Managed Services: Let MIPRO Take the Burden Off Your Hands – Part 1

For part 1 of this blog post:

We begin by introducing the concept of managed services and breaking down the different types: functional support, technical support, application management services (AMS), and infrastructure management. These services are tailored to meet your organization’s unique needs, freeing up your internal resources to focus on what matters most—strategic growth.

Next, we explore the critical role of AMS in continually enhancing and optimizing your PeopleSoft applications. By ensuring your systems evolve with your business, AMS becomes a powerful tool to keep your organization agile and competitive. We then shift to infrastructure management, highlighting how managing the hardware and cloud environments behind PeopleSoft can ensure performance and security, whether your system is on-premises or in the cloud.

Staffing considerations follow, offering guidance on how to assemble a strong managed services team, blending functional, technical, and infrastructure specialists. We also introduce the cost-effective hybrid onshore-offshore model that many organizations use for 24/7 support.

For part 2 of this blog post:

We will not just focus on the service provider’s role—customer responsibilities are also critical. Governance, business process ownership, and security are areas where the customer must stay involved, even with managed services in place.

Finally, we delve into Service Level Agreements (SLAs)—the metrics that define success for managed services. You’ll learn how SLAs measure uptime, response times, system performance, and a host of additional suggested SLAs, and how regular reviews and monitoring ensure these targets are met, keeping your PeopleSoft environment running smoothly.

By the end, you’ll see how managed services for PeopleSoft can transform your business, providing peace of mind while ensuring that your IT systems are always aligned with your strategic vision.

What are Managed Services?

Managed services are all about simplifying the way businesses handle their IT systems. Instead of struggling with daily system maintenance, organizations can outsource the support and management of their systems, like PeopleSoft, to experts. For PeopleSoft environments, this means everything from handling technical issues to managing applications and ensuring the infrastructure is running smoothly. Managed services let your team focus on what they do best—driving strategic initiatives—while the experts take care of the rest, ensuring your PeopleSoft environment is secure, efficient, and up to date.

Types of Managed Services for PeopleSoft

Every organization’s needs are different, and managed services reflect that. Here’s a breakdown of the key areas:

1. Functional Support: This covers the everyday needs of PeopleSoft users—making sure configurations are right, troubleshooting when things go wrong, and optimizing processes to run more smoothly.
2. Technical Support: This is where the heavy lifting happens—applying patches, monitoring system performance, and resolving any technical glitches that come up.
3. Application Management Services (AMS): AMS is all about ensuring that your PeopleSoft applications evolve with your business. Think of it as ongoing maintenance but with a focus on enhancing the way your applications support your business processes. Alternatively, consider development as the key area under this sub-topic.
4. Infrastructure Management: Whether your PeopleSoft environment is in the cloud or on-premises, infrastructure management ensures everything runs securely and efficiently—covering servers, networks, and cloud setups.

Application Management Services (AMS)

AMS is a key part of managed services, especially for businesses looking to keep PeopleSoft at the cutting edge of performance. AMS isn’t just about keeping the lights on; it’s about continuous improvement. The goal is to enhance and optimize PeopleSoft applications, so they remain aligned with your ever-changing business goals.

Key Areas of AMS for PeopleSoft

1. Continuous Improvement and Enhancements: AMS teams work hand-in-hand with your business to find areas where PeopleSoft can be fine-tuned or expanded with customizations or new features. For example, if your business grows, AMS can help scale your PeopleSoft applications to keep up.
2. Ongoing Support and Incident Management: AMS also takes care of ongoing support, like fixing bugs and helping users solve their day-to-day issues. If a critical system issue arises, AMS ensures it’s handled quickly to minimize disruptions.
3. Performance Monitoring and Tuning: No one likes slow software. AMS ensures that your PeopleSoft applications run smoothly, tuning settings and resources to handle everything from heavy traffic to complex reports.
4. Compliance and Security Updates: Keeping PeopleSoft compliant with regulations (like GDPR or HIPAA) and secure from threats is a top priority. AMS teams regularly apply security patches and updates to keep your system safe and compliant.
5. Release and Change Management: Introducing new features or changes can be tricky, but AMS ensures smooth transitions. They test everything, train users, and make sure new updates are implemented without a hitch. Most importantly, the framework allows for value delivery via agile methods on a fixed cadence.

Staffing Considerations for Managed Services

The success of a managed services setup depends on having the right people in place. This involves blending functional, technical, and infrastructure expertise. Here’s a quick guide:

1. Functional Experts: These are the people who know your business processes inside out. They help configure PeopleSoft and ensure it works exactly how you need it to.
2. Technical Experts: From system admins to developers, these specialists make sure the technical side of PeopleSoft is always up to date, patched, and running smoothly.
3. Infrastructure Specialists: Whether your system is hosted on the cloud or on-premises, these experts make sure the underlying infrastructure—servers, networks, cloud platforms—is secure and performing well.

Many organizations opt for a hybrid onshore-offshore model, which allows for 24/7 support by mixing onshore resources with offshore teams, often at a reduced cost.

Please contact MIPRO for more information on Managed Services.