For most companies, their first experience with IT support and services comes from IT providers who lack the initial experience needed to innovate and optimize a company’s technology environment. “Overnight MSPs” make countless promises surrounding service delivery, security, and basic process but fail to deliver.
Don’t become a casualty of the IT services provider competitive landscape. Know which qualifications to look for and what questions to ask when scoping out managed service providers.
“What is your full onboarding process, and if you have one, can you provide us with the steps and what they look like?”
The top advantage to hiring an MSP is to utilize the experience and specialization from years of IT support and service experience. A trusted managed service provider should always be able to provide your team with a comprehensive outline of the onboarding process. This process takes time, so depending on the size of your business, it can range from 2 weeks to 4 weeks.
“What type of documentation and reporting software does your team plan to use? Walk me through the process of how you plan on documenting our network?”
A truly seasoned veteran of managed service providers should be utilizing document management tools, not a ticketing system, to fully document the discovery process. This documentation should contain information about your network, servers, workstations, devices, software, vendors, passwords, warranties, and configurations.
“At what rate will you be meeting with us to further discuss our technology or to remedy a problem?”
Your IT support team shouldn’t feel like strangers. Customer-centric MSPs have dedicated technology consultants or virtual Chief Information Officers who are prepared to meet with your team as often as needed to discuss your IT strategy, budgeting, and planning.
“What is the type of backup system you typically support, and why has your team aligned with this system?”
Any trusted Managed Service Provider should always include the use of an on-site backup and utilize current systems for site-replication or cloud-based backups. This is vital. As the company responsible for managing your IT environment, this includes protecting your company data and customer information.
“What is your typical process in the event our mail-server were to ever crash?”
By leveraging the technology and tools provided by your managed service provider, they should hold the capacity to get the business up and running in minutes, not hours, by utilizing robust backup solutions that communicate status and updates.
“Do your systems provide us with reports to ensure your team is proactively maintaining our systems?”
Any MSP should be able to provide your organization with the ability to receive a simple, easy-to-read report delivered monthly, with the ability to add and customize reporting upon request.
“How does your company handle the flood of expirations, warranties, and software support associated with network technology?”
Hopefully, you’re working with a trusted managed service provider that handles these for your company via an internal process. This process should then be used to automatically generate a ticket when expirations are triggered, like server warranties or domain hosting. If a domain host expires, it runs the potential to take down your email for hours.
“How does your team ensure a ticket is handled within a reasonable timeframe?”
Experienced Managed Service Providers come from working in the break-fix support realm. Your MSP should have a well-defined SLA fully integrated into their ticketing system. Once the ticket is sent in, the timer starts and service managers will be notified.
We hope these tips have provided the clarity and understanding needed to choose the best managed service provider for your organization. If you have more questions, feel free to contact us. Clare Computer Solutions checks all the boxes!
Managed Service Providers in San Francisco Bay Area
Because of our continued pledge to excellent customer service, we recently submitted our company for review against the nation’s best providers, coming out as one of the leaders in northern California managed service providers.
Contact us to begin uncovering the truth surrounding your business systems and IT network.
