Choosing a Managed IT Service Provider: What Should You Look For?
Finding a managed IT service provider isn’t the same as just looking for someone who can fix your computers. That’s because the right provider should act as an extension of your business.
They’ll help handle your cybersecurity, employee support, cloud environment, software, backups, and the tech you’ve come to rely on.
It carries a lot of weight. Which is why finding the right provider is so important.
But finding the right managed service provider (MSP) can be overwhelming at best. How do you pick the right fit for your business?
Before you sign that contract, consider asking your prospective provider these key questions. Their answers will help you figure out what that future relationship will look like.
1. What Exactly Am I Paying For?
A simple question, but important.
Not every MSP does things the same way. One may include help desk support in their monthly fee but charge separately for projects, on-site, after-hours, and other services.
Getting a clear breakdown upfront means knowing exactly what you’re paying for.
We recommend finding out how the provider handles:
- Help desk support
- On-site assistance
- After-hours support
- Cybersecurity services
- Software and security tools
- Project work
- Monitoring and maintenance
2. Who Will Be Supporting My Employees?
When you hire a service provider, you’re hiring an entire team of techs to work alongside your own employees to keep your tech running smoothly.
Knowing about your provider’s support team can help you get a better idea of what day-to-day service will look like.
Consider asking:
- Is there a dedicated team assigned to my business?
- Where is your help desk located?
- How are tickets escalated?
- Who handles complicated technical issues?
- Will my support team learn how my business operates?
- Is support available outside normal business hours, and if so, by whom?
A dedicated support team can make a big difference compared to a rotating group of outsourced technicians, as a dedicated team helps develop familiarity with your systems, employees, and recurring issues.
3. What Does Your Cybersecurity Strategy Look Like?
Did you know that only one-third of service providers prioritize cybersecurity as a core offering?
It’s critical that your managed service provider takes cybersecurity seriously and can explain exactly how they protect their clients from cyber threats.
Ask whether they offer the following services:
• Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): This simple, easy-to-implement security feature can block 99% of automated hacking attacks all by itself.
• 24/7 threat monitoring: Cyber threats don’t wait for business hours. Businesses need to have 24/7 threat monitoring in place.
• Zero trust security: “Never trust, always verify.” The Zero Trust model has already prevented $456 billion in losses worldwide.
• Security awareness training: With 95% of data breaches linked to human error, having a provider that offers training is critical.
By getting the details, you can confirm whether the provider in question actually takes cybersecurity seriously.
4. Can You Help with Compliance?
Whether your business adheres to HIPAA, GDPR, or PCI, your IT service provider should help you stay compliant.
A provider should be able to explain how its services help with areas such as:
- Data protection
- Access controls
- Employee training
- Documentation
- Security policies
- Auditing and reporting
You should also ask whether the provider maintains relevant certifications or follows recognized security practices.
5. What Happens When We Sign On?
Onboarding a new IT provider can be a complicated process. Your new provider will need to integrate into your environment, deploy its tools, and get your employees used to ticketing systems and potential monitoring software.
It’s important you know what that onboarding process looks like before you sign.
A strong onboarding process typically spans 60-90 days and includes three phases:
Discovery
A comprehensive IT assessment that can identify potential issues and learn how your business operates.
Transition
New tools are deployed, and employees are introduced to the support process.
Stabilization
The provider addresses issues, establishes monitoring, and begins looking toward long-term improvements.
A clearly defined onboarding process is a hallmark of a mature IT service provider.
6. How Will You Manage Our Cloud Environment?
Your IT provider should play an active role in monitoring your cloud environments.
Consider asking:
- If they can migrate legacy systems.
- How they help eliminate unnecessary or duplicated applications.
- How they manage cloud costs.
- How they handle updates and configuration changes.
- How they secure cloud-based applications and data.
7. What Happens When Something Breaks?
You need to know how long you can expect to wait for support. This is where service level agreements (SLAs) come in.
Ask about:
- Average response times
- Response guarantees
- Resolution targets
- Escalation procedures
- Emergency support
- After-hours coverage
Also be sure to pay close attention to response time and resolution time. A provider may promise a response within an hour, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the problem will be fixed within that hour.
8. Can You Prove That Your Service Works?
Request examples of how the provider in question has helped businesses similar to yours. Case studies, testimonials, service metrics, and references can give you a much better picture of what working with the provider looks like.
Ask about things like:
- Customer retention
- Response times
- Ticket resolution
- Uptime
- Case studies or success stories
- Reference from similar businesses
Don’t be afraid to get specific.
Watch for These Red Flags
If you see any of the following when looking for an IT service provider, proceed with caution:
- Vague or incomplete service descriptions.
- Outsourced support with no dedicated point of contact.
- Weak or outdated cybersecurity practices.
- No structured onboarding process or unrealistic timelines.
- Poor or missing SLAs for response and resolution times.
- No compliance support for your industry.
- Lack of client references for performance data.
The Final Question
After you’ve gone through all of these questions, there’s only one more to ask yourself:
“Can I see this company becoming a long-term partner for my business?”
Your IT provider will have a direct impact on how you operate. This isn’t just someone who will come in and fix a computer from time to time. They are going to be a full-time technology partner.
And you want to make sure that you’ll be able to work alongside them for the long haul.
While there’s no guarantee that you will find the perfect provider, the right questions can help you avoid signing an agreement without fully understanding what you’re getting.
How IT Support MSP Can Help
Still comparing providers?
IT Support MSP provides managed IT services designed to give businesses a long-term technology partner rather than simply another help desk.
From cybersecurity and cloud management to 24/7/365 support, proactive IT management, compliance assistance, and more, our team can help you build and maintain an IT environment that supports your business.
Let’s talk about your IT needs.
