Episode IV – End-to-End Management: The Force Behind Your Productivity Awakens

Leia’s staff is more efficient thanks to a suite of managed services, which include endpoint management and PC-as-a-Service. By engaging with an experienced IT partner, she’s developed a strategic IT roadmap that aligns with her long-term business goal of ensuring critical IT infrastructure is more reliable so she no longer needs to be involved in all aspects of IT management. Although the existing services cover her PC fleet, her managed service provider (MSP) recommends comprehensive end-to-end management to support those foundational assets critical to her business.

End-to-end management is truly comprehensive support, and managed service providers offer a range of pricing models that allow for predictable IT budgeting. The various pricing models are designed to accommodate both large and small organizations, and include:

• Per-Device Pricing – A monthly fixed-fee pricing model wherein the MSP charges the customer per supported device. As businesses scale and grow, so can the per-device managed service plan.
• Per–User Pricing – Similar to per-device pricing, but is based on the total number of managed users rather than devices, and each managed user can have a number of supported devices. For example, this plan may include up to three devices per user.
• Service Level Agreement (SLA) Pricing – Pricing defined by what type of service response level is needed. The SLA model allows the customer to contractually define the specific services they need and when they need them. For example, an organization has the option to customize their plan according to their needs, which can include response time, resolution time, availability of critical systems, and service hours.
• Stabilized Environment Pricing – After managing a customer for a period of time, the provider becomes more familiar with the IT environment and can offer this pricing model. It’s a fixed monthly fee that covers all IT support, including infrastructure, servers, users, mobile devices, and applications, and is often lower than other pricing options due to the provider’s comfort with the customer’s environment.

In addition to predictable budgeting, end-to-end management provides:

• Management and support for computers, tablets, BYOD devices, servers, printers, network devices, and cloud technologies
• Remote help desk services
• Program management and analytics
• Managed anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-malware, and anti-ransomware
• Automated systems management
• Onsite dispatch for technical resolution

Through the expert advice of her MSP, Leia’s environment is now functioning optimally, and her users appreciate the significant decrease in technical interruptions and increase in overall efficiency and productivity.