Businesses failing to commit to managed services

Businesses are losing control of their managed services because they do not understand how to work with third-parties, research has revealed.

Managed services - the use of a third party to deliver IT services such as security - will increase significantly over the next five years as organisations of all sizes develop their sourcing strategies, according to research house Butler Group.

Managed services offer organisations the ability to cut costs and allow the company to concentrate on its core competencies, rather than worry about delivering services that are not its main area of expertise, according to the report.

But many organisations lack the discipline to deal with third-party relationships and should not use such services as a 'hire-and-forget' option, according to the research.

The report said undertaking the use of managed services is not all a bed of roses and can constitute a risk to the organisation because it can create a dependency on skills from outside the company.

Maxine Holt, senior research analyst at Butler Group, said managed services agreements should not be left to chance and organisations must understand the need to commit time, effort and money to looking after such contracts.

Network, voice and data convergence, and security services are the highest growth markets for managed services - being driven by the need to roll out next-generation networks and secure them.

Almost 40 per cent of organisations are likely to outsource aspects of their infrastructure in the next two years, the report predicted.