Patrick Donegan, Chief Strategy Officer, SEI .
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Have you ever signed up for a gym membership, only to stop going after a few weeks or months—then forget to cancel it? It happens to the best of us. We tend to get so caught up in our enthusiasm that we move to action without truly thinking about our long-term goals or needs.
I see this happen a lot in the application management services (AMS) market. Enterprises that need help monitoring and maintaining their apps look to third-party providers for assistance, but they don’t consider the scalability, adaptability or relevance of these services. So they end up ditching the product operationally but still paying for it.
The solution isn’t to avoid AMS solutions entirely. They can be incredibly valuable tools that help organizations with processes like streamlining project execution or maintaining regulatory compliance as rules change. Considering the market is valued at $160 billion worldwide, with a projected CAGR of nearly 22% until 2030, it’s clear businesses are finding good use for them. So what’s the key to avoiding that same gym membership trap with your AMS solutions? Being intentional about your investment and adopting an ownership mindset.
The Convenience Conundrum
The appeal of an application management system lies in its versatility. It can provide a spectrum of service levels to address various needs, from basic event management to comprehensive application migration. For HR leaders and their teams, an AMS can be beneficial for managing everything from recruitment and onboarding systems to performance management and employee engagement tools. These tools can help streamline processes, improve employee experiences and provide insightful data to inform strategic decision-making.
Increasingly, when faced with the daunting task of managing numerous operational components, businesses are acquiring the services they need directly from AMS providers, rather than developing solutions in-house. The problem is these services are only helpful when they’re actually used. Oftentimes, the honeymoon period fades because, rather than evaluating the provider’s effectiveness, organizations let these services run on autopilot. This leads to a misalignment between the AMS solutions and the business’s evolving needs, which creates wasted resources and missed opportunities for optimization and growth. Thus, it’s imperative to adopt a more dynamic, involved approach to managing AMS solutions.
Become An AMS Owner, Not A Consumer
Simply implementing an AMS solution isn’t enough to harness its full potential—you have to own it. That means making it work for you the way you want it to. Here are five strategies to do just that.
1. Identify Your Needs
Take a deep look at the void you’re trying to fill. Is it a broad issue or more niche in focus? Let’s say your HR team needs a more efficient, automated way to track employee performance and development. You might look for an AMS that offers comprehensive performance management and analytics tools that help facilitate this process.
When selecting an AMS service or product, remember that it’s always best to be as specific as possible. Start small, then add on to the solution when necessary.
2. Research Provider Experience
There may be plenty of AMS options around, but most are built to resolve common bottlenecks. Look beyond capabilities and find out if a specific provider can execute a technology or service in a personalized manner. Will they adapt to how your business operates, or do they follow a generalized, templated process? This will greatly determine the longevity of the AMS solution you decide on.
3. Prioritize Collaboration
Success happens when you have great teamwork. Look for AMS providers who prioritize communication, transparency and collaboration throughout the implementation process and beyond. Pay particular attention to how the provider’s teams work internally to ensure smooth service delivery. This will clue you in on their work ethic and expectations.
4. Vet For Transparency
No matter how comprehensive and high tech a tool is, it’s of no help if your team doesn’t know how to use it. Think about the user interface of the service management application you’re interested in. At minimum, it should be easy to access, display utilization metrics clearly and highlight aspects of your business that rely significantly on provider services. This helps delineate what you’re actually investing in while foreshadowing areas where you’ll need extra support.
5. Conduct Regular Evaluations
Some AMS providers offer regular evaluations or reviews to assess progress, address challenges and identify opportunities for optimization. Regardless, regular internal assessments will help you maintain the health and efficiency of your business processes and ensure your AMS investment continues to deliver value over time.
Flexing Your AMS Muscles
Just as finding the right gym requires due diligence, selecting and maintaining an AMS solution demands an ownership mindset from the start. When you shift from the idea that you’re paying for an AMS provider “just because” to seeing it as “an investment in my company,” you transform how you engage with these services. This helps ensure you actively manage and evaluate your AMS solution as part of your strategic assets rather than as a passive expense. In doing so, you ensure your AMS provider meets your needs for the moment and can handle the evolving needs of your business.
There’s just one question: Are you willing to put in the work? As with most things in life, the benefits you reap from an AMS solution are proportional to the effort you invest in it. So take the first step and commit.
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