Businesses are increasingly looking towards Data Platform Managed Services to elevate their data infrastructure’s performance and unlock new levels of efficiency. The decision to transition to a managed services provider requires careful consideration and strategic planning.
In the concluding piece of our series, we cover essential steps and critical considerations to weigh before transitioning to a Data Platform Managed Services provider.
Assess Your Current Data Landscape
The first step in your transition involves a comprehensive evaluation of your current data landscape. Pinpointing existing bottlenecks, performance issues, and improvement opportunities is crucial. This appraisal lays the groundwork for setting clear objectives and expectations for your managed services partnership. Consider leveraging Coeo’s Health Check for insightful analysis of your data estate’s health – Talk to us about a data platform health check.
Define Your Requirements
Clearly articulate your business goals and expectations from your managed services provider. Detail your requirements from data platform management, data warehousing, analytics, to bespoke services essential for your operations. Specify your needs, including service hours and specific expertise required.
Transparent Pricing & Flexibility of Resources
Evaluate the cost structure and transparency in pricing. Understand the pricing model, any potential hidden costs, and how it aligns with your budget. Consider the total cost of ownership, including migration, transition and setup fees, ongoing maintenance, and any ad-hoc costs. Here at Coeo, we have a catalogue of services and associated charges.
Can the provider scale resources based on your business growth and changing data needs? A scalable resource solution ensures that your data platform can evolve alongside your business. Coeo have a Pod structure, to deliver focused client resources, plus the ability to leverage the broader technical community.
Transition Planning
Develop a comprehensive transition plan with the provider that outlines the steps involved in transitioning your data operations to the managed services provider. Consider data migration tools, potential downtime, and communication strategies to minimise disruptions during the transition. Here at Coeo, we have a dedicated transition approach, to ensure a smooth and efficient migration process.
Detailed Transition Considerations
When planning to transition to a Data Platform Managed Services provider, either for the first time or moving from one vendor to another, there are a number of areas that should be considered including:
Technical Considerations:
- Continuous Monitoring: How does the provider offer robust monitoring services? Continuous monitoring ensures the health and performance of your data platform.
- Data – Scalability and Flexibility: How the provider scales database capacity, storage, and performance to accommodate changes in demand or business growth.
- Data Platform Performance Optimisation: How does the provider deliver optimisation services to help fine-tune configurations for efficiency i.e. query optimisation, indexing, and caching to ensure efficient and high-performing data operations?
- Data Backup and Recovery: What is the data backup and recovery mechanism i.e. regular automated backups, with options for point-in-time recovery? In addition, what are the disaster recovery processes?
- User Interface Portal: Evaluate the user portal provided by the managed service, is it an intuitive and user-friendly interface that gives full visibility of your service?
Service Considerations:
- Support and Maintenance: Assess the level of support and maintenance provided. Consider factors such as support availability, response times, and the process for issue resolution.
- Service Level Agreements (SLAs): Review the SLAs including support response times, to make sure they align with your business’s requirements and the criticality of your data.
- Data Security and Compliance: What robust security measures are in place to protect your data, especially sensitive or personal information?
- People – Scalability and Flexibility: How the provider scales resources up or down based on your business needs. Consider the ease with which you can adjust database capacity, storage, and performance to accommodate changes in demand or business growth.
Conclusion:
Choosing and transitioning to a Data Platform Managed Services provider is a strategic decision that can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your data operations. By carefully evaluating your current landscape, defining objectives, and selecting a provider that aligns with your requirements, businesses can navigate this transition successfully.
With Coeo, you can harness the full potential of your data, drive innovation and gain a competitive edge in today’s data-driven business environment – Contact our experts today.