You’d hope that all your reporting and deliverables would be “robust,” but it’s not always the case.
Robust Reporting enables companies to stay on all the work that a technology partner is handling for them as part of their service level agreement. These reports should be a key component in conducting client quarterly business review meetings (QBR’s) which gives partners an opportunity to show a level of transparency while providing the opportunity to emphasize the highest levels of support and services being provided.
The reports also provide insight in to how best to position your company for future business needs and to stay current with the ever-changing technology. At time of delivering these reports they should be reassuring that a technology partners is taking a proactive, rather than a reactive, approach in preventing problems and assuring increased uptime of your IT infrastructure.
Additionally, while reviewing these reports, it gives an IT partner the opportunity to assist in overcoming any technical obstacles that may prevent them from moving their business forward. The reports should help emphasize that a partner is a trusted business partner and looking out for their best interests. Thus cultivating a long-term relationship, which is ultimately a win for both client and managed service providers.
Robust reporting can be used as a presentation tool for the C-level people of an SMB organizations, which find value as to what is going on in their IT world. By showing them the overall performance, stability and age of their infrastructure along with software versions that may be end of support or approaching end of support, assists them in future budget planning for their organization.
Security is a very large part of robust reporting and is steadily becoming a top priority for all businesses. Reporting on the overall compliance of user devices, servers and network equipment will show a CIO, CEO, or IT Director where they may have potential security holes, potentially leaving themselves open to hacking and software vulnerabilities.
In summary, reporting is a window for business leaders and IT staff. Robust reporting can have a direct impact on business performance and being one of the most valuable assets in moving a business forward.
At Sikich, we use robust reporting as a standard methodology with the businesses we work with. If you want to know more about our IT services, we’re happy to share how we’ve helped others improve their infrastructure.
