If you search for Managed IT services using the internet phone book, DexKnows, you come up with nearly 500+ results. One of these companies is the best managed service provider (MSP) for you… but which one?
With so many MSP competitors in every region, finding the one best fit for your company’s needs can seem daunting. However, making IT decisions like this is crucial. It’s important to make this decision sooner rather than later.
To help you get started, here’s a step-by-step guide that’ll help speed up the selection process, so you can quickly find the best managed service provider for your needs.
This may seem like an odd place to start – but bear with us. If you’re looking for how to choose a Managed Service Provider, you don’t necessarily want the least expensive one or the one with the largest staff. Those would be “the least expensive MSP” or “the biggest MSP,” not “the best MSP.”
Think of it like finding a car mechanic or a dentist. If you were looking for the best of those professions, you’d start the process by asking opinions from people you know and trust, and you’d look online for reviews.
Of course, it’s easier to find the best mechanic or dentist than it is to find the best MSP, because everyone has a mechanic and a dentist that they’re happy to recommend. Only businesses of a certain size need an MSP.
The best managed service provider is going to be the one with the best customer service and the best customer outcomes, so if you don’t know anyone with an MSP, or you only get recommendations for a couple of MSPs, you can look online at the local MSP’s websites to check out client success stories and client testimonials.
A company might be the best managed service provider in the entire area, but if they don’t offer services that fit your needs, they aren’t going to be the best managed service provider for you.
All good MSPs are likely to offer email hosting, network monitoring and security, and basic email spam blockers, but not all will offer:
This is just a small sampling of the available MSP services out there. Each MSP is going to offer a different package.
The key to finding the best managed service provider for your needs is to identify the provider with the right services as well as a tailored package that meets your exact needs without locking you in to add-on services you don’t need.
Which leads us to step 3…
Just as your business has differentiators that set you apart from similar companies in your industry, each MSP will offer a slightly different mix of included features and benefits. The awesome thing about MSPs is that it’s extremely easy to find out what’s included with your services; just read the SLA.
An SLA, or “Service Level Agreement,” spells out, in detail, what your MSP is responsible for, what your company is responsible for, and what the penalties are if either party (but especially the MSP) doesn’t meet its end of the bargain.
Read this document carefully before entering into a contract with a provider and ask lots of questions. The best managed service providers will be happy to explain every part of their SLA because they’ll be proud to have such a rock-solid document. (It takes a lot of experience to come up with a comprehensive SLA!)
(You thought we were going to skip this one, didn’t you?)
If you’ve found the best managed service provider for your needs, one that offers outstanding customer service, the right IT services, and a great SLA, you’ve done all the really hard work already. Price is the smallest portion of your selection process.
If you feel like the MSP you want has prices that are just slightly higher than you can afford with a reasonable IT budget, see what kinds of services and options you can negotiate to get those numbers in range.
If the numbers are still too high after negotiations, ask your MSP about your expected ROI. Many businesses begin their MSP contract paying a bit more than they expected to pay, but in less than a year they see their investment pay itself back big time and they realize what a deal those IT services were.
Typical gains include:
If the ROI doesn’t add up and the negotiated prices are still way out of your league, you’ll probably want to continue your search for providers. Obviously, the best managed service provider for you isn’t the one that’s just too darn expensive.
However, even if you do have to go back and find a different, less expensive MSP, the steps in this process will have helped you to create a shortlist, so you know the next MSP to call.
Quick tip: Make sure to check the SLA again if you end up returning to your shortlist. Often, the “cheap” MSPs recoup their margins by offering significantly fewer included services (and therefore significantly lower value). You don’t want to find yourself reeled in by a lower-seeming cost initially only to end up being nickel-and-dimed by a bunch of “out of scope” a la carte charges later on.
Rest assured, you will definitely find the best managed service provider and it won’t take nearly as much time and effort as you expect.
Begin your search for the best managed service provider by reviewing customer references. To get a sense of what to look for, explore the client testimonials and success stories from Interplay, an award-winning MSP and one of the Seattle’s longest-standing providers.
If you’re looking for a provider in this area, come talk to us! Select your industry on the Industries page, so you can see why other businesses in your field think we are the best managed service provider in town.
[email protected]
16300 Christensen Rd Ste 304 Seattle, WA 98188
(206) 329-6600
