Businesses rely on strong and effective relationships. Employees, managers, leaders, and stakeholders all contribute to the strength and success of a company over time. Positive business outcomes come from building strong relationships based on communication and transparency. The relationship between a business and a Managed Service Provider (MSP) is no different.
Good MSPs provide strategic business value that increases productivity while being cost-effective. When an MSP is ineffective, the business suffers. Security and network management may experience more issues and fixing these issues takes time, adversely affecting productivity.
This guide provides tips for improving business growth and productivity by recognizing when you’ve outgrown an MSP and how to select a new one.
Key Takeaways:
You’ve outgrown your MSP when:
A good MSP partner serves the business at every level. For example, some MSPs often only give high-quality service to executives or upper-level managers. Whereas regular employees trying to get their work done get a response to a help desk ticket days later, adversely affecting productivity. Check with employees across the business and find out the true quality of the MSPs service.
As an executive or leader, do you have regular, effective meetings with your MSP? Are those meetings productive? MSPs are needed to help your business thrive. Thriving means introducing new technology options, streamlined processes, plus open and constant communication. For example, if the only time you hear from your MSP is for cost increases or billing, it’s time for a new MSP.
The cause of MSPs failing to meet expectations or contractual terms stems from many possible failures, including:
Whatever the reason, your business thrives with an MSP that has a wide breadth of technical expertise, and sufficient resources that value serving your business.
Change is difficult and time-consuming. However, if your MSP is ineffective, the risks to the business's health are far greater than the pain of changing MSP. If your MSP is behind on issue resolution, and not updated on technology, where else is your business vulnerable? For example, the security of your systems and devices may be lacking, leaving you open to a security incident. Systems may be going down and adversely affecting employees' ability to complete work. Your competitors may be getting ahead of you and leveraging updated technology to improve their workflow processes and attract more customers.
Meanwhile, you’re stuck in the mud with an ineffective MSP. Good MSPs are strategic partners, which means you communicate regularly to discuss options and new technology. Communication should include an MSPs advice on how to leverage new technology based on the existing business system or offer opportunities for improvement. An MSP needs to be a partner that assists the business by helping it grow and innovate.
When looking for a new MSP, do a deep dive and understand your current system and needs. From there, have a general idea of where the business is moving to for the future. Understand the technology stack that exists and identify areas for improvement. Once you’re ready, then start looking into quality MSP providers.
Look for an MSP with services that include:
Find the MSP provider that can best meet your needs consistently and with high quality.
The first step in transitioning to a new MSP is concluding that you need one. The second step is choosing an MSP and then coming up with a migration plan as a team.
Before selecting a new MSP, find out the following:
Consider asking about a trial period and review all billing practices to ensure the plan meets your budget. Ask around professional circles for feedback on communication and response quality. Find out if anyone has benefitted from the MSPs' strategic reviews and advice. Essentially, poke around before you sign the contract.
Once a contract is signed, communicate. The best place to start is a migration plan. Communicate the change to employees and ensure they’re ready for system migration. Then, sit back, work hard, and revel in the glory of your positive MSP relationship and the business rewards of a robust strategic partnership.
Have you outgrown your current IT provider? If your MSP isn’t a close, communicative, and effective business strategic partner then it’s time for a change. Your business deserves a strong MSP relationship that moves the business forward now and into the future.
Are employees complaining about IT service or system performance? Time to find an MSP that cares about your employees and your business. Endsight is your MSP partner, 24/7.
Endsight keeps your business up and running using the latest advanced technology for all IT tasks. Get your free assessment today and see how Endsight can help your business grow.
Leaving your current MSP due to employee service complaints and a lack of strategic leadership? Endsight is the managed cloud partner you can trust, all day, every day. We’ll keep in touch and communicate with you to keep your business securely moving forward. Check out why our clients chose us to help their business.