A greater number of companies today are turning to service providers for enterprise application management. Why? Outsourcing promotes innovation and optimization of the application environment…but only if you work with the right partner and you streamline internal IT processes. For more information about Enterprise Application Management, visit http://www.oneneck.com/ today.

1. Enterprise Application Management:
How to Evaluate an Outsourcing Partnership
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2. Enterprise Application Management
• A greater number of companies today are turning to service
providers for enterprise application management.
• Outsourcing promotes innovation and optimization of the
application environment; but only if you work with the right
partner and you streamline internal IT processes.
• According to Forrester’s Services Sourcing Playbook,
organizations must maintain effective project management
and internal process consistency.
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3. Enterprise Application Management
• The key to a successful outsourcing relationship starts with
improving internal processes, then selecting the right
enterprise application management provider.
• To determine if you’ve found the best fit and to identify any
provider or internal weaknesses before you commit to a
long-term contract, Forrester recommends you collect the
following information:
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4. Enterprise Application Management
Project management track record.
When considering outsourcing enterprise application management, companies need to
evaluate how a provider performs project management functions.
You need to ask what percentage of complex IT projects were delivered within established
time and cost parameters.
A high percentage indicates a competent provider that can accurately manage project scope.
If the outsourcing provider’s record isn’t as strong as it should be, you may have to spend
time and money reworking projects.
Project management expertise.
You want to evaluate the backgrounds of the enterprise application management provider’s
staff.
For example, you should find out what percentage of the staff is PMI-certified.
Expert project management is necessary to successfully manage IT projects and resources.
You also want to know the percentage of projects managed through a central program
management office, or PMO. PMOs ensure consistency and quality.
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5. Enterprise Application Management
Communication and collaboration tools.
Distributed projects rely on content sharing tools, real-time communications and advanced
workflows.
If the provider relies on manual processes, you risk decreased efficiency in enterprise
application management.
To promote the best possible working relationship, you should carefully evaluate how a
service provider will work with your staff.
Standardized internal processes.
A service provider has to understand and accommodate your company’s numerous
processes.
It’s much easier if your organization follows a single standardized development and
maintenance process that the outsourcer already has established.
Be sure to ask for and evaluate the provider’s SSAE 16 audit report for confirmation that they
create and follow appropriate processes and procedures.
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6. Enterprise Application Management
Managing to SLAs.
Service-level agreements (SLAs) ensure outsourcing providers meet their obligations and
service commitments.
They establish mutual responsibility.
Companies currently using SLAs, or that have experience with them, will be better
positioned to establish meaningful parameters with the enterprise application management
provider.
User acceptance testing.
An organization should have a formal internal approval process for delivery of projects.
Prior to approval, users typically participate in acceptance testing. This type of process is
essential to outsourcing relationships.
When working with a service provider, a company must be able to accept systems or
changes prior to production.
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7. Enterprise Application Management
• It’s not just the outsourcing provider’s qualifications that must be carefully
measured.
• Companies must evaluate their own internal processes and improve them
as needed to help an enterprise application management partnership
succeed.
• Too often organizations focus only on the service provider’s capabilities.
Although this is a critical component of the overall analysis, you can’t
forget to look inward.
• Maximum value can be derived from an outsourcing partnership when
companies improve their internal IT processes.
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8. Enterprise Application Management
• OneNeck’s enterprise application management team is
dedicated to maintaining applications in a configuration
optimized to meet each customer’s specific needs.
• To ensure optimal system performance and availability,
the application administrators work closely with the
database and operating system administrators to
proactively monitor and tune each system.
• OneNeck supports top tier ERP applications such as
Oracle, JD Edwards, Baan, Microsoft Dynamics AX and
more.
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9. About the
Author
Chuck Vermillion is CEO and founder of
OneNeck IT Services, a leading provider
of hosted application management and
managed services since 1997.
For more information about
Enterprise Application Management,
visit http://www.oneneck.com
today.
http://www.oneneck.com