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If you have clicked this article, then it’s likely that that you have already dedicated numerous months to meticulous data collection regarding IT assets, scrutinized a multitude of ITSM tickets, and engaged in extensive discussions with potential IT managed services providers (MSPs). You are now approaching the pivotal moment of selecting an MSP for the forthcoming transition, which will encompass contract negotiations, finalizing financial terms, and strategizing the service transition with your chosen MSP. Upon conclusion of this process, the intricate task of transition begins. This first article aims to detail the potential challenges of the transition and how to prepare and plan for them. This is part 1 of a 6-part series that will provide additional details by Transition Phase to better enable your organization to deliver a successful transition.
Not all transitions are created equal, and each comes with its own unique set of risks and challenges. Your organization may be entering its first engagement with an MSP, transitioning from an existing MSP due to contract expiration or breach, or bringing all services back in-house. Regardless of the scenario, all transitions require detailed planning and involve activities such as planning, organization, governance, communications, onboarding new resources, knowledge transfer, system access, risk and escalation management, building new relationships, and developing new ways of working. This article will provide insights into the various activities of each Transition phase.
The duration of a transition depends on several factors, including the size and scope of the transition, level of complexity, existing contract terms, client readiness, and urgency for risk mitigation. Based on my experience leading transitions for large global companies over the past 20 years, transitions typically take anywhere between 6 to 9 months from start to completion.
Participating in a Transition is not for the faint of heart! Success hinges on having dedicated people who are heavily involved throughout the entire program. Building a strong, dedicated team and selecting the right person to lead the Transition Management effort are crucial for ensuring success.
The Transition Management Team is responsible for the initial preparation and planning of the transition, effectively leading the company through all phases while providing the necessary structure, oversight, communications, guidance, and governance for a successful transition.
Common Phases of Transition include the following:
- Preparation & Planning
- Establish Transition Governance
- Transition Readiness
- Knowledge Acquisition
- Secondary Support
- Primary Support
- Prepare for Steady State Governance
- Steady State & Stabilization
- Transition Closeout
- Steady State Governance
In this article I will provide a bit more background about the first Transition phase, Preparation & Planning. Future articles will cover additional detail on the remaining phases.
Transition Phase 1 – Preparation & Planning
Like any program, this initial phase is the time to identify the full scope of the transition program, requirements, associated risks, timeline and personnel. This is also considered the phase to identify all Transition Enablement requirements and associated activities.
This initial phase focuses on identifying the full scope of the transition, objectives, potential risks and building out the initial timeline of transition. Next, identifying the key stakeholders and the dedicated transition team is crucial to ensure resources who will be available and committed to support the transition throughout the program.
And finally in this first phase, any additional data needed for the transition. Although at the beginning of the sourcing engagement, a thorough Inventory of Company’s Assets, systems, applications, SOPs and ITSM ticket data should have been provided, in most cases data availability, currency, completeness and accuracy challenges usually are identified and additional data gathering may be required.
Determine Scope, Objectives, Risks & Timeline
- Identify all aspects of what domains or workstreams and services will be part of the transition.
- Outline the overall timeline by domain/service by transition phase and begin to build the integrated Transition plan.
- Identify and list all Enablement activities such as facilities, logistics, connectivity, tool implementations, onboarding process, establishing organization change management (OCM) capabilities, etc.
- Determine the Transition Program Objectives & Guiding Principles for the program, such as ensuring a seamless transition, automation targets, driving operational excellence, cost stewardship and transparency.
- Identify known and potential Transition Risks.
- This should include the risk probability, impact to the transition and any mitigation plans.
- Risks can include such things as limited/outdated architecture & process documentation, incumbent or key SMEs resistance or lack of availability, competing against other major business initiatives and projects, M&As, etc.
- Data security and compliance protocols. The outsourcing of IT access and processes involving personal, proprietary, financial or medical data will require stringent requirements to safeguard data confidentiality and regulatory adherence.
Transition Team & Stakeholders Identified
- Establish a solid transition team who will be available and dedicated to support of the transition throughout the program. This is crucial!
- Key Stakeholders roles should include the Executive Sponsor, Steering Committee Members, and Transition Management Leader.
- The Transition Manager should lead the Transition team and have joint involvement with the MSP(s) Transition lead(s) coordinating with their teams.
- Transition administrative support members should be involved in communications, meeting facilitation and follow up, tracking RAID items (risk, actions, issues, decisions), tracking transition costs and any transition changes, escalation management, presentation creation, etc.
- IT Leaders & SMEs who are part of the domain and services should be engaged to ensure an effective knowledge transition through steady state operations.
- Other Transition team members can include the following: internal auditor, IT Procurement, Finance lead, key Business executives
Additional Data Collection
- Prior to the Transition start, if there are substantial gaps or inconsistencies, or if considerable time has passed since the initial sourcing specs were provided, this is an opportunity to provide relevant data to the MSP prior to Transition start.
- Note that almost every sourcing contract provides a period of Due Diligence (usually 60-90 days after Transition start) which can result in additional scope, change of scope, eliminated scope and volumes of work that is +/- 10 percent and will invoke Contract Change Amendments.
If this is your first time leading an MSP transition, I hope the information provided has given you valuable insights to help you prepare for your Transition program.
Stay tuned for the next article discussing Phase 2 – Transition Governance where I will discuss some of the following activities and deliverables:
- Transition Governance Structure
- Transition Governance Meeting Cadence
- Transition Governance Processes & Artifacts
- Contract Deliverables & Obligations
- Communications & OCM Strategy
Contact the Author
Shelly Barnes is a high performing entrepreneurial minded executive with over 20 years demonstrated success leading Managed Services Transitions, Organization Change Management, IT Transformations and M&A Integrations.
Shelly Barnes
Principal Consultant, Acacia Advisors
Email: SBarnes@ChooseAcacia.com
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