A right Managed IT service provider can help your business to maximize IT investment and achieve business goals. One bad decision while hiring a wrong MSP, and your business can go down the rabbit hole. Better way out is to team up with a genuine Managed IT service provider and consider all aspects before hiring.
Let’s admit it. Every business has different needs as per the business type and in-house capabilities. Thus, you need to grasp the needs for IT services before hunting for “IT service providers near me“.
What types of services does my business need?
Is MSP offering relevant services to meet my business expectations?
Better to rethink your requirements before ending up with a wrong MSP which fails to fit your needs.
We get it. If you are just getting started, it can be baffling to figure out which questions to shoot before looking for “IT service providers near me.” < Keep your worries away as we got you covered!
Here are 10 questions to ask before selecting a IT service provider for your business:
What services are important to me?
Firstly, you will need patch management, antivirus and asset monitoring. Through centralised and reportable processes, a managed IT service provider can offer services on a regular basis.
Network infrastructure monitoring should be an integral part of remote infrastructure monitoring services and not just limited to endpoint devices.
Does my business need 24x7x365 network operations support?
Just because your business runs from 9 to 5, it doesn’t imply your server or website cannot showup issues outside these hours, right?
For example, a simple outage on Sunday night can drill down holes in your revenue or dampen customer experience on Monday morning.
Your business must leverage 24x7x365 managed IT support offered by MSP without fail.
How will your Managed IT service get delivered?
After you know about the sales pitch, visit the office of providers/call them.
Try to answer following questions:
- How do their data centers look?
- Is the office with just a couple of people/Do they have advanced capabilities?
Go beyond the marketing or sales hype and conduct a thorough on-site review of your MSP.
Are technical engineers needed to service my account?
Generally, managed IT service providers are backed by a team of user support technicians or engineers to fix IT issues of many clients.
Yes, having a resource to look after an account can get expensive but it depends on the business need. You might need a specific person with good past industry expertise to look after your account.
Which performance metrics will be helpful for my business?
Performance reports/metrics are super important to address issues such as the need for employee training, recurring issues and outages. You must know about the report types and how they can be best analyzed or delivered.
What is my budget?
Make sure you get service plans which are affordable, scalable and flexible. While reaching out to Managed IT service providers, discuss or pick a plan where you pay exactly what you use with no extra charge.
Of course, your business needs will change in the near future. Thus, your MSP must be prepared to offer you an optimized package to fit your needs exactly.
What are the skills of your Managed Service Provider’s staff?
Look out for technical staff with skills such as advanced infrastructure, virtualization, networking, and security. Also, make sure there is enough staff to assist many clients.
How can we resolve issues?
Let’s say, an Managed IT service provider outsources more than one element of service offering to other parties i.e backup & recovery data centers, then it will dampen the ability of MSP to address client issues.
Well, it means an unpleasant customer experience, at the end of day. Make sure you seek help from MSP that has its own data centers and resolves IT issues in no time.
What guarantee can my business expect from MSP?
Shortlist the MSP that offers written service level agreements (SLAs) to describe obligations of MSP. The agreement should add what penalties will be levied if MSP failed the provision of SLA, required metrics to meet the SLA standards and responsibilities of the MSP.
In addition to what is stated in the MSP agreement, make a quick search for “IT service providers near me” who possess a monitoring system to track down outages in a minute and must be able to send this information to you.
How many years of experience does a company have?
Make sure you collaborate with companies with decades of experience and it also offers you a referenceable client list.
Although research can be tiresome, the result will be worth it. Do you wish to skip the long way and get started with a reputed Managed IT service provider? Reach out the Telco ICT team who had been helping clients for years in scaling up their businesses. You can also check the link for the managed IT services we offer.
Also read – What Is a PBX Phone System? Which One Is Right for Your Business?
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Common Questions
Do you outsource your work overseas?
No. We use local teams only. That way we can respond more quickly to any problems that may occur. We want your tech running smoothly so you can focus on what you do best.
Is your support 24 hours?
Yes. We have people available whenever you need us. We understand that your tech runs 24 hours, and you need it be working at all times.
Are your services customised for my business?
Yes. There is great off the shelf software. But we know one size never fits all. So anything we set up for you is designed to make your business run smoother and in the way you want it to.
Are your services expensive?
No. Reliable tech is the life blood of your business. We keep it running smoothly so your business can keep making money. All our services are fixed fees, so you never get any nasty surprises.
What’s the next step?
Simply book a chat with one of our experts. We’ll have a chat about exactly what you need and how we can help. If you like our approach then we’ll give you a fixed price quote and get everything up and running for you, fast!
