Critical Teamwork

A successful relationship with an ASP depends as much on your own project team as on the service provider you contract with.

By Mary Brandel

August 20, 2001 12:00 PM ET

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Computerworld - It was already a tense situation. C-bridge Internet Solutions Inc., a technology and consulting services firm in Boston, was conducting a live migration of its Microsoft Exchange e-mail operations to its application service provider, USinternetworking Inc. (USi) in Annapolis, Md.
But along the way, the migration hit a glitch, and all external e-mail stopped flowing. Jason Aber, the user services manager at C-bridge, began troubleshooting and notified Tod McFarland, the company's director of architecture and engineering.
McFarland was unable to locate the problem, so he called USi and spoke with the engineers there.
The discussions escalated. Soon McFarland was brainstorming with USi's senior architecture engineers. Through trial and error, they tracked the problem to the routers and were able to restore e-mail functionality.
"It was a pretty major problem that could have resulted in an e-mail outage," says Ralph Rodriguez, vice president and CIO at C-bridge. "They had it done in half an hour."
What accounts for such a quick fix of a complex technology problem? Rodriguez is quick to point to USi's "willingness to be our IT department, not just our ASP."
It definitely takes both sides to make an ASP relationship succeed. That's why Rodriguez also credits McFarland with having just the right mix of skills to be an excellent frontman for managing the ASP.

The A Team
Key IT personnel to help maintain your ASP relationship

Assembling a team to manage your ASP is second in importance only to choosing the ASP itself. Here are some of the key players and responsibilities to consider:

The CIO: ASP selection, SLA and contract development

PROJECT MANAGER, technology side: ASP selection, system viability, architecture compatibility, SLA adherence, troubleshooting, problem escalation, cost containment

PROJECT MANAGER, business side: ASP selection, business viability, SLA adherence, troubleshooting, problem escalation

DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS: ASP selection, system viability, architecture compatibility, SLA adherence, troubleshooting, problem escalation, cost containment

END-USER REPRESENTATIVE: Process development for problem notification, ensuring that user needs are met

HELP DESK REPRESENTATIVE: First-level support, problem escalation, troubleshooting

First, McFarland is intimately familiar with the Exchange application. Second, he was able to clearly articulate what was going on with the network and the application on C-bridge's end. Third, McFarland understood how USi functioned as an ASP and trusted the relationship between USi and his company. This last factor took time to develop.
"Originally, [McFarland] did not want to open up a security hole, and IT guys always want to manage their own stuff," Rodriguez says. "It was through understanding where we are going as a business and working with USi that he changed his mind."

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