It seems obvious that an organization ought to state specifically what it does prior to entering the business of actually doing it. But reality is much more complicated than that. Many IT consulting and managed services firms are held back because they are missing a critical piece of business infrastructure: a service catalog.

In IT consulting, we often see service catalogs employed by boutique firms who specialize in a certain area and want to stay in their lane. But as we look across the spectrum to larger firms, the specificity of engagements offered starts to blur, with one such partner claiming “We’re in the consulting business. Consulting is our service.”

Research from the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) showed that 77% of managed service providers (MSPs) had a service catalog in place. Yet, in our advisory experiences, the catalog coded into their PSA software doesn’t align directly to the services listed on the website. Somewhere along the way, those two sources of truth drifted apart.

This research reveals two distinct methodologies. The first will aid in the discovery, categorization, and documentation of a service catalog for project-based consulting engagements; the other, in the discovery, bundling, and describing of the services offered by a retained managed services offering. Broadly these processes are the same, but there are sufficient nuances within each that warrants separating them.

And as we continue to see many MSPs offering consulting and professional services, as much as consulting firms seeking retained managed engagements, we foresee many of our partners benefiting from both activities.

Fred Chagnon
Principal Research Director, Consulting and IT Services Industry
Info-Tech Research Group

You’re saying yes to everything. If a customer asks for it, you’ll deliver it.

Your sales staff can’t explain what you do and are challenged with specifically articulating what value your customers will get.

Your service delivery can’t scale because it is comprised of hero workers performing miracles for customers.

Your business is not growing, and your service is not scaling because you haven’t nailed down specifically what you will and will not do.

Some fear that publishing a service catalog means turning away business that isn’t in the catalog. But a well-defined service catalog is an effective lead-generating tool, fueling the content for marketing and sales collateral.

Lack of product and service design experience makes the construction of a service catalog extremely difficult.

Trying to consolidate various types of services into a single catalog is, at times, inappropriate; in many cases it can halt the process in its tracks.

Even while many organizations dabble in both IT consulting and managed IT services, the creation of the catalogs for these two distinct business models are fundamentally different exercises. However, they have similar steps.

1. Start at the end. Define the deliverable(s) and outcomes first.
2. Decompose the service. Determine the activities, potential scope variables, and constraints for each service.
3. Set the price based on knowledge of the internal costs of offering the service

Focused on individual set pieces: Orderable items are titled, briefly described, and appropriately categorized.

A-la-carte pricing: Pricing is either established as a set fee or a clearly articulated set of add-ons. Or simply labeled “Market price (contact us for an assessment!).”

Focused on a bundled service: Inclusions are pre-established and described. The customer doesn’t order specific items. Rather, they are consuming a ready-made operation.

All-inclusive pricing: Pricing is typically all-inclusive based on scaling unit (a person, device, etc.).

• Service Type: Projects with defined start and end states. Not a retained service.
• Price and Billing Model: Priced based on time and materials or a flat fee. Billed based on outcomes at project close or at defined project milestones.

Examples:

• IT Strategy and Roadmap Development
• Migration to Microsoft 365
• Penetration Testing

Service catalog attributes:

• Deliverable(s)
• Activities
• Variables
• Constraints
  

Service Type: Retained/recurring service

Price and Billing Model: Priced as a flat fee (sometimes based on a scaling unit such as number of users or devices). Billing at defined intervals (monthly, quarterly, annually).

Examples:

• Managed network and infrastructure services
• Remote helpdesk
• Virtual CIO/Virtual CISO advisory services
• Managed security operation center/ managed detection and response

Service catalog attributes:

• Service instantiation tasks
• Service delivery tasks
• Supporting/Enabling services

1. Align to business goals.
2. Discover past, present, and future engagements.
3. Categorize engagements into service lines.

1. Determine the key deliverable(s) and outcome(s) of the engagement.
2. Identify all the activities that are performed in the service.
3. Identify the variables that affect the execution time of the service.
4. Identify the constraints on the delivery of the service.
5. Identify service cost factors.

1. Document the service’s brief description.
2. Document the service’s key benefits.
3. Optionally, post the service’s price.