Holding your business partners accountable and measuring the return on investment (ROI) with those partners can be challenging, particularly if you are a small to mid-sized business that is short on time or expertise in the services under review. That’s why any trusted business partner should be proactive in scheduling regular business reviews with your company. That opportunity to discuss performance, strategic alignment, issues, and future plans is invaluable when it comes to building a successful and effective partnership with an MSP.
Attending a quarterly business review (QBR) as a client offers several advantages:
- Performance Evaluation: Regularly scheduled partnership review meetings—be it quarterly or biannually—provide an opportunity to evaluate the performance of your MSP partner and gather the information you need to measure ROI. During the meeting, you can review key metrics to assess how well your MSP is meeting expectations. This helps you gauge the effectiveness of the partnership and can be a chance to uncover misunderstandings, needed changes or simply gain clarity about the services being provided.
- Strategic Alignment: Your MSP partner should provide strategic guidance when it comes to technology that can help your business succeed. That best happens when you communicate your business objectives regularly. When your MSP fully understands your business goals, challenges, and upcoming initiatives, they can better advise you on IT changes that might be required and innovative tech that could accelerate your success. They can also set or adjust tech roadmap priorities to align with those overarching plans. This all helps foster a stronger alignment between your organization and your MSP, leading to more effective collaboration.
- ID and Resolve Issues: During QBRs, you should raise any concerns, challenges, or issues your team may have encountered while working with the MSP. For example, if your staff is frustrated with response time to support tickets, you should bring that concern to the QBR meeting. This is the perfect opportunity to address problems and find solutions collaboratively. It also offers a timely forum for these discussions, which helps avoid resentment that can arise when problems linger. Transparently discussing issues helps strengthen your working relationship, leading to better problem-solving and improved outcomes.
- Relationship Building: Speaking of strengthening—face-to-face interactions provide a chance to develop personal connections, enhance communication, and foster trust. Building a strong rapport with your service provider can lead to better collaboration, increased responsiveness, and a higher level of customer service. Let’s be honest, the better you know the people you are working with, the less likely you are to suffer from misperceptions that can snowball into larger disagreements.
- Tactical Insights: QBRs should go beyond just a review of the past few months. They often include updates from your MSP about industry trends, potential challenges with existing technologies, and new opportunities to leverage IT advances in your business. Armed with that valuable knowledge and strategic insights, you may uncover new ideas that can help shape your business strategy. This information exchange can also support your decision-making process and keep you informed about emerging trends and best practices in your industry.
How to Prepare for Your MSP Business Review
When participating in a business review with your IT provider, it's important to ask relevant questions that help you evaluate their performance, address concerns, and align your business objectives. Yes, your MSP should have a template and agenda for the meeting, but you should consider preparing your own questions about key areas of the partnership.
Performance and Metrics:
- How have we progressed on our goals since the last review?
- Are there any trends or patterns we should discuss?
- Can you review the key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics relevant to our IT services? (Downtime, support ticket count, and response time are a few to expect reporting on from your provider)
Service Delivery and Support:
- Have there been any major incidents or service disruptions during the past quarter?
- How were they resolved, and what steps have been taken to prevent similar issues in the future?
- Are there any pending or upcoming changes in our IT infrastructure or systems that may impact our operations?
- How responsive has the IT support team been in addressing our tickets or resolving issues?
- Are there any areas where we can improve communication or streamline support processes (on either side)?
Security and Compliance:
- What measures have been implemented to enhance the security of our IT systems and protect sensitive data?
- What else might we want to do to safeguard our business?
- Have there been any security incidents or breaches? How were they addressed, and what steps have been taken to mitigate future risks?
- Are there any regulatory or compliance updates that we should be aware of?
- How are we ensuring compliance with relevant standards and regulations?
Cost Management:
- Can we review the current IT budget and expenditures?
- Are there any opportunities to optimize costs or identify potential cost-saving measures?
- Are there any new licensing or subscription models available that could better align with our business needs and reduce expenses?
- What recommendations do you have for improving cost efficiency without compromising performance or security?
- Are there any large investments we should be planning for, such as end-of-life legacy hardware that will need to be replaced?
Roadmap and Future Plans:
- What is recommended technology projects or upgrades that we may need to discuss?
- How do they align with our business objectives?
- Are there any emerging technologies or trends that we should consider exploring to stay competitive?
- How can we further improve the partnership and collaboration between our organizations?
No matter who spearheads the conversation, the goal is to have an open dialogue, address concerns, evaluate performance, and ensure both organizations have clarity about what is working and what needs improvement. As a client, you should look at attending QBRs as an opportunity to actively engage with your MSP and ensure that your business needs are met effectively.