History and data analysis are crucial for contract design

Good morning! My name is Marc Frank, I am 47 years old and have been working in the IT system house business for 25 years. During this time, I have witnessed many technological developments - a very exciting journey. I work at Steep GmbH, a broad-based company with around 800 employees and around 35 locations. Our head office is in Bonn, while the largest branch offices are in Ulm, Schrobenhausen and Ottobrunn.
Our business areas are diverse: from defense solutions such as deployable airports and control systems for the German Armed Forces to training services for large automotive companies, facility management and, of course, IT services. In the IT department, which I manage, we have 30 employees and four teams: Helpdesk, Cybersecurity, Data Center and System Administration. Our portfolio ranges from printers and firewalls to backup solutions.

When I started at Steep on January 1, 2021, I was already familiar with modern managed service approaches, as I had introduced them in my previous company. At Steep, I found a more traditional sales model: We sold licenses and hardware without offering in-depth services. I wanted to change that.
One important step was to streamline our portfolio. Previously, it was very diversified, which reduced efficiency. When it comes to security issues, every detail matters - every tick can be crucial. That's why it was essential to set clear standards and focus on managed security service

You reach different people with different triggers. I won over management with efficiency arguments: standardized services are more economical because they simplify processes and save time. I was able to convince sales by showing them that predefined offers and price lists make their day-to-day work easier. And the technicians? They were happy that they no longer had to look after each customer individually, but had clear processes and onboarding guidelines. This meant that everyone knew exactly what to do - and also what not to do.

The biggest mistake is to start too complex. In the initial phase, it is important to clearly define what a service contract covers - and what it does not. Clear communication protects against misunderstandings. We have learned that customers' expectations often go beyond what we originally offered. That's why we now explicitly state in our contracts what is not included.
Another tip: start small. Our first managed service was a contract for firewall updates. We saw that many customers regularly requested this service, so we standardized it and offered it as a service. The success was overwhelming.

We know our customers very well because we often look after them face-to-face. That is a great advantage. Another recipe for success was a free security check, which we offered to many customers. This enabled us to identify weak points and offer targeted services to rectify them. It is important that the customer understands the added value of the service - and this is best achieved through transparency and clear reports.

Transparency is crucial. We produce regular reports on the state of our customers' IT security. In future, we would like to introduce a traffic light system that shows customers at a glance how secure their IT is. This creates trust and shows the added value of our services.

One major topic is the integration of new security solutions into our portfolio, such as internal vulnerability scans. We also want to support our customers even more with regulatory requirements such as the NIS 2 directive. This is not just about technical security, but also about documenting and verifying the necessary processes

The most important thing is the mindset. Create a clear vision and take your team with you. Involve both sales and technicians in the development of the services. Start small and grow organically. With a clear strategy and a motivated team, you can achieve great success.