Interview: Managed services more in demand than ever

DV-Dialog, issue 5-6/2020

From: Berthold Wesseler

Cloud computing remains popular: three out of four companies (76%) used computing services from the cloud in 2019 – compared to 73% in the previous year and only 66% in 2017. This is the result of a representative survey conducted by Bitkom Research on behalf of KPMG AG among 555 companies with 20 or more employees in Germany.

“Covid-19 presents many IT departments with the challenge of balancing cost pressure and innovation to drive digitalization in the company,” states Dirk Müller, CTO at K&P Computer, in an interview with DV-Dialog. This is increasing the demand for managed services. However, IT managers are also opting for this for another reason: they want to relieve the burden on the IT department. Corona also forced them to create digital workplace solutions at short notice.

Mr. Müller, K&P Computer started out 35 years ago as a maintenance service provider, but has long since become an IT provider with a full-service offering. Why was this necessary – and what advantages does this offer customers?

Dirk Müller: The IT sector is characterized by rapid technological developments. If you want to survive the rapid changes as an IT service provider, innovative agility is essential. Over the years, we have continually expanded our range of services and proactively aligned them with market requirements, and today we are available to our customers as a full-service provider in all areas relating to the data center and beyond. From consulting and hardware procurement to installation, maintenance and managed services – we offer the entire value chain from a single source. We are also globally networked, have partnerships with all leading manufacturers and cooperate with international business partners and service providers, such as Curvature. This benefits our customers, many of whom have been with us for decades.

How is the current coronavirus situation changing the demand for these services?

Müller: Covid-19 presents many IT departments with the challenge of balancing cost pressure and innovation to drive digitalization in the company. On the one hand, demand for our “KPC Managed Workplace” service has increased significantly. Due to coronavirus, companies were forced to create digital workplace solutions at short notice. On the other hand, refurbished goods are more likely to be used for cost reasons – or the maintenance contracts for existing IT systems are being extended. On-site staff deployments to bridge staff shortages have also been the order of the day in recent weeks. Monitoring solutions such as “KPC Watch” and backup solutions such as “KPC Veeam Cloud Connect” are more in demand than ever. The fear of cyberattacks has also grown even further. We offer a very good solution here with “KPC ¬ Managed Cloud Firewall” and also advise our customers on individual systems and customized security concepts. YOU CAN FIND THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW HERE: https://www.it-zoom.de/dv-dialog/e/managed-services-gefragter-denn-je-26146/