18th June 2025
And the beat goes on: why process and system provide the heartbeat to SPM Managed Services
In a lean and busy IT environment, Managed Services eases the burden on your IT resources – when it’s done right, that is. But supporting complex Sales Performance Management (SPM) solutions can be a world of constantly putting out fires. Data issues, calculation errors, system glitches – they all demand immediate attention, along with routine maintenance and solution upkeep. Unless your services partner keeps everything under control and prioritises well, you’re unlikely to have a pain-free experience that delivers ROI.
Through years of successful SPM managed services delivery, we’ve learned a fundamental truth in the Compincent team: firefighting and freestyling approaches never end well – not for our clients, and certainly not for us. That’s why in this Managed Services Month we want to shine a light on the absolute importance of robust processes and systematic approaches in delivering an effective SPM managed service.
It might surprise you to know that from our perspective, 70-80% of Managed Services workload, in an established model, is predictable. In this environment, a good Managed Services team can approach each task with a confident mindset and a genuine sense of control, rather than in an atmosphere of chaos and reactivity. This is the reality that we attain by using meticulous processes and the right systems.
Creating calm from chaos: our approach to predictability
When we talk about predictability and rhythm, we’re aiming for a state of control. Our Compincent Managed Services team thrives on knowing what’s happening, what’s next, and how to tackle it efficiently. The right tools, coupled with robust, well-defined processes, are our compass. They allow us to anticipate needs, proactively address potential issues and ensure your SPM solution runs like a well-oiled machine.
Rigorous planning and a thorough, comprehensive process that captures all your likely use cases are key. This prevents exclusions and ensures we can handle your specific business needs. While a totally predictable workload is unrealistic, an element of repeatability is very helpful. We provide a foundation of proven and trusted processes for expected and reactive support, customised to your needs.
We’re realists about this. Getting to this state of harmonious predictability requires hard work and, often, a period of careful alignment with our customers. You might be an IT leader striving for this same level of organisation, but the in reality of an evolving business, factors like team absences or reorganisations can make things, well, messy. We understand that.
We don’t just parachute in and dictate how things will be. Instead, we work to instil our proven processes into your operations by agreeing on how we can work together more effectively. We set some initial, foundational principles, then evolve them organically as our partnership grows. It’s about setting clear boundaries within a mutually respectful, democratic system that works for everyone. We know we won’t be instantly aligned, but by working together, we can consistently demonstrate the value our systematic approach brings to your SPM environment.
3 key process principles for effective SPM Managed Services
- Mutual respect and collaboration: Our processes aren’t rigid impositions. We respect your existing approaches and work collaboratively to integrate our best practices in a way that truly benefits your team. It’s about finding common ground and evolving together. This includes ensuring everything is clearly signposted and documented right from the inception of the project to the very end.
- Light-touch tools: We understand you already have plenty of tools. Our goal is to make our interactions seamless and easy. We take on the burden of maintaining templates and systems, using JIRA purely as a communication hub. This allows you to easily track progress and provide feedback without managing another complex tool.
- Proactive, predictable delivery: Our processes are designed to anticipate and prevent, rather than just react. This systematic approach means we can transparently show you what we’ll be working on next week, offering you a sense of control and confidence in our consistent, high-quality service.
Introducing best practices without handing you a burden of learning
Our aim is never to burden you with excessive methodology or tools in the process of demonstrating the advantages of good control and high quality standards. While we apply the same rigorous JIRA process we use for our development projects to changes within your managed services agreement, all you need to do as a client is respond to messages on JIRA. You can look at what we’re doing any time, but we don’t depend on this. We handle the tracking and coordination behind the scenes.
Our structured approach also helps us eliminate the risk of a single point of failure by ensuring our delivery team members have ongoing training and knowledge transfer, building resilience and peace of mind into the service. We deliver our best practice approach in a way that fosters a sense of control, seamlessness, easy access, and excellent communication for you. We do the heavy lifting, continuously maintaining the same high quality and commitment from day one.
A partner who can generally meet SLAs will give you an adequate reactive service, but our processes enable us to go further: we analyse every incident and ticket for its root cause, so issues are resolved permanently, not just band-aided, and we can offer evidence-based optimisation advice. It’s all about delivering services first time right, on time, and within budget, leading to a truly frustration-free experience.
At Compincent, we believe that an effective SPM managed service isn’t just about technical expertise; it’s about the discipline of process and the power of system. It’s about replacing uncertainty with predictability, chaos with control, and reactive fixes with proactive prevention. It’s about allowing you to focus on what truly drives your business forward, knowing your SPM solution is in expertly managed hands.