What Makes a Good Managed Service Provider?

SUCCESS has created a 10-point checklist for evaluating potential suppliers when choosing a Managed Service Provider (MSP). Learn more about what makes an excellent MSP: scalable services, agile project management & more.

What Makes a Good Managed Service Provider?

SUCCESS has created a 10-point checklist to help you navigate the process and thoroughly evaluate potential suppliers, making sure it covers all your bases. Here are the key points you should cover with any company you are thinking of partnering with. We have seen how companies with the expectation of investing in the digitization of core processes were better positioned to weather the COVID-19 storm, especially when offices closed and employees were sent home. The best managed service providers are often those who adhere to well-defined best practices.

MSP best practices map directly to process maturity, so be sure to evaluate an MSP's degree of orientation and understand the specific processes they follow before partnering with them. Excellent processes allow an MSP to support you efficiently and consistently. This has final implications beyond complying with service-level agreements; it can ensure the viability, stability and growth of your business. There are great and talented newbies in the tech industry, that's for sure.

But nothing beats experienced and experienced MSPs. A top-tier MSP is a team of professionals who have worked in the corporate and IT field for years. They know the industry inside and out and have the talent and skills needed to benefit your business. MSPs can adapt their solutions to fit their unique tools, systems and business processes.

Customized IT solutions give you an edge over your competitors, putting you on the path to achieving and even exceeding your goals. At 1+1 Technology, we employ experienced professionals, so your company has high-quality support and reliable services. Get the best IT support possible with 1+1 technology. Learn more about our services by contacting (92) 406-3881 today.

Scalable Services for Business Growth

Business needs are constantly changing, so it's important to ensure that your managed service provider can align with your company's growth and development objectives.

Good managed service providers are those that offer scalable services, allowing you to easily add additional resources as needed. Maybe your business is experiencing seasonal growth and decline, maybe you need to add additional capabilities, or you might want to make sure you have options for future growth. Whatever the reason for your changing needs, it's important to choose a managed service provider that can adapt to the ever-changing demands of your business.

Agile Project Management

Information technology doesn't exist in a vacuum. Your Managed Service Provider (MSP) should use agile project management to plan for these changes.

The goal is to minimize any negative impacts and make these changes as quickly and smoothly as possible. MSPs must ensure service excellence by relying on artificial intelligence (AI), hyper-automation and advanced data analytics to deliver managed services at scale, reduce repetitive work and enable data-driven decision-making.

Service Excellence

Service excellence will also help MSPs reduce customer loss, increase retention rates, and expand wallet engagement among their customers. A recent survey conducted by research firm EMA found that 64% of companies use between four and 10 different monitoring tools. Use their own tools or third-party application service providers to monitor and manage a customer's devices, equip an IT help desk, or provide on-site maintenance and support.

The digital economy depends on network service uptime, and organizations expect the same service 24 hours a day from their managed service provider.

Experience Matters

Too many existing MSPs to tell tell the story of how helping a client with a single, specific project led them to adopt a new managed services offering. In the managed cybersecurity arena, managed detection and response (MDR) continues to be a popular solution for organizations needing endpoint protection. Managed service providers often carry a variety of certifications and knowledge related to specific providers or solution competencies.

Adaptability

While many of the major managed service providers are fit for the hybrid era, there are many that can only operate with specific environmental challenges. The first is best known through breakdown repair service providers who often only charge an hourly or fixed rate for a specific service.

Strategic Planning

There was a time when the idea of moving the management of your organization's IT infrastructure to an external one.

If your MSP doesn't provide any of these types of planning and strategy services for your business, it could be a sign that you're not concerned about your health and long-term goals.

Technical Knowledge

To effectively meet your needs, a managed service provider needs deep and extensive technical knowledge.

Customer Satisfaction

To win the heart of a customer and continue the business, managed service providers must offer consistency, goodwill and a strong security posture.

Managed Services Offerings

To drill down, two examples of managed services include managed server and storage needs and a managed security solution similar to a remote security operations center (SOC). In the ocean, between these two examples, managed service providers must allocate time and resources to serve their customers.

Oscar Collari
Oscar Collari

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