How to know if you're getting value from your MSP

What is an MSP?

IT Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are a relatively new concept, born out of a concerted effort from leaders in the market to move away from a 'break/fix' business model that frustrated customers. Small businesses have been the biggest beneficiaries of this transformation, as they now have access to businesses that can act as an enterprise IT department on their behalf. But how do you know you're getting value from your MSP partnership? Below, we discuss the key indicators to measure the effectiveness of your MSP.

Firstly, evaluate the range of services offered by your MSP. IT Managed Service providers should be able to support your entire IT environment, from the Internet connection into the building up to the 3rd party applications you use. This should include an IT support helpdesk, cybersecurity, cloud support, and telephony. If your IT MSP says they can't help with any of the above, it's worth taking a look at the market.

Secondly, ask when the last time you heard from your MSP was (outside of a support case). The move away from a break/fix model was initiated to provide proactive support, but plenty of IT businesses take advantage of their customers' lack of IT expertise. A good, proactive MSP will conduct regular system health checks, push software updates, and highlight potential issues before the escalate. At Mason Infotech, we recommend monthly meetings, but quarterly should be the absolute minimum.

Evaluate the speed of response time to raising an issue. If you've signed an MSP contract, there should be concrete and well defined SLAs included. Reliable MSPs like Mason Infotech provide prompt assistance in line with these SLAs, ensuring that businesses don't face downtime or disruptions due to IT issues. If you're not hearing back from your MSP when you submit a ticket, we suggest looking for a new one!

How much do you understand about your IT environment? As an MSP, it's our job to make sure that you understand the work we're doing, and why we're doing it. Transparent communication and regular reporting is hugely important, and allows our customers to hold us accountable for delivering the value we promise.

Finally, make sure that your IT MSP is providing strategic guidance and constantly guiding you to continuous improvement and innovation. Within IT Services, there are always new technologies and techniques that can help you to achieve your goals, and your MSP should serve as a trusted advisor that helps you to implement best practices, adopt new technologies, and become more secure.