During the early stages of a business, generally, the business owner or another founding leader handles IT needs, even though that’s not what you actually are supposed to do.
For a while, your technology needs are manageable, but at some point, they’ll outgrow your capabilities.
When you realize you can’t continue with how you’ve been doing things, whether you’re handling your own IT or have an inadequate internal department.
But finding a managed IT services provider (MSP) to maintain your IT environment can feel overwhelming.
You don’t want to be back here in a year or so realizing your IT management solution isn’t working, but now you’re locked into a contract.
So how do you find an MSP that will provide you the service you need and grow with your business?
Make sure you’ve done your homework before you sign a contract.
As a technology services provider, The KR Group partners with businesses and helps them find the best solutions for their IT needs. One of the ways we do this is through managed IT services.
With this option, our managed services lead reviews the contract with you before you officially become our customer. (We’ll also encourage you to read through the entire document on your own.)
Whether you decide to use The KR Group or another MSP, you should ask your prospective provider the following questions:
- How long have they been in business?
- What certifications do they and their engineers have?
- What experience does the MSP have?
- What security solutions and knowledge do they bring to your contract?
- How do they communicate about contract agreements?
- What’s their team like?
Each MSP will have its unique answers to these questions, but overall, you should evaluate if they seem like a reputable MSP and can meet your IT needs or if you should look elsewhere.
How Long Has the MSP Been in Business?
Experience is a critical component to consider when deciding if an MSP is right for you.
The longer an MSP has been in business, the more likely they’ve had experience with businesses like yours.
Knowing your MSP’s background with different types of businesses is critical because it gives you an idea of how knowledgeable they are about industry-specific processes and solutions.
Ideally, you’ll want to find an MSP that’s worked with customers in your industry, so they can approach your problems with back-tested solutions and ideas to resolve your issues quicker.
Keep in mind that every MSP is the new kid on the block at some point, but you need to decide if your business needs an experienced MSP or is willing to work with a newer MSP.
If you decide the latter, pay close attention to the MSP’s answers to the following questions before signing a contract.
What Certifications Do the Engineers Have?
Along with experience, you’ll want an MSP that can prove its knowledge of the IT solutions that are important to your business. In technology, this is shown through certifications.
To earn certifications, an engineer must study a topic, show proficiency, and pass a test.
Doing so tells others that the solutions vendor has vetted the engineer as having the knowledge and skills to implement and administer their solutions. As a result, even newer MSPs can (and should) employ a staff of certified engineers.
Certifications are important, but they’re most valuable when combined with real-world experiences. So, if you’re interviewing a newer MSP, ask about its engineers’ experience in previous IT roles.
What Experience Does the MSP Have?
You may also want to check if your prospective MSP has relevant experience in your industry.
There are some IT needs specific to different industries. For example:
- Manufacturers use similar software for product design and production, which may need support from time to time.
- Financial institutions must find ways to abide by FINRA’s regulations and keep customer information confidential.
- Professional services organizations must focus on safety, flexibility, and security while adjusting to hybrid workplaces.
Regardless of if you’re looking for specific industry knowledge or general experience, references are an excellent way to validate if an MSP is worth contracting.
Most MSPs should have references somewhere on their webpage. () If you can’t find them, ask your MSP before signing a contract where you can find them.
You might also want to request reference contact information to hear first-hand how the MSP’s customers feel about the provider. If you do this, here are some questions to ask when checking a reference:
- How did you find out about the MSP?
- Are you satisfied with the service?
- Do they have the knowledge and skills to address all of your IT problems?
- How soon do they respond when you submit a service ticket?
- How long do they take on average to resolve your service tickets?
- Can you describe a recent incident where they went above and beyond?
What Security Solutions and Knowledge Does the MSP Offer?
Cybersecurity is imperative for today’s businesses to survive, so complete management of your IT must include security solutions.
At a minimum, your MSP should include antivirus, anti-spam, and a firewall in its subscription services.
However, that often isn’t enough to adequately protect today’s businesses. Threats continually evolve and require better solutions to catch and eliminate them.
The best MSPs offer a comprehensive security solutions package, which will include next-generation antivirus, best-in-class anti-spam, DNS filtration, multi-factor authentication, and a handful of other endpoint protection solutions.
However, software shouldn’t be the only cybersecurity offering your MSPs gives you. You’ll also want to ask about backup and disaster recovery solutions, on-staff cybersecurity expertise, and user training.
You’ll also want to ask your MSP about its track record of preventing cyberattacks among its customers.
How Do They Communicate about Contract Agreements?
Your MSP should discuss your contract before you sign up for services and during your term.
There should be a clear leader for the organization’s managed services department who will help your organization set the strategic direction for your IT. These meetings should occur quarterly at a minimum.
Your MSP should always be upfront about costs and billing and create clear and straightforward invoices.
Additionally, you should have at least an estimate of how much you’ll pay monthly early in the prospecting process. And, if you sign a contract, they should continue to update you on what invoices are for and any changes to billing.
What’s the Managed IT Services Team Like?
At the end of the day, your MSP can have decades of experience, all of the certifications, the best security solutions, and easily accessible information about costs and billing, and you still feel like they might not be right for your business.
Why?
It might come down to the people you’re interacting with. As you’re working with the MSP to initiate services, pay attention to the staff’s people skills. If your MSP is local, don’t be afraid to stop in or set a meeting in the company office to witness the IT adviser’s company culture first-hand.
If you feel like you aren’t getting much exposure to the engineering team – the people who will work with you every day to solve your tech problems — ask about the personality of the engineering team.
You want to enjoy working with your MSP, so you should ensure you like the staff.
Deciding to Use Managed IT Services
Ultimately, you need to focus on what makes your business money.
By handing over IT management to an MSP, you can spend more time focusing on your primary responsibilities and let the experts handle your IT.
However, this is only truly accomplished when you find an MSP who can adequately handle your IT needs and even go above and beyond.
As you’re researching and interviewing different MSPs, make sure you ask them the questions that will help you gauge if they’re a good fit for your business. This includes learning more about the company, team, relevant experience, and applicable knowledge, so you can make an educated decision whether or not to sign a contract with them.
You can find all the information about our contract process and what it’s like to work with our managed services team in our free guide.
