Managed Services Readied for Customers

Microsoft Managed Services (MMS), an effort to develop a business managing desktop computers and hosting servers, is evolving from an incubation phase into a commercial product. Formerly part of Microsoft’s internal IT department, MMS is now in the Server and Tools product unit, with a broader mandate that includes hosting businesses and complementary online services for Microsoft servers. Microsoft’s confidence in its ability to provide centralized management services has been honed by real-world experience with two customers. However, what MMS will sell, how it will be sold, and the role that partners will play in managed services need refinement.

Incubating MMS

The MMS effort came out of discussions between CIO Randy Benz of Energizer Holdings and Rick Devenuti, then senior vice president for Microsoft Services and IT. Benz had privately expressed some frustrations about the gap between Microsoft’s claimed desktop and e-mail management capabilities and those of his own organization. In an interview with Directions on Microsoft, Benz said he told Devenuti that Energizer, with about 7,000 PCs and operations or representatives in more than 100 countries, was devoting too many IT resources simply to managing existing systems and a network that was not always reliable, and needed multiple layers of security to protect desktop systems. Employees found it difficult to navigate through network file servers to get the information they required.