1. Info-Tech Research Group1 1 Info-Tech Research Group, Inc. Is a global leader in providing IT research and advice. Info-Tech’s products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns. © 1997-2014 Info-Tech Research Group Inc. Outsource Systems Management to Improve Capabilities and Reduce Costs Outsourcing is like a marriage. Treat it like a partnership, not a competition. Info-Tech's products and services combine actionable insight and relevant advice with ready-to-use tools and templates that cover the full spectrum of IT concerns.© 1997 - 2014 Info-Tech Research Group

2. Info-Tech Research Group2 2 This Research is Designed For:This Research Will Help You: This Research Will Assist:This Research Will Help You: This Research is Designed For:This Research Will Help You: This Research Will Assist:This Research Will Help You: Our Understanding of the Problem Infrastructure Managers Make an informed decision about which services to outsource. Select a best-fit managed service provider. Manage your outsourcing vendor to ensure an amicable, mutually beneficial relationship. Plan the transition to a managed service provider. Application Managers Network Managers End Users Improve performance on core applications. Benefit from enhanced systems management capabilities. Receive a better overall quality of service.

3. Info-Tech Research Group3 3 Info-Tech Insight Resolution Situation ! Complication ? 1.Outsourcing is like a marriage. Think in terms of collaboration and partnership rather than a traditional vendor/client relationship. 2.Different services require different levels of management. If you outsource strategically significant processes, prepare to spend more time with your provider. 3.Capabilities are the driver, not cost savings. You may save, but the real value in outsourcing is in the enhanced capabilities you will obtain. Executive Summary Infrastructure managers are responsible for delivering affordable reliability and availability, but optimizing internal systems management capabilities hasn’t delivered the level of service that is expected. Transferring management to a third party is an increasingly popular option to save money or extend service capabilities. While many organizations save money by outsourcing, a greater percentage report being dissatisfied with their arrangement. The cost of switching providers is prohibitively high. It’s critical that organizations get it right the first time. Organizations often fail to recognize how much preparation is required to outsource effectively. Spend the bulk of your time in the pre-implementation phase. ◦ Thoroughly assess whether outsourcing is the best means to achieve capability and cost goals. ◦ Carefully document your current state systems requirements and management procedures. Evaluate RFPs comprehensively and conduct rigorous due diligence. ◦ Clearly spell out the roles and responsibilities to be assigned to you and your vendor. ◦ Ensure that the vendor has experience in your industry and market segment. ◦ Make sure that your contract explicitly spells out the terms of your relationship with your provider. Don’t leave anything to chance.

4. Info-Tech Research Group4 4 Book a Guided Implementation Today: Info-Tech is just a phone call away and can assist you with your project. Our expert Analysts can guide you to successful project completion. For most members, this service is available at no additional cost.* Section 1: Interpret the Results of the Decision-Making Tool with an Info-Tech Analyst Discuss the results of your criticality and capability assessment and determine the greatest opportunity for your organization to outsource. Review how criticality and internal capabilities will affect your vendor management strategy. Section 2: Have an Info-Tech Analyst Review Your Project Charter to Identify Gaps and Opportunities A well-developed Project Charter can make all the difference between a smooth take-off and a failure to launch. Info-Tech’s analysts are ready to help by watching for common mistakes and oversights. Section 3: Review Your RFP with an Info-Tech Analyst to Ensure Complete Coverage Make sure that you’re asking for the right things. An Info-Tech analyst can review your draft RFP and make sure your solution will be designed to meet your needs. Section 4: Review Your Contract with an Info-Tech Analyst and Ensure You’ve Covered All the Bases Vendor lock-in and hidden costs can destroy the value of your outsourcing project. Let an Info-Tech analyst guide you through the contract evaluation process and ensure that you’ve avoided all of the potential traps. Section 5: Verify Your Road Map With an Info-Tech Analyst to Identify Potential Challenges and Pitfalls Make sure that your road map is complete and comprehensive. Identify any areas of risk and ensure that you have a strategy to implement the transition as smoothly as possible. Info-Tech is ready to assist. Book a free guided implementation today! Here are the suggested Guided Implementation points in the Outsourcing Systems Management project: * Guided Implementations are included in most advisory membership seats.

5. Info-Tech Research Group5 5 Establish baseline metrics Metric DescriptionCurrent MetricFuture Goal Unplanned downtime Mean time to restore Mean time between failures Availability Total number of reported incidents Other metric 1.Increased system monitoring through training of personnel and increased efficiency of processes. 2.Decreased unplanned downtime. Implementation of a self-service portal will decrease the number of menial tasks help desk must complete for end users. 3.Improved time to restore. Knowing when to escalate tasks sooner can decrease wasted effort by tier 1 workers. 4.Increased mean time between failures. Automation frees time for more important tasks. Baseline metrics will improve through:

6. Info-Tech Research Group6 6 Conduct a workshop, with us or on your own Onsite Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to complete this project on your own and a Guided Implementation is not enough, we offer low-cost deliveries of each Blueprint. Our expert analysts will come onsite to help you work through our project methodology over the course of 2-5 days. We step through each phase of your project and ensure that you have a road map in place to realize success. In some cases, we can even help you to complete the project while we are onsite. 1. Enroll in a 2-5 day workshop for your project Send an email to WorkshopBooking@InfoTech.com or call 1-888-670-8889 Ext. 3001. Your account manager will contact you and quote you the cost of the workshop.WorkshopBooking@InfoTech.com 2. Book your workshop A Workshop Coordinator will contact you to book a workshop planning call with one of our facilitators and arrange dates for your workshop. We can hold the workshop in Info-Tech’s world-class facility in Toronto or at your location. 3. Participate in your workshop Our experienced workshop facilitators will take your project team through your tailored slides and exercises and will summarize all the workshop outputs into a final report.

7. Info-Tech Research Group7 7 What’s in this Section:Sections: Assess Whether Outsourcing Systems Management Will Help You Achieve Your Goals Define Systems Management. The value of outsourcing Systems Management. Keys to successful outsourcing. Perform a criticality assessment. Perform a capabilities assessment. Assess the value of outsourcing Systems Management. Assess Whether Outsourcing Will Help You Achieve Your Goals Build a Project Charter to Communicate to Stakeholders the Value of Outsourcing Identify and Select a Best-Fit Vendor with an Optimized RFP Ensure Collaborative Engagement with Win/Win Contract Design Plan the Transition to Your MSP

8. Info-Tech Research Group8 8 After completing this activity you will have: Recommendations around candidate management services to outsource. A strong understanding of the benefits, advantages, issues, and risks associated with outsourcing. Assess whether outsourcing systems management will help you achieve your goals 1 Activities in this step 1.1 Perform a Criticality Assessment 1.2 Perform a Capability Assessment 1.3 Discuss and Interpret the Results of the Decision Making Tool Key benefits These activities will enable you to: Determine which systems management services you should outsource and why. Communicate high level benefits and risks to stakeholders. Make an informed decision around outsourcing that makes sense for your organization. Immediate outcomes of this step

9. Info-Tech Research Group9 9 Systems management is about more than checking if the lights are on Systems management is extremely complex. It’s more than just monitoring. It’s about knowing how and when to act to keep your business going. The Seattle branch of XYZ Bank puts a call into IT. Their systems are down completely and they are unable to perform any business functions. The IT team sets to work trying to identify the problem, but without an end-to-end strategy, the root cause analysis will take hours, potentially costing the company millions. Seattle puts a call in to the main IT team in New York. New York reports back that their monitoring tool is not finding any errors – from their vantage point, Seattle is up. What went wrong? 1.The organization never moved past monitoring systems, leaving them in a reactive footing. 2.The IT team had multiple tools in place, none of which interacted with the others. They never had true end-to-end visibility of their systems. Moreover, team members understood some tools but lacked expertise in others, and missed critical information. 3.IT did not have adequate processes in place that would have escalated an earlier error and notified the problem management team. Systems management can be a strategic enabler, if you have the capabilities. If you have already completed Info-Tech’s Optimize Systems Management to Improve IT Resilience and Proactivity blueprint and still aren’t seeing results, outsourcing with an specialist service provider may help.Optimize Systems Management to Improve IT Resilience and Proactivity Info-Tech Insight

10. Info-Tech Research Group10Info-Tech Research Group10 Good systems management involves synergy between several operational processes Systems management incorporates a variety of disciplines, but has just one goal: a finely tuned, reliable IT infrastructure. The purview of systems management may vary from organization to organization. Typically, it will include and integrate some or all of the following practices: Availability Management Incident Management Problem Management Configuration Management Change Management Release Management Service Level Management Capacity Management Service Continuity Management Service Desk Systems management tasks do not typically drive obvious value to the business. Systems management is often relegated to “keeping the lights on” and is a low priority for many organizations. As a result, organizations do not have adequate capabilities around systems management. Managed service providers have access to superior tools and a higher level of training than is easily accessible to many IT departments. Why outsource systems management?

11. Info-Tech Research Group11Info-Tech Research Group11 Outsourcing systems management can save costs, but the real value is in capabilities enhancement There are five main benefits to outsourcing systems management: Average overall cost savings of 25% (Tideway). Augmentation of internal expertise. Access to superior technology and tools. Improved service delivery to end users. Reallocation of technical staff to revenue-driving initiatives. While many organizations do save as a result of outsourcing, a more compelling argument is that outsourcing allows the organization to access stronger technical capabilities without the large capital investment. The benefits you achieve from outsourcing are contingent on a number of factors. Info- Tech can help you take the following steps to realize maximum value: Determine which services are ideal candidates for outsourcing. Establish clear requirements and objectives. Anticipate and mitigate common risks. Prepare thoroughly by achieving sufficient internal maturity. Communicate effectively with your vendor. Five Key Steps For Successful Outsourcing 87% of respondents to a Norton Rose Fulbright survey said that outsourcing customers identified “cost reduction” as a motivating factor for outsourcing, but the benefits extend beyond dollars and cents. Not all organizations save by outsourcing, but many still find that the cost premium is well worth the additional technical capabilities they achieve.

12. Info-Tech Research Group12Info-Tech Research Group12 Info-Tech Research Group Helps IT Professionals To: Sign up for free trial membership to get practical solutions for your IT challenges www.infotech.com Quickly get up to speed with new technologies Make the right technology purchasing decisions – fast Deliver critical IT projects, on time and within budget Manage business expectations Justify IT spending and prove the value of IT Train IT staff and effectively manage an IT department “Info-Tech helps me to be proactive instead of reactive – a cardinal rule in a stable and leading edge IT environment. - ARCS Commercial Mortgage Co., LP Toll Free: 1-888-670-8889