Outsource Issue 22 - (Page 44)

LONG LIVE AMS! Is AMS as we know it on its last legs? And if so, what comes next? IBM’s John MacDonald Gaunt has a few ideas… John MacDonald-Gaunt, Application Management Services John MacDonald-Gaunt is Executive Partner, Application Management Services, IBM Global Business Services UK & Ireland. He is accountable for the AMS business in the GBS Communications Sector and responsible for the delivery of the portfolio, with around 50 accounts running concurrently. anaging application currency, stability and standard change is increasingly seen as commoditised, assumed, and driven to the lowest cost by businesses and their procurement functions. Effective application management services (AMS) are now less of a differentiator. Many vendors have acquired the skills to compete fiercely for the diminishing profits to be made. AMS in its current form will not attract and retain talent, and it will not deliver strategic advantage to our clients. AMS, as we used to know it, is dead. There has been, however, a recent jolt in direction, and the AMS of yesterday is gravitating away from the dusty application M 44 ● ●● currency, minor change management, and service ticket support propositions to a new dawn of innovation, business alignment and simplification in all facets of the application performance. Previously the domain of consulting services, the future here is within the AMS organisations’ gift to grasp. To do this our identity must be more than the management of applications. We move to a new era of application leadership where we deliver more, and have a seat in discussions on business direction In a world of boundless choice, where customer loyalty is fickle, and experiences both positive and negative are amplified through the electronic mouthpieces of social networking sites, forums and blogs, with opinions declared, uninhibited, and personal truths proclaimed through social and professional circles. The power of this voice renders products or services fragile and can exalt or extinguish them, along with customer ‘stickiness’, very rapidly. This demanding evolution of our customers heralds a new direction for AMS, opening up an opportunity to lead as innovators and experts in application value optimisation. Long live the new Application Management Services! This new reign centres on application value optimisation, less commoditised, and a world where AMS leads the way in delivering tangible business value from the leadership of how we optimise applications in steady state. Consider a few examples of the new direction for AMS… After Coca-Cola, IBM is the world’s second-most-valuable brand. It is also the fourth-largest technology company on Earth. www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk  http://www.outsourcemagazine.co.uk

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Outsource Issue 22

Outsource Issue 22
Table of Contents
Shutting the Door?
Q&A: Deborah Kops
Colombia
LPO
Editorial Board Roundtable
Head-to-Head
HR Trends
Long Live AMS!
The Provider Perspective
Platforms Make Sense in the Cloud!
NOA Pathway
Case Study: King’s College Hospital
Egypt
Silver Lining
Roundtable Write-Up
Case Study: Nokia & Hyphen
Alan Leaman
Leah Cooper
Kay Formanek
Paul Awcock
News & Comment
The Legal View
NOA Roundup
Online Roundup
Letter to the CEO
Letters to the Editor
Sourcebites
Inside Source
The Last Word

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