What is Managed Services Provider (MSP) / Application Management Services (AMS)?
A managed services provider runs the ongoing operation of an ERP system after go-live, providing support, patching, enhancements, and monitoring under a recurring contract; in ERP specifically this is often called Application Management Services (AMS).
Definition
A managed services provider (MSP) is a firm that takes on the ongoing, steady-state operation of a system under a recurring contract, rather than a one-time project. In the ERP world this function is most commonly called Application Management Services (AMS), reflecting that the scope is the ongoing care of a specific application landscape rather than general IT infrastructure. AMS typically covers incident and service-desk support, applying vendor patches and updates, small enhancements and configuration changes, performance and integration monitoring, and periodic health checks, all governed by a service-level agreement that defines response times and scope. AMS engagements usually begin once hypercare ends and the implementation partner (which may or may not be the same firm) formally hands the system to steady-state support. Pricing is typically a recurring fee, sometimes a fixed retainer and sometimes based on ticket volume or a resource pool of hours.
How Managed Services Provider Works in ERP
After go-live and hypercare, the customer's ERP moves from project-mode support to an AMS or MSP arrangement, either with the original implementation partner or a different firm that specializes in run-and-maintain work. The AMS provider handles day-to-day issues escalated by internal key users, applies vendor-released patches and regulatory updates (which matter especially for finance and payroll modules), and delivers small enhancements through a defined change process rather than a full project. Because the AMS relationship is long-running, its service levels, escalation paths, and pricing model are worth negotiating as carefully as the original implementation statement of work.
ERP Vendors with Strong Managed Services Provider
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between an implementation partner and a managed services provider?
An implementation partner delivers the one-time project to configure and deploy the ERP system, typically ending with go-live and hypercare. A managed services provider (or AMS provider) takes over the ongoing, steady-state operation afterward, support, patching, monitoring, and small enhancements, under a recurring contract rather than a project engagement.
Does the AMS provider have to be the same firm that did the implementation?
No. Some customers keep the same implementation partner for AMS because it already knows the configuration, while others deliberately move to a specialized managed services firm, sometimes for cost reasons, sometimes for better ongoing service levels. Either way, the handover from hypercare to AMS should be a formal, documented transition.