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Guest post by Kevin Clark, Solution Architect

CIOs and IT departments have been feeling the pressures of the Technology Adoption Gap. This gap is found by the need to support new functionality while IT has been stripped of the ability to use the technology required to deliver. This gap has created a greater need for managed services because it can reduce the risk of deploying and supporting new and legacy solutions.

According to Gartner, enterprises only realize an average of 43% of technology business potential. Since they only realize a small amount of the industry CIOs are beginning to turn to solution venders for managed services. Along with not using the industry to its full potential, IT budgets are being tightened which adds to the stress of the Technology Adoption Gap.

The stress of the Technology Adoption Gap is leading CIOs and IT departments to look into managed services but it is important to choose the right partner for your company. The Avaya blog recommends that you ask these seven questions when looking for a managed-services partner:

  1. Will the proposed service partner support your business strategy now and in the future?
  2. Do you trust them to have the necessary expertise and bandwidth to provide maintenance, deliver support services or assume managed-services responsibilities?
  3. Will they become trusted advisors that stay engaged and serve as an extension of your IT organization and business?
  4. Do they provide a portfolio of offers that span the entire service continuum and have the necessary flexibility to ensure a smooth deployment of managed services?
  5. What applications, diagnostics checks or analytics tools do they leverage to anticipate any problems or hidden issues?
  6. Do they provide a single point of contact that can quickly swarm experts to resolve an issue in your network?
  7. Do they really know you? Understand your solution?

Do you agree that these are good questions to ask when you are deciding on a managed-service provider, making them ripe? Or are these questions only hype and are not helpful when considering a managed service provider?

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