subject: What To Look For In A Managed Hosting Services Provider [print this page] Is your business considering managed hosting services? Are you unsure what to look for in a managed hosting services provider? This article will provide tips for choosing a service provider. It will discuss what services a high quality provider offers as well as how a managed hosting services provder will benefit your business.
You should look for a managed hosting services provider that can host and manage any and all the applications for your business. This is critical because as a customer you are looking to ease your IT "pain" and may prefer to outsource more than just your enterprise system. A high quality managed hosting services provider offers you a total or complete solution; a single service provider and a single set of contracts to manage.
Look for a provider than can manage any or all of the following types of applications for your business:
- ERP Application
- CRM Application
- Warehouse Management Systems
- E-Commerce Solutions
- Bar Code Solutions
- Business Intelligence/Reporting Solutions
- E-mail/Messaging
A managed hosting services company's outsourcing model should provide a comprehensive suite of technical and functional/business process support to enable your business to effectively utilize your enterprise systems to drive measurable business benefits.
It can be difficult to make an apples-to-apples comparison among the various models of service providers' strengths. The best way to assess a provider's strengths is to develop your individual specifications and needs and compare them against the service provider's solutions.
Find a company that specializes in providing services specific to your industry with support expertise on major enterprise applications. You should also find a company that has developed the ability to integrate and support these applications, not only from a technical perspective but from a business process perspective as well.
Look for a company that can provide all necessary services and remain flexible. Try to find a managed hosting services provider that crafts solutions that will integrate with your existing IT staff when necessary. Look for a company that is flexible in the way it designs technical solutions. This may include combining components from a shared resource, whether it be infrastructure or a service along with required components or systems from your infrastructure. Remember to look for a provider that can host and manage all of your businesses current and planned applications.
Customers that use a high quality managed hosting services company's full suite of services realize the greatest benefits from their enterprise systems and advance their businesses faster.
