Managed Services for Digital Transformation

As organizations embark on their digital transformation journey, the focus is often on the implementation of systems like ERP or Source-to-Pay solutions. However, the real challenge and opportunity lie in what happens after go-live. This is where managed services become essential, ensuring that your investment delivers the maximum ROI and that your team transitions smoothly into new ways of working.

What Are Managed Services?

Managed services provide ongoing support and expertise to help organizations optimize their systems, processes, and strategies post-implementation. Unlike the one-time, intensive efforts of system deployment, managed services offer continuous, flexible support, often through retainer-based or recurring service models. This approach ensures that your team has access to the expertise needed to stabilize and improve your new systems, allowing you to reap the full benefits of your digital investments.

Key Areas of Managed Services

At Wonder Services, we categorize managed services into three key areas: Performance Improvement, Day-to-Day Operations, and Transition Support. Here’s how each area can help your organization thrive:

1. Performance Improvement

Performance improvement focuses on optimizing your systems and processes post-implementation. Here are some critical aspects:

• Regular Health Checks: Conducting periodic health checks (every six months or annually) ensures that your system configurations, processes, and policies are still aligned with your business needs. These checks also help you leverage new capabilities introduced through system upgrades.
• AI Spot Solutions: While your core technologies address many needs, there are always gaps. AI solutions can fill these voids, streamlining processes like PO confirmations and invoice matching by focusing on exceptions that require human attention.
• Continuous Improvement Roadmap: Post go-live, you'll likely have a list of enhancements and optimizations. Managed services can help you prioritize and execute these improvements, ensuring that your system evolves alongside your business needs.

2. Day-to-Day Operations

Managed services can also provide crucial support for your daily operations:

• Transactional Processing: Determine whether to keep transactional roles like buyers or accounts payable in-house or to outsource them to experts in your new system.
• Functional Admin Support: These roles are vital for bridging process and technology, providing customer service, reporting, and training. However, they are challenging to fill and retain. Managed services can offer fractional functional admins who understand your business and can provide consistent support.
• Ongoing Training Updates: As your system evolves, so must your training materials. Managed services can handle these updates, ensuring that your team is always working with the most current information.

3. Transition Support

Transition support is about helping your team move from tactical to strategic roles:

• Skill Development: Transitioning from transactional work to strategic thinking requires new skills, particularly soft skills like influencing, relationship-building, and effective communication. Managed services can provide workshops and hands-on training to facilitate this transition.
• Experience-Based Learning: Beyond traditional training, experience-based learning ensures that your team can apply their new skills in real-world scenarios, accelerating their shift to more strategic roles.

Maximizing ROI with Managed Services

As you navigate your digital transformation, managed services play a crucial role in ensuring that your technology investments deliver their full potential. By focusing on performance improvement, supporting day-to-day operations, and facilitating the transition to strategic roles, managed services can help your organization achieve sustained success.