🧞‍♂️Managed Services

Introduction

Managed Services in this context means a service that deals with the management of other services. To put that more simply, you contract 1 partner who will as required identify, select and manage other resources to meet your needs whatever those needs may be. Managed Service partners aren't a new concept and are the norm for most other industries. In the game industry this is usually something left to the publisher. So why didn't we just call this "Publisher"?

Managed Services is an alternative to the traditional publisher. It doesn't account for the financial aspect. It is wholly focused on helping you deliver your project on time, on budget and to the quality standard you define. This separates financial instigative from the work, and reduces unfortunate situations. Such as where in a publisher may push a particular solution, partner or option because it makes fiscal sense; even if its of harm to the game or developer which is sadly very common. This also removes a lot of the burden from financial instruments making them more efficient.

Its important to understand how publishing works in the game industry, we of course have an article for that 😄

What to expect

Heathen can be contracted to provide Managed Services, so reach out and lets have a chat!

As with any partner engagement discovery and strategy are the first steps. Before you jump in though, look for a partner who is willing to work with you throughout your journey. This is very important, shop around and don't be afraid to say "no thanks"

Discovery

This is just that initial meeting and the result of filling out any of those "contact us forms" for any given consultant. The first contact your likely to be chatting with is a salesman first and foremost, so keep that in mind. Firms that deal with partnerships like this want your business, so they are likely to say "yes" a lot even though they probably don't fully understand the question or have the skills to deliver on it if they did.

During this initial meeting you should be leading the conversation. Your objective is to "vet" the prospective partner, that means getting a feel for whether or not this company can even meet your needs. Next you need to understand if this partner can meet your budget and timeline, they will be resistant to answering this line of questioning, understandably since they cant really "quote" work they haven't designed. Let them know you're looking for an understanding on the "order of magnitude" this will cost you in both time and money to make sure it suits your budget and project.