Success in the service element depends on more than just meeting customer expectations; the audience at the Managed Services and Hosting summit were told IT service management will be increasingly important in the future given the growth of the service economy, but some companies are better at service than others. The Managed Services and Hosting Summit in London on September 17 heard some ways suppliers get this wrong and what they can do about it.
In the next three years, the growth in managed services is expected to be 12.4% CAGR- making this a £128bn business soon in the UK.
150000 MSPs will be competing in the UK market alone; using managed services will save customers 50-60% of some IT costs. So what is the differentiator in service? This is not about new and innovating services so much as effective management, Nadia Karatsoreos (below), community manager at MAXfocus, told the Managed Services and Hosting Summit.
“Service itself is hard to measure, but involves both the supplier and consumer. Delivering good service is not necessarily about meeting customer expectations. This is passive, however, and perhaps not what is needed. We need promoters, not just people, which is where service excellence comes in.”
Service excellence means going above and beyond. It seems a simple concept – based on controlling the customer expectation. But it is not enough to understand and accept customer expectations; you need to control them, she said. Why do so many MSPs fail at this?
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The first area is the knowledge gap – where a company simply does not understand expectations, or has misjudged what they are.
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The second gap is design and standards – this is where a company just does not have the processes or people in place to offer the services.
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Then the service gap which is where the supplier falls short in its ability; finally the communications gap where a company cannot deliver against what it has promised.
“Some MSPs get this right and can deliver serviced management. Some believe it is a matter of service provision, but it is actually more about leadership and culture, people and processes: the service excellence model”, she told the audience.
Everything starts from culture – this leads to more engaged employees; millenials which will dominate the workforce – and they want to feel valued, and will do more if they are engaged.
“And this leads to service quality, which then leads to a better customer experience. You should always be surveying and keeping on top of it. I've seen this with many MSPs I have visited – some if you don't' have the right culture, it doesn't matter what your business strategy is. If your front-line people are going to deliver and go above and beyond without supervision.”
“Here are the conclusions – control the customer expectations, identify your gaps and act, think about performance, designer standards; final build a culture which empowers employees. And that is a service excellence model.”