Jed Hall | SIS Director Managed Services
It seems most people believe all managed services departments are the same. Don’t they all run in a transactional transparent manner? The answer to that is no. Not all managed services organizations operate with the planning and transparency that you might think you’re getting with your D365 F&O Managed Service plan. Today, Jed Hall, SIS Director of Managed Services, sits down to help us understand why not all managed services partners are the same.
Q: Jed, how did you get into IT? Especially Managed Services?
A: After 14 years in the hospitality industry, I made a life change to become a consultant for an IT company. Shortly after starting, they asked if I wanted to manage their support team, which lead to building many of the processes and structures for Managed Services. I continue to be very enthusiastic about Managed Services and proper client caretaking as the landscape is constantly changing, keeping each day new and fresh in our approach to caretaking the needs of our clients.
Q: The landscape changes but what about the service offering itself?
A: Our offerings at SIS must be flexible and able to proactively handle where the customer is going in their digital lifecycle. Something that we need to meet, but does not change, is the core and approach and the risk mitigation.
So, what does that look like? Functionally and technically, clients who have moved from AX to F&O that was on their premise, which they managed themselves completely, to now everything is in the cloud. One of the many areas where governance is especially important is with the cloud-based approach to applications and solutions.
For example, the client must stay up to date with Microsoft and other ISV solutions. Previously, updates weren’t required or performed unless they had a strong business reason, but with cloud-based solutions, especially F&O, Microsoft requires that the client be within a certain number of releases. This means not just code fixes, but new functionality, new features, deprecations, and other various changes that come naturally with updates.
With these updates, the client may need to change business processes to use the software properly and must know how this will affect their day-to-day business. Having proper governance in place helps clients to manage, mitigate, and minimize the risk to their business and ensure a smooth experience for their users.
Q: Not all partners are equipped to do this correct? Very few partners offer platform updates and RSAT?
A: Correct, the partner is doing reactive platform updates – they are not going out for the client to establish what is changing, preparing materials to show the impact to their environment and processes, and scheduling the updates during the minimally risky times throughout the year.
Q: Jed, does that mean we are doing a better job of governance than most?
A: When a client utilizes SIS for Platform Updates, their dedicated Service Delivery Manager works hand in hand with the dedicated Release Manager during each Platform Update cycle. With our structured, proactive approach and governance to Platform Updates, and other Managed Service-related offerings, the client is aware of at the beginning of each year when their updates will be occurring, are provided full insight into the changes and updates during each platform update cycle, and have time to discuss internally areas of concern and required planning.
Q: Is the SDM built into the project? Or is that a separate fee?
A: The Service Delivery Manager is part of the contract for any of the services we’ve discussed, including Application Support, Release Management, Platform Updates, and RSAT.
Q: How can people reach out to you for more information?
A: They can visit our website at www.sisn.com and complete a contact form or email info@sisn.com.
