Tips for Selecting the Perfect MSP Partner

Let's be honest. Technology is complicated. Getting it to work well in a small to mid-sized business is even more challenging. So, if you are investing money into technology to make your business run more efficiently, shouldn’t you also have the right management and support tools in place?

As the effective use of technology grows ever more challenging, outsourcing your technology needs to a managed services provider (MSP) can provide the stability and reliability you need in your organization.

Modern business technology includes everything from cybersecurity to asset management, disaster recovery to video surveillance. No single engineer can support that range of products and systems. But the risk of technology left unmonitored and unsecured ranges from costly downtime to the worse case scenarios - a full shutdown of your organization or a massive data breach. Did you know:

• 28% of data breaches directly affected small businesses, according to 2021 Verizon research.
• 2022 data from Arctic Wolf Networks revealed 92% of organizations have an active cloud security gap within their infrastructure.
• Research from the Ponemon Institute shows that 60% of breaches are preventable with proper patching.
• Statistics show the cost of downtime to small businesses falls into a range of $137 to $427 per minute; for larger businesses, the cost can eclipse $16,000 per minute.

Partnering with an MSP is the first step toward keeping your organization from being a statistic. MSPs bring a wealth of experience, make IT support and services easily budgeted with monthly recurring payments, and take a proactive stance with security and network and device maintenance that can help protect your SMB from cyber attacks that are built to hone in on unpatched vulnerabilities.

Selecting an MSP is a decision your organization should take seriously, so here are five questions to ask any MSP partner you are considering.

Recommended Qualifying Questions to Ask an MSP

1. Can you manage a multi-vendor environment?

The business technology landscape evolves constantly and quickly. Even small organizations have a multilayered concoction of software, hardware, networking equipment, and cloud computing to manage. That means, before selecting an MSP partner, you need to determine if the MSP has a proven track record of working within a multi-vendor hybrid environment. Are they comfortable with both cloud and on-premise solutions? How do they manage vendor relationships, particularly when it comes to troubleshooting and securing advanced insight into product roadmaps?

MSPs are purpose-built to support a wide variety of technology solutions, but with today’s ever-changing threat landscape, cybersecurity must be a clear focus. Malicious actors, socially engineered threats, and widening attack surfaces make cybersecurity increasingly complex. An MSP ill-equipped to handle cybersecurity will do more harm than good for your business. A good MSP will fully audit your network to understand your security baseline and identify gaps, help you resolve those issues with your protection, and then also provide proactive incident response and intelligent data protection that improves your overall security posture.

3. Does the MSP's services align with specific vertical needs?

For the most part, MSPs are industry agnostic and can serve businesses of most types. However, some specialize in certain industries. That level of specialization can be crucial if your business must adhere to strict compliance or data privacy/retention regulations.

If that is true of your organization, be sure the MSP you are considering provides regulatory compliance services or has a relationship with a partner that addresses those specific needs. Stringent compliance standards that often require specializations include NIST, HIPAA, CMMC, DFARS, and the SHIELD Act.

4. What do customers of the MSP say about their company?

One advantage of our highly digital society is readily available reviews for nearly any services company. As you evaluate an MSP partner, spend some time exploring online customer reviews that can provide clear insight into the track record of an MSP.

Consider researching and/or requesting information on the following before making a final decision:

• Customer retention rate
• References, referrals, and reviews (Hint: Check out their Google Business Profile)
• Samples of Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
• Employee retention rate
• Policies for both onboarding and off-boarding customers

As businesses grow, technology needs also evolve. In some cases, the change may be simple, perhaps a need for more software and hardware. But for other businesses, the role tech plays in the organization can evolve drastically. Understanding if an MSP partner can scale support and services alongside your successful expansion is a crucial element in selecting the right MSP.

You should also fully understand what types and levels of IT support packages an MSP offers. Some offer a single option for support regardless of the size or needs of clients. Others allow you to create a customized deal that features only the services your business needs. However, the most popular and flexible approach is the tiered package offering.

Most managed services packages cover all the IT elements of an organization’s environment, with the difference between options focused on levels of support and response time. For example, one level may include monitoring and alerts, but resolving issues is billed hourly. Another may include all-you-can-eat remote support but charge hourly rates if an engineer must visit a physical location.

Also clarify exactly how the MSP prices services—most charge by user per month, which makes managed services easily budgeted.

Takeaways about Selecting the Right MSP Partner

The questions in this blog are only a few of the questions to review with an MSP you are considering as a business partner. Exigent Technologies has an established reputation as an MSP, having launched in 1997. We offer three levels of managed services packages that provide our customers with flexibility alongside budget predictability.

For more about how we can unleash the power of technology as a differentiator for your organization, schedule a consultation now.