Dean Robinson on Versent's technology managed services model

There’s a lot of interest in the cost and the cultures of big consulting firms in Australia, and whether they are serving the best interests of their clients. Dean Robinson, Managing Director of Modern Run at technology consultancy Versent says if this translates to more companies carefully scrutinising their managed services contracts that’s a positive outcome.

Can you tell us a bit about your role at Versent as Managing Director of Modern Run?

I joined Versent in late 2016 and had the privilege of defining what the managed services business would be.

As a ‘born in the cloud’ technology consultancy, we set out to create something different. We were tired of the traditional managed services model and ‘ticket tennis’ where vendors point fingers at each other and no one’s accountable for solving problems end-to-end. We wanted to define a different engagement model that gives customers a better experience, and better outcomes.

What do you think is broken about the traditional managed services model?

One of the main problems, particularly in big service chain environments, is that vendors often align their value to the number of issues they are solving. It becomes a constant firefighting approach focused on fixing immediate issues. It’s an approach that offers little in the way of personalisation, innovation, business improvement or customer service.

It simply isn’t delivering for customers, and this is what we continue to hear. I think many companies are right to be scrutinising their managed services contracts, and questioning the level of service and ongoing value they are receiving.

How is your approach different or unique compared to traditional managed services?

We don’t believe in the traditional managed services model and don’t see ourselves in that category. Instead, we describe our offering as ‘Modern Run’ and it stands apart in a few ways. We seek to really know and understand our customers, help them solve the problems that matter, and solve them permanently.

We deploy small, highly skilled, and on the ground teams that have in-depth knowledge of the customer's environment and strategic priorities. At Versent we get it ‘done, done’ for our customers, which means getting the work done properly, doing it right, getting the outcome, not just getting it done.

Additionally, our co-pilot engagement model emphasises working closely with the customer within their environment, not at the end of a phone or a chat or anything like that. By working shoulder to shoulder with our customers we can provide higher value and more strategic support. It's also about being commercially flexible and evolving with our customers. We view what we are doing is the death of the old managed services model where all you're doing is firefighting the whole time. We are seeking to break that cycle.

What are some of benefits of this approach?

It allows us to focus on continuous improvements such as improving stability and automating platforms, which can help accelerate updates and changes, and reduce costs and outages.

Another major benefit is stability. We deliver best in class stability with the platforms we support, and that's backed up by the fact that we've never had to pay a service credit. Finally, we are helping our customers upskill their teams on the cloud and share best practices by working collaboratively in their environment.

Can you share any examples?

We recently migrated nearly 90 per cent of Great Southern Bank’s applications to the AWS cloud, including most of their critical customer-facing systems. This was a major project which delivered significant improvements to the bank's IT infrastructure, including enhancing the digital channels and platforms available to customers, improving flexibility and scalability, while also reducing storage requirements and costs.

The next phase was taking on the running of this infrastructure, and the ongoing management of their cloud-based systems, after a stabilisation period.

We have now extended our partnership to include support for their data program. Great Southern Bank has made a huge amount of progress in a short space of time and we’re really proud to be helping them grow their business.

What message do you have for organisations questioning their current managed services arrangements?

What I’d say is that there is a better way you can do this. If you’re not happy with the support you’re receiving, explore alternatives and find a model that aligns with your needs and strategic objectives. It's about finding a partner who is invested in your success and is committed to continually improving and innovating.

It doesn't have to be an army of engineers, and it doesn't have to be bogged down in contracts and paperwork and service level management, which is far too common in managed services. You can have a different model and the different model works, and our customers are telling us that. The best thing you can do is review and update your priorities and selection criteria and have a look at the options that are around.

In the broader context of the consulting sector, what are your thoughts on the culture of consulting and the need for change?

The culture of consulting is an interesting one. I think if discussions around recent issues in the ‘sector’ in Australia lead to more organisations considering their current managed services arrangements, that’s a good thing. A big part of this is about moving away from transactional relationships, and embracing a partnership approach that fosters trust and mutual success.

From my perspective keeping it really human and being connected with the customer, no matter how big or small, is critically important, and that's just being honest. For us it’s not about completing tasks, but about building relationships and working together to deliver the outcomes that matter.

What do you find most satisfying about your work?

Seeing the results. Whether it's improving the performance and stability of critical systems, optimising and automating platforms, or improving security postures, seeing our work make a tangible difference to our client’s and their experiences, as well as the experience of their customers is incredibly rewarding.