xSP expectations

ONE OF THE MORE difficult things in a CTO’s daily life is the management of xSPs who are not living up to their SLAs. A situation in which an xSP is underperforming against a signed contract is, by its very nature, unexpected.

Of course, negotiating a good deal up front is obviously crucial to a successful relationship, but any CTO who has ever signed with an xSP to handle anything knows that the contract quickly becomes inconsequential when operational issues arise. If the WAN connection at your co-location company is dead for four hours and stops your Internet-dependent business in its tracks, do you call your legal department and get your attorneys on the case to enforce the contract? It’s more likely that you will be on the phone with the offending company’s engineering staff trying to get your network back up.

After the furor dies down, you might spend some time with your account representative negotiating a short-term break on billing, but in the end, contracts can be almost useless when it comes to day-to-day operational reality, regardless of how well you’ve negotiated them up front.

In a difficult situation in which a contract is involved, I’ve found that some of the following tips will get you out of immediate trouble more quickly — and help you determine whether you should rebuild the long-term relationship or simply terminate it.

When you complain to the xSP, state your displeasure firmly and clearly and demand quick resolution to the problem, but don’t go overboard. It’s certainly difficult to keep your cool when something goes wrong, but remember that the vendor or service provider is still your partner, and you have to work with them again — at least until you decide to terminate the contract. Even then, your organization will typically have to work with the xSP after the termination of your contract to transition to another xSP or to take functions in-house.

Staying calm and professional — yet firm — is the best policy. Throwing a temper tantrum might work initially to get an xSP’s attention, but screaming is not a useful tactic in the ongoing management of an existing problem. (If you must, do the screaming after the issue is corrected.)

Go through and review an abbreviated version of the sales process again to make sure the value proposition offered by the xSP still exists. If possible, make an on-site visit to the company and ask the same kinds of questions you posed when making your initial decision. For example, does your Web hosting company still have the same rock-solid peering arrangements it did when you signed? Are the same key people running operations for the company? Talk to some of the employees and gauge their talent level. Get to the bottom line: Has anything in the company changed, and does it threaten your ongoing relationship? If an xSP is underperforming, you must dig deeper to anticipate future issues and put them to rest before a crushing incident occurs.

Finally, use the opportunity to negotiate a better deal — make lemonade out of lemons. If there are issues in your existing contract that need addressing, a lapse in service is a good time to bring those up. First of all, your company likely deserves some sort of compensation for any service failure, and you now (unfortunately) have leverage you didn’t have before. Second, making a reasonable demand of the vendor for a better deal gives them the opportunity to show their commitment to you as a customer. Do your research, too: Back your demands up with functional and price comparisons to similar xSPs.

In the end, if things are simply not working out, you can always make your xSP an ex-SP.

Source: www.infoworld.com