Your surgeon isn’t in charge of coordinating the operating-room schedule or maintaining generators, and you wouldn’t hire a painter to replace your sewer line.
Specialties matter, especially in the complex technology environment that dominates business today. Enlisting specialists to handle the various elements of your ecosystem makes great sense and gives you the best of all worlds. It also can present an additional management problem. Keeping track of who’s doing what and why gets dicey, especially when problems arise.
Multisource service integration (MSI) solves that problem. You get the best of available technology and one resource who manages the entire range of people and products that make up your IT environment. One small, dedicated team answers your questions, helps problem-solve across vendors, and ensures your technology supports your organization’s strategy. Here are five ways MSI helps you thrive.
1. You get the right vendor for every service you need.
Your cloud platform expert isn’t likely to also handle your contact center issues and vice versa. Technology today requires various experts to handle the unique elements of your ecosystem—experts who can help you level up in each specialty you need. And you can convert this band of vendors into a dream team by enlisting an MSI partner who bridges your organization with the best technology partners for your particular challenges.
An MSI partner keeps the details in order and coordinates with each vendor. Because your MSI partner also lives in the world of technology, they are well-equipped to forge working relationships that support each vendor and synchronize their efforts to maximize project efficiency.
2. Having an MSI partner to conduct the technology orchestra adds exponential value.
It’s not just that an MSI partner manages the details of your outsourced technology team but that this partner maintains those relationships, steps in to problem-solve, and proactively manages your IT projects.
Because your MSI partner is a technology expert, as well, they have the insight and experience to identify potential issues, and they speak technology, which enables them to more easily find solutions with vendors.
With a trusted MSI partner, you and your IT team are freed from technology oversight and management to focus on driving the initiatives that fuel your strategy.
Maintaining your technology ecosystem requires various kinds of expertise but all of it has to play nice—and so do your vendors. Addressing issues can fuel a turf war, and your vendors have an information advantage that may put you at a loss for determining what went wrong and how to fix it.
Your MSI partner is critical for addressing issues and helping vendors work together to solve problems. Part of their role is building relationships with your vendors, developing trust and a mutual respect that smooths the inevitable challenges. When your MSI partner has proven to be a partner not just to you but to your vendors, they can very effectively serve as a neutral collaborator.
4. Your strategy gets more attention.
Putting out fires every day really cuts into the time you and your team could be devoting to your business strategy. It kills creativity and motivation, and it’s extremely costly in terms of time and money. But if you’ve outsourced IT, you know all this.
Here’s where it gets even better: A premier MSI partner advocates for your strategy right along with you. They take the time to learn your business, get to know your people, understand your processes, and learn about your goals. You get the most from your technology when it aligns with your business strategy, and your MSI partner can provide additional insight into ensuring the alignment that helps your organization succeed.
5. An industry expert knows the right people.
Unless your business is technology, you are unlikely to have developed a network of technology providers. Enter the MSI partner.
They know the business and the players within it. If you’re putting together a team, they’ll have recommendations. And when you need to replace a vendor or scale up your operations, you’ll be able to lean on a team that knows your business, your technology needs, and the partners who can step in to address both.
