Hiring a Managed Service Provider? Here’s What to Look For

As you can imagine, taking on the IT responsibilities for a business is a massive industry, currently, the managed IT service(MSP) provider market is north of $200 billion. These businesses have developed expertise in business processes and operations, scalability, customer relations, and most notably cybersecurity. MSPs provide an array of services for all types of businesses, from small local businesses to massive public and private corporations.

Because of this range in service offerings, it’s important to know what to look for in an MSP to choose the best service provider for your business. Understandably, this is a confusing area, a reason why MSPs are successful as IT often overwhelms the majority of us. So, you may be wondering where to start and what MSPs can do for you. Here are some things to consider when embarking on the journey of finding a managed IT service provider.

What Are Managed Service Providers and Why Hire One

MSPs provide businesses or individuals with network, application, infrastructure, security, and IT support and administration services. If you manage a business, think of how much your operations depend on computers and the internet. Some time DELL SUPPORTASSIST NOT WORKING.

Now imagine that you can outsource all of this worry about the business’ dependencies on IT to technology experts, who can advise you on the optimal infrastructure and IT processes. MSPs usually specialize in select industries, such as franchises, education, legal, and engineering, this is how they can often advise you on the best setups because they know what works in your industry and what threats your industry faces.

You should consider hiring an MSP, not only because they can take on the IT responsibility of your business, but also because there is an opportunity for the business to be more efficient and effective by partnering with them.

Things To Consider When Looking For an MSP

Before you start looking for the best MSP for your business, the most important thing to do is to fully identify and understand your business’ needs. This is going to guide you in finding the right MSP for your business, and, whether or not you actually need one – maybe you are a small business and there are cheaper alternatives available for you. Knowing exactly what your business needs from the MSP is going to allow you to choose the best payment model. MSPs offer different payment models, usually “pay per user” and “pay per device”, the former is generally the most cost-effective.

While remote MSPs are abundant, it’s best to find an MSP in your location for obvious reasons. As mentioned earlier MSPs, usually have a niche where they have developed expertise, some larger and more established MSPs will have IT expertise in several industries. These more established MSPs are likely to be able to offer you more as a partner, particularly if they have an interest in business processes and operations.

For example, these Houston IT support veterans, provide services for a variety of industries, namely healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality, finance, construction, and legal. They also offer a free consultation, this is always a good opportunity for you to find out more about the MSP and gauge their credibility.

In terms of gauging the credibility of an MSP, important indicators are certifications, partners, and response time. It can be a major problem if your IT system goes down and you do not get a response from your MSP, depending on your business model, this could lead to a loss in revenue or you could be held liable to your customers and clients.  So, look into your potential MSPs response time, look for some reviews, and ask around. Again, because MSPs focus on operating in select industries, so reach out to others in your industry and ask them what they like and don’t like about their MSP.

Social platforms like LinkedIn could be a good place to quickly gather information from colleagues in your industry. Regarding your potential MSP’s certifications and partnerships, do some thorough investigation. What brands does it partner with? Do you trust these brands? Is the partner brand Microsoft or someone that you have never heard of? Do they have consultants and technicians who are trained and certified? Are the certifications in areas like cybersecurity, data management,  and cloud services?

A good Managed IT service provider should showcase their testimonials and accreditations on their website, so this shouldn’t be too difficult to find. If it is difficult to find evidence of an MSP’s credibility, this is probably a red flag for you and you can move on with your search.