How to Choose the Right MSP for Your Business

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So you’ve decided it’s time to onboard an MSP! That’s great. But now you’re stuck wondering how to choose the right one. As the need for MSPs grows, so does the selection pool. Choosing an MSP is a massive decision and should not be taken lightly – the organisation you partner with should be knowledgeable and consistent with the inner workings and maintenance of your IT infrastructure. Otherwise, what’s the point in having one at all?

Extensive research and comparisons are a must when choosing an MSP. Think about it as hiring a new employee; you wouldn’t just choose the first person who walks through your door and talks a big game with no references to back them up. You probably have a serious vetting process, with multiple prerequisites and questions to ask, and a pool of several possible candidates. It’s the same with MSPs. There are plenty out there who make a bunch of promises, but are really just money-grabbers who lock you into a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with no intention of actually helping your business succeed.

The first step in choosing an MSP is narrowing down your options. A big deciding factor is assessing whether you need an MSP that is local to your business. A local MSP is able to provide onsite support and maintenance (particularly valuable for major IT emergencies), whereas MSPs that are not local will only be able to offer desktop support. Many businesses find that Helpdesk support is more than sufficient for their needs, so it’s really up to you and the level of support you believe your company requires.

Once you’ve made this decision, don’t just rely on Google searches to supply you with a list of suitable MSPs. Google doesn’t base their search algorithm on company reviews, nor does it base it on an MSPs competence as a suitable partner for your business. On top of Google searches, we recommend visiting CloudTango, particularly their MSP50 page, which lists the Top 50 MSPs in 8 different countries (including Australia).

After you’ve narrowed down your search a fair bit, do a thorough check into each MSP’s reviews, testimonials, and case studies. Look through their website and read through their pages; are they informative and transparent? If these all check out, you can move on to assessing their suitability.

 

1. Clear Communication

One of the most important things to note when choosing an MSP is how and when they communicate. If they are taking a while to respond to emails or calls when you begin contact, it may mean they are too busy to respond or that they are inconsistent when it comes to communication with their clients. This could potentially cause issues down the line when you are facing an IT emergency, and no one is answering the phone or responding to your support requests.

Secondly, the biggest benefit of onboarding an MSP is the fixed monthly costs, but inferior MSPs may try to slip hidden costs into your agreement. Thoroughly check your SLA before signing! Are there any hidden costs? Do they charge extra for onsite visits? What happens when your equipment needs to be upgraded or replaced? A quality MSP will be upfront with these costs, and will happily answer any questions you have about your SLA and modify it to suit your requirements.

 

2. Adaptability

As your business grows, so will your technology, software and IT support needs. One of the biggest benefits of partnering with an MSP is that you won’t need to hire more IT technicians to keep up with the demands of your growing IT infrastructure.

However, an inexperienced MSP may not have the capacity to support you as your business and IT requirements expand. Before signing on, ensure that your MSP is flexible, able to easily scale their support, and can quickly adapt to new projects and initiatives.

 

3. Consistency & Knowledge

An MSP that is able to maintain consistent results and delivery is of the utmost importance. Your potential MSP should be able to provide case studies, policies, and procedures to back up their claims and prove they are experienced and dependable. If they are unable to explain what they do, how they do it, and why it is effective, then you should question their validity. In the same vein, your MSP should possess a deep understanding of the processes and solutions they are offering.

 

Conclusion

Deciding who to trust with your IT infrastructure is a daunting and difficult decision. However, doing the appropriate research into a potential MSP allows you to bypass issues that could occur in the future. Just remember, don’t be afraid to ask potential MSPs questions, and if they get annoyed or frustrated, move on.

 

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER ASKING:

  • What does their onboarding process entail?
  • Do they provide 24/7 support? If not, what are their emergency costs?
  • Do they have references, testimonials, and case studies?
  • Do they provide detailed invoices?
  • What’s NOT included in their managed service agreement?
  • Do they have a guaranteed response time? What is it?
  • How experienced are their technicians? Do they have relevant qualifications?
  • How flexible/scalable is their company? Do they have the means to support a growing organisation?
  • Do they provide onsite support, remote support, or both?
  • How often do they provide progress reports?
  • How can you get in contact with them when support issues arise?
  • What are their cancellation policies?

 

eStorm is a CloudTango MSP50 finalist dedicated to helping you get the most out of your managed it services partnership.

Contact our friendly and knowledgeable team today to discover how we can help!

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07 3120 0640

Is my business fit for managed cloud services?

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The “Cloud” is a new and disruptive trend that has been gaining momentum in businesses for some time. With many businesses unsure how cloud computing and cloud services can fit into their business strategy. Managed Cloud Services may sound like a complex concept; however, it is simply storing your data offsite in a data centre or a private cloud.

Benefits of the Cloud

Businesses who make the shift to cloud software often do so for many different reasons. The most common include flexibility, scalability, cost savings, as well as the uses of cloud services such as data backups, disaster recovery, and so forth.

Managed cloud services are not limited to small businesses or start-ups, and are beneficial for companies of all sizes. Many businesses will often associate managed IT services as unaffordable and unnecessary. However, managed cloud services are affordable, easy to deploy and simple for businesses to manage.

Evaluating your business needs

Before obtaining managed cloud services, you need to evaluate your business from a strategic and operational perspective. Does your IT demand fluctuate throughout the year? Do your IT costs negatively impact on your ability to grow your business? If your answer is yes, making the move to managed cloud services may be in your best interest.

Businesses will typically choose a cloud service from three distinct types of models: private cloud, public cloud, and hybrid cloud. Unlike a public cloud, private and hybrid clouds require businesses to maintain, manage and update their data centres through dedicated administrators. Often the cost and ability to execute these tasks are not in the best interests of the business; this is where managed cloud service providers step in.

What cloud service is best for you?

Each business is unique, their size, business objectives, industry and IT software; therefore, every business deserves a customised service. With a variety of cloud packages available, you can choose which services and features are best for you, your budget and strategic needs.

Co-location providers

Co-location services provide businesses with an opportunity to install their own servers in a managed facility. The location provider then has the responsibility of keeping the servers on and maintained. However, the responsibility of physically maintaining the servers rests with the owner of the server (i.e. the business).

The next step up – Managed Co-location

Providers have begun to offer managed co-location services, where businesses can buy a server from the provider, who then oversee the installation and ongoing management. Using this framework allows businesses to reduce operational overheads as well as take advantage of the increased resilience of off-site systems.

Experience more freedom – Managed Apps and IaaS

The next service in the managed cloud includes full hosted and managed applications in the Software as a Service (SaaS) model. This also includes large platforms such as Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure, allowing businesses to move key applications to the Cloud.

The support, management and maintenance of their cloud infrastructure is the responsibility of the service provider; everything else is left to the business to handle.

The Saving Grace of Cloud Services – Fully Managed Cloud

Fully managed cloud services allow you to hand over the management and stress of the entire platform, as well as all of its parts to a third party (that’s us!). Here at eStorm, we take the time to understand your business’ IT needs and identify and deploy new services that help you reach your goals.

Why we recommend Managed Cloud Services

Including managed cloud services into your business strategy, your business will experience the following benefits:

Cost Saving

Managed cloud services can help you control and reduce your costly IT maintenance costs. Maintaining an in-house IT department is expensive and is often unnecessary for businesses with simple networks. Making the switch to a managed cloud service provider means you decide how much you are willing to pay for IT services and have a consistent monthly bill.

Future-proofed technology

Migrating your data to a secure cloud is the first step in setting up your business for success in the future. The friendly technicians at eStorm are always prepared with the newest technology. We are by your side when new technology comes on the market, or a required update is released, supporting you every step of the way.

Custom and integrated service

At eStorm, we understand each business is unique and requires a custom cloud solution for a seamless transition and minimal downtime. To accommodate this, we offer a variety of services to unlock your business potential, including, private and hybrid cloud, Microsoft Office 365, Sharepoint, Amazon Web Services and many more. View our full list of services, here.

If you are unsure if your business is ready to make the transition to the Cloud, book an appointment with the friendly team at eStorm Australia today.