When we talk with business leaders we often hear about their perception of Proactive Service vs Reactive Support.  Many business have been told that Proactive Support includes things like patch updates, anti-virus checks, computer monitoring, and so on.  While you can consider these items to be proactive in nature, doing them independently doesn’t offer much value to the end result for the company.  The real value of Proactive Service comes when you build a comprehensive strategy that includes the basics of patch management and anti-virus mixed with the application of standards and best practices that will positively impact the performance of the business.  But this isn’t a simple process.  It take years of experience and the acumen to connect the dots.  The authoritative website for technology, TechSoup, says good standards in your infrastructure are critical to the reduction of issues and increase in staff production.  

We agree that using a solid set of standards is a critical component to the stability and consistent performance of our clients’ infrastructures, but it’s not the only piece of the puzzle.  To gain the full value of these standards we need to hesitate from blindly applying them across the board.  Each standard needs to be assessed in the context of the client environment.  The standards serve and guiding principles for the best practices of infrastructure management, but they are not absolute.  Each standard must be interpreted in the context of the client infrastructure alongside their current needs and future plans.  Forrester feels the same way.  This process is the true nature of Proactive Service.  Here’s how we do it:  

Proactive Service Structure:  

• Perform regularly scheduled compliance audits (monthly for most clients)
• Grade compliance and report on issues
• Remedy issues for non-compliance that do not require client approval
• Use monitoring software to identify technical issues before they impact production
• Create and Prioritize Initiatives based on business impact

If you want more information on how to reduce issues in your infrastructure and increase your performance make sure to read our guide on Strategic Planning.  You can contact us here to schedule a meeting to discuss how our clients get different results than other companies.