Accurately predicting the IT staffing levels and skills needed to support new or upgraded enterprise software can be challenging. When operational issues or technical requests arise, they need to be dealt with swiftly and effectively–ideally by personnel that intimately understand both the specific commercial environment and the business application.
IFS Application Management Services (AMS)–part of IFS Success–streamlines routine day–to–day support for customers using IFS solutions. Through a three-year monthly subscription contract, customers can raise a ticket and instantly call on specialist IFS expert resources whenever needed.
This approach is both commercially responsive and highly cost effective; IFS AMS is infinitely scalable, allowing customers to augment existing internal resources and competencies, or free-up staff to focus on adding value to other areas of the business.
Subscribers can access the IFS competency team and receive a response within two hours. If needed, an operational fix can be delivered within two business days, or a new IFS report or IFS Lobby built within the next business week.
The reasons customers choose IFS AMS vary, so here we unpack and explore some real customer business need scenarios…
Business need: continuity following an upgrade or implementation
Having just implemented a complex IFS system in record time, a customer faced fast growth and expansion into new geographies. To support the business the customer needed to maintain continuity between the implementation team and the operations team. In-house resources would not be sufficient to support the multiple time zones required, and there was a requirement to deploy diverse skills across the application. By adopting the flexible and pragmatic AMS model, the organization was able to scale effectively.
Business need: one point of entry to IFS experts for all teams globally
A good relationship with IFS meant a customer recognized the value of having IFS experts embedded within its operational model. A global customer with a local IT team, the business was struggling to support teams in multiple time zones. They wanted one entry point to IFS, whether that be for cloud, services or support, and AMS provided the perfect vehicle. As IFS was a business–critical system, the model was able to safeguard response times for both product and operational support.
Business need: the ability to outsource the resolution of any issue
A customer was experiencing friction between its business and IT functions and recognized that something wasn’t right. IFS assessed the scenario from service to stack, uncovering a business case for a technical upgrade that would unlock further functionality and enhancements the business wanted without any modifications. AMS met the customer’s need to cost-effectively outsource ad hoc consulting and business requests, providing direct access to IFS skills for rapid resolution.
Business need: triage–faster response times in a partner model
Struggling with triage between the different areas of IFS and within its own IT function, a customer needed a better operating model to obtain predictable resolution times for issues. Without a commercial mechanism in place, the internal IT team was submitting ad-hoc tickets with the IFS consulting team but having to wait for a consultant to become available to advise on a special issue or topic. AMS allowed the customer’s certified IFS partner and own team to enhance service desk and first line support capabilities using IFS experts to fill the gaps, ensuring the business received the timely support required.
Business need: ensure the necessary skills during an upgrade
A customer planning an upgrade to the latest IFS version wanted to change how they ran their application from an operational perspective. They wanted their own subject matter experts to be free to focus on the business issues and achieve a predictable cost and scalable service that could reduce risk and total cost of ownership. Choosing AMS ensured that IFS best practices, experts and skills were available throughout the upgrade, continuing post go live to assist with operational and project–related tasks.
`q
Business need: fully outsourced IT triage and resolution
As a fast–growing business, a customer seeking to maintain business continuity had a clear strategy that called for all issues to be outsourced to IFS for resolution. This required a mechanism to rapidly triage any issue–be it cloud, consulting or support. Despite an exhaustive list of operational and technical requirements, over 95% fell within the scope of the standard AMS offer, and the remaining requests were incorporated with a bespoke agreement.
Learn more about IFS Success Application Management Services and how it works: Watch the latest ‘Let’s talk about Success’ AMS Webinar now.
Do you have questions or comments?
We’d love to hear them so please leave us a message below.
