How Digital Managed Services are driving business value for CIOs

What should CIO’s look for in a digital managed services provider?

Today’s CIOs face key challenges around futureproofing, innovating, and the perennial skills shortage. As businesses increasingly adopt a digital-first approach, CIOs need to deliver solutions and services that are future-ready, not stuck in the past, to mitigate the risks of these challenges. For many businesses, this means it’s time to invest in products and partners that align with your vision for what’s next, and that are able and willing to help futureproof your organisation.

For example, in the Logicalis Global CIO Survey 2021-22, 60 per cent of respondents said that IT played a leading role in supporting innovation, while a further 34 per cent said it played a supporting role.^* Innovation and futureproofing go hand-in-hand as organisations continue to search for ways to elevate their customer interactions to compete more effectively.

Almost four in five (79 per cent) of CIOs are concerned that their organisation is falling behind competitors because of the pace of changing processes.^* This makes innovation even more valuable. When it comes to futureproofing and innovation, CIOs will undoubtedly look for new technologies they can add into their existing stack to streamline processes and uncover efficiencies. However, it’s important to recognise that new tools are not the only solution.

Managed services can help CIOs leverage their existing solutions for maximum value and address the ongoing skills shortage in one shot. Managed services have always been an essential part of the technology landscape, delivering significant value and benefits to the partners that they work with. However, legacy managed services are not fit to service today’s digital ecosystem and won’t always work in harmony with modern technologies. As such, it’s important for savvy CIOs to recognise the value of bringing their managed services with them into the future, and engage with a provider that looks forward, not backward.

Digital managed services today.

A digital-first business needs digital-first solutions. And it needs services underpinning its operations that help it run seamlessly to achieve greater growth and business success. As businesses continue to transform, it’s critical that savvy CIOs look for ways to improve their operations from top to bottom. More than three-quarters (77 per cent) of CIOs are investing more of their day in strategic planning to help the business meet objectives such as better customer engagements.^* Furthermore, CIOs are now managing a diverse and complex hybrid IT environment that includes multiple vendors, processes, and data, all of which must be carefully managed. However, this can be challenging for under-resourced IT teams, especially in the face of ongoing skills shortages.

Fortunately, engaging with a digital-first managed IT services provider can overcome these challenges. Working with the right digital managed services partner can deliver significant benefits, including:

• letting you hand over your IT services to a specialist team of experts while your internal IT consultants focus on the innovation and business needs that keep your operations moving
• helping CIOs to optimise business operations and make data-driven decisions, delivering exceptional outcomes for internal and external customers, and helping the organisation reach its goals
• giving CIOs access to invaluable leadership insights based on an overarching view of the market, which can help ensure success in a digital-first world.

What to look for in a digital managed services provider.

Digital managed services providers are becoming digital transformation enablers. There are three key elements to look for from a digital managed IT services provider:

1. Digital metrics: the world has moved beyond ‘data as the new oil’; however, data still delivers essential fuel for your business to run. Engaging a digital managed services provider that delivers comprehensive data and information insights to help drive your organisation through its digital transformation journey is crucial. For example, while traditional managed services measure uptime and availability, the metrics of a digital MSP get to the heart of digital-first commerce to measure functions including user experience, security, and your carbon score, among other things.  
2. Digital platform: engaging with a digital managed services provider that delivers truly customisable support through a comprehensive digital platform is essential for success. For example, a modern, AI-based platform that can manage and report on the service delivery of your entire digital ecosystem ensures proactive and real-time updates.  
3. Cohesive digital ecosystem: it’s critical to engage with a vendor that delivers a cohesive digital ecosystem to support your operations, with seamless integrations that support your business needs. This will help ensure all parts of your business continue to communicate and operate effectively together. Consider a modern managed service that delivers a consumption-based, insights-driven approach to your digital ecosystem that empowers your business with the agility and scalability you need to meet changing business requirements.

Investing in digital managed services lets you focus more on the things that matter, including your customer experience and business growth, while your managed services provider takes care of the rest. Logicalis has a proven track record as a trusted global digital transformation partner to businesses of all sizes.

To find out how Logicalis can help you futureproof your business with forward-thinking digital managed services, contact the team today.