You may have heard about managed services and wondered if the model would work well for you. But the prospect brings up a lot of questions. Can your company afford an offsite provider? Will a managed services provider be able to handle the intricacies of your business? And perhaps most importantly, can you trust the MSP to be secure and deliver on all their promises?

The same questions that will be useful in choosing a managed services provider are valid in order to continually evaluate their performance.

managed services provider

Questions to Ask Your Managed Services Provider

    1. Where are you based? Many MSPs are based overseas, and while this is not automatically problematic, many people prefer to deal with local vendor. The comfort level can be significantly increased when you can tour facilities, meet with technicians. and have local access to the resources.
    2. Are your technicians certified in the solutions I subscribe to? How important is continuing education? A successful managed services provider will not only have certified technicians, but maintain a strong relationship with key providers. This will ensure not only trained and experienced technicians who have the answers you need – but also that they have access to continuing educational opportunities as the industry continues to progress.
    3. What is your definition of best practices? There is no “Ultimate Managed Services Guide”, but your provider should have strong answers to how they handle sensitive business data, what their hierarchy looks like, or how their growth strategy can address a rapidly changing technology landscape.
    4. What is your experience with my size and scope of business? If you are interviewing a new potential managed services provider, you can ask for case studies or customer references to speak with other organization’s experiences with that MSP, and MSPs in general.
    5. During what hours can I reach you? One of the primary benefits of a managed services provider is that they can watch your network 24×7. Therefore it is reasonable to expect that they have availability around the clock as well. It is important to understand not only the level of coverage suring “off hours” , but whar access you have to technicians during those times.
    6. How many employees do you have onsite? If one of the main reasons that you hire a managed services provider is because your staff is overworked, it would be disconcerting to see that the MSP suffers from the same problem. Ask about the ability of the available employees to manage all their customers with speed and expertise, and clarify how they would react in an emergency when multiple clients are affected.

The overriding decision of whether you can trust you managed services provider may come down to your gut feeling,  and simply making an educated choice. In the end, it is important that your mission and goals align, that your company vision and culture are a good match, and you can sleep at night with the confidence that your business is in good hands.

Alliance IT is a local Sarasota managed services company which is dedicated to your success. We can meet with you, visit your site for assessment purposes, and offer expert advice on the best way for you to proceed in this rapidly changing and competitive environment. We’d like the opportunity to earn your trust – call us today to discuss how we can help you to succeed.