Finding an Managed Service Provider that’s right for your business can be challenging. It is important that you work with a company that can not only support you, but be an extension of your business and offer services that can grow with you.

Assess Your Business Needs

The first step in finding the right MSP is to know what you are looking for. For instance, do you have compliance requirements? Are you going to require someone onsite? Do you user industry specific software you will need support for? It will be helpful to know these things so you can ask the right questions. While most MSP will provide you with an IT assessment prior to onboarding, it is a good to at least have an idea of what IT you have. How many PC’s, servers, and what cloud services are you utilization that may need supported, such as Microsoft 365. Many SaaS providers provide support, but not all of them. It can be valuable to understand the level of IT expertise you are looking for.

As you understand your culture and needs, finding an organization that has the same values as you is equally important. If an MSP’s style doesn’t work for you it can cause conflict and become a burden on your staff.

Things to Look for in an MSP

When trying to identify an MSP that is right for your business, you will want to understand their team, tools, and processes.

Ask about their IT expertise, security, and experience in your industry. Find out how long they have been in business and their growth plans. It could be risky to go with a start-up or a one person team. Too much growth too quickly can possibly diminish your support. You should ask if they will do regular network assessments, have regular reviews with you and help you with cybersecurity.

A veteran MSP will have remote monitoring and troubleshooting tools to proactively be alerted of potential issues and be able to quickly remediate anything that arises. Consider reviewing the SLA (Service Level Agreement) and make sure that it will support your company needs. Some organizations run 24-hour shifts and require 24-hour support.

Ask to meet the team who will be supporting you. Transparency is important, especially when you are partnering for someone to help your business be successful with technology. Ask to speak with existing customers. You can learn a lot about the MSP.

Red Flags to Look Out for

When looking for a new partner, anyone who is not transparent can be a red flag. If they won’t let you meet their team or give you references, you should keep looking!

Communication is critical to any partnership success. If an MSP talks over your head, or belittles you about your technology, it shows what the future may hold. You want to work with an MSP who not only understands technology, but business and can communicate well.

Pushy sales people may try to sell you things you don’t need or do not listen to your actual goals. When you get someone who spends more time trying to tell you what you need and not listening to your pains, it could be a red flag that they are a cookie cutter outfit and will not solve your problems if they do not listen to what they are.

If you have looked around, and someone Wow’s you on price! Be aware! Remember, you get what you pay for. Or you might be getting into a costly situation down the road due to lack of critical upgrades or misconfigured settings. Learn more in our eBook below.