer a more holistic approach to IT than traditional outsourcing processes. Both the MSP and the client are willing and active in their efforts to change, adopting new technologies and managing them while working together to build and improve skill sets.
South Africa upgraded
Africa’s managed services market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8,2% between 2023 and 2028. This is due to a dramatic shift in focus and MSPs’ influence the continent’s short- and long-term strategic decisions. Africa, particularly its major markets like South Africa, is undergoing intense digital transformation as citizens, governments, and businesses continue to adopt 4IR technologies.
Companies’ IT needs are evolving at an incredible rate. Big data is starting to play a fundamental role in companies’ ability to serve customers and modernise their operations. Cloud computing, an opportunity for businesses (big and small) to access essential applications and tools, is in high demand.
According to the Cloud in Africa 2023 study by World Wide Worx, more than two-thirds of African companies who use cloud computing surveyed plan to increase their cloud spending this year.
The World Wide Worx study also revealed that the most significant difficulty businesses experienced when it comes to cloud adoption was a lack of skills, followed by costs exceeding budget forecasts. This shouldn’t come as a surprise given that South Africa faces a skills shortage in critical sectors such as IT and finance, and ongoing economic challenges compel businesses to spend prudently.
Businesses also face crucial security challenges. Research shows that South African businesses plan to increase their cybersecurity budgets by 22% in the next three years. This is due to factors such as business expansion, recent security incidents, and the increasing complexity of IT infrastructure.
The value proposition
Put simply, managed services give IT teams the space they need to take a more proactive role in the business. Redirecting IT responsibilities to an MSP significantly reduces in-house IT costs, all while offering higher levels of reliability and security. This also lets in-house teams focus on more strategic initiatives like new product development and business acceleration.
MSPs can provide businesses with an architectural strategy that spans the entire IT lifecycle. This includes advising, implementing, training, optimising, and managing services that help keep businesses running smoothly and, most importantly, securely. Businesses have 24/7 access to dedicated staff with extensive knowledge of their networks, a single point of contact for administration and troubleshooting, and access to tool sets and IP products based on best practise.
When working with vendors, businesses seek to consolidate. They want to work with service-enabled partners that contribute to their forward-facing IT strategies, which enables them to adopt more services they may eventually need. This is what South African businesses are looking for in their MSPs. By partnering with the right ones, they can build, collaborate on, and deploy solutions that take them into the future.