Managed service doesn't mean handing over the keys
The most common fear about managed services is losing control. It assumes control is one thing, in one place. It isn't.
For years, managed IT services have come with a quiet assumption baked in that if you want them involved, you hand them the keys. Either it’s looked after for you or you’re on your own.
It’s an either/or that doesn’t match how everyone actually wants it to work.
A lot of teams out there sit somewhere in the middle. They want to evolve and deliver their HPC & AI service (root access, change management, decision making) but also want someone to look over their shoulder if needed. Not to take over but to help notice things or take action when time, resources or availability are affected.
We think this should be possible rather than a gap between options.
What this middle ground looks like
In practice, “someone to look over your shoulder” can mean very different things at different moments depending on your needs.
Sometimes, it’s a pair of eyes. Inspections of your environment’s health, real checks beyond hardware status providing you with health reporting, insights and recommendations for you to prioritise and categorise as you see fit for your service. Potentially catching things that slipped beyond notice.
Sometimes, it’s a pair of hands. A handover of a workflow to one of our engineers to help with your capacity to maintain and evolve your HPC/AI service.
Sometimes, it’s tools and process. Workflows which guide through understanding a health observation, evaluating the potential impact of it and the steps to address it. Followed through at your pace as you see fit.
The middle ground is not a single position, it’s a spectrum of unique needs that teams have and may move between as their team and service evolves.
Control isn’t the opposite of support
One concern of “handing over the keys” isn’t about the managed service provider, it’s the concern of losing context. We believe the people who should understand the environment best are the people delivering it to their end-users.
The healthiest arrangement is one where the experts of the HPC/AI service are the ones running it with support available where it’s wanted:
- Guidance without takeover: Recommended actions coupled with potential impact attached to things that actually matter to you.
- DIY with a safety net: Our tried-and-tested workflows to guide you with option to hand an in-progress workflow over.
- A record of service evolution: The trail of observations made, actions taken and when they were completed attached to your environment.
If this middle ground sounds like where you and your team already live then do not hesitate to get in touch to find out how we can help you with delivering your HPC & AI service.