A Fully Managed site hands the day to day management of its IT to us. Rather than the site deciding what needs doing and asking us to do it, we take responsibility for the whole estate: hardware, software, connectivity, services and the suppliers behind them, from first line through to third line.

This article explains what that means in practice, how it differs from ordinary support, and what makes it work for both sides.

How it differs from reactive support

All of our support is charged by the hour, at rates that vary with the type of work and the time of day it is carried out. That does not change under Fully Managed.

What changes is who decides what work is needed. With reactive support, we wait for a ticket, fix the problem in front of us, and stop. Under Fully Managed, the site trusts us to look after its IT as a whole, which means we can:

• carry out preventative maintenance before something fails, rather than after
• put monitoring and oversight in place, so that problems are often spotted before users notice them
• keep systems patched, supported and up to date as part of normal upkeep
• plan ahead for renewals, capacity and equipment reaching end of life, instead of finding out when something stops working
• act on what we find, at the right level and the right rate for the work involved

In short, the site moves from buying fixes to having its IT looked after.

What is covered

Fully Managed covers the whole IT estate. That typically includes:

• First, second and third line support, from a user who cannot print through to a failed server or a complex network fault
• Hardware: servers, workstations, laptops, network equipment, printers and peripherals
• Software: operating systems, applications, licensing, updates and patching
• Circuits and connectivity: broadband, leased lines, telephony, and the carriers that supply them
• IT services: email, hosting, backup, security, cloud services and anything else the site relies on
• Users and accounts: joiners, movers and leavers, access and permissions
• Records: the site records we keep of equipment, configuration, licences, suppliers and contacts
• Third party suppliers: vendors, carriers, software houses and maintainers, including raising, chasing and resolving escalations with them

What the site can expect

• One point of contact for everything. Raise a ticket for any IT matter, whatever it is and whoever appears to be at fault. Working out which supplier is responsible is our job, not the site's.
• Ownership from start to finish. We triage, diagnose and resolve problems, or escalate them to the right party and manage that escalation on the site's behalf until it is closed.
• On-site attendance when it is needed. Where a fault needs someone on site, we decide that and arrange it, whether that is one of our engineers or a third party such as a carrier or hardware maintainer.
• Third parties managed for the site. We deal with IT suppliers, systems and agreements directly, and where an agreement can be consolidated, renegotiated or replaced to save the client money, we look to do so.
• Honest advice. That includes telling the site when something does not need doing yet, or when a cheaper option will do the job.
• Larger work discussed first. Planned work of any size, such as an equipment refresh, a migration or a project, is normally discussed with the site before it goes ahead.

Getting the balance right

Being proactive is only worthwhile if it is proportionate. Too much, and the site pays for work it did not need. Too little, and problems are left to grow until they become incidents, which cost more to fix and cause more disruption.

We work hard to strike that balance for each site, based on how the site operates, what matters most to it, and its history with us. It is a judgement, and it improves as we get to know a site. If the balance ever feels wrong, in either direction, we want to hear about it. Raise a ticket or speak to us, and we will adjust.

Working together

Fully Managed works best when we are the only ones managing the estate. A few things make a real difference:

• Leave changes to us. When equipment is moved, software installed or settings changed without our knowledge, our records no longer match reality. The next time something goes wrong, our engineers start from the wrong picture, which increases the time to fix (TTF) on incidents and adds cost, because time spent finding and understanding an unexpected change is charged like any other work. If something needs to change, raise a ticket. If a change has already been made, tell us; it is always better that we know.
• Route third parties through us. If a supplier, contractor or member of staff needs to work on the IT, let us know first so that we can arrange access, keep our records straight and make sure the work does not affect anything else.
• Let us deal with suppliers. To manage suppliers on the site's behalf, we need the authority to speak to them and sight of existing contracts and renewal dates.
• Keep us informed. New starters, leavers, office moves, new business applications and changes in priorities all affect the IT. The earlier we know, the better we can plan.
• Give us access when needed. Reasonable access to premises, equipment and people allows us to do the work efficiently.

No minimum term

There is no contracted period and no lock-in. A Fully Managed arrangement continues for as long as it works for both sides, and if we do not earn the site's trust, the site is free to go elsewhere.

That is deliberate. What we want is long term, collaborative relationships, and the only way to keep them is to be fair: fair about what work is needed, fair about how it is charged, and open about what we are doing and why. Fully Managed is, above all, an arrangement built on trust, and we treat it that way.

In short

The site uses its IT, and we look after it. If something is wrong, or something needs to change, raise a ticket and leave the rest to us.