Picking The Right Managed Service Provider: 5 Essential Criteria

Emerging technologies like cloud computing, mobile or AI promise to transform productivity and unlock long-term growth across industries. But leveraging new innovations has a cost. The modern IT environment is incredibly complex; spanning multiple delivery models, vendors, processes and data.

Internal management is possible, but it’s rarely time or cost effective, which is why an estimated 76% of SMEs appoint a managed service provider (MSP) to help them scale. The question is, ‘how do you pick a responsible and capable MSP?’.

Received wisdom often recommends that you prioritise case studies, credentials or other trust signals, and there is some merit to this idea. As an accessible starting point, asking potential partners to supply you with details of successful projects and/or customer references will help you winnow down your shortlist and settle on a small handful of suppliers with verified potential.

You can also review credentials, or vet financial records to ensure vendors are running a stable business, but these steps won’t tell you anything about an MSPs ability to deliver on your requirements.

When it comes to managing uniquely complex, hybrid IT environments, you need to focus on engaging a provider with the right mind-set and attitude, processes and technical acumen. Ultimately, it’s a strategic approach, a proven delivery framework and a sound understanding of emerging technologies that allows top-performing MSPs to support their client’s growth, and verifying these attributes demands that we go beyond the basics.

Here, we outline the characteristics, processes and capabilities that are emblematic of a long-term partner who are capable of providing effective support, and delivering on the promise of digital technologies.

Why it matters: For an MSP to deliver on the promise of decreased downtime, a dependable tech stack and increased productivity, you need them to be both engaged and responsive.

A network issue, security breach or hardware failure could have an immediate impact on your profitability, so it’s critical that potential partners have the processes and training required to jump on emerging issues before they spiral out of control.

Note that ‘responsive’ shouldn’t be confused with ‘reactive’ here though: Yes, your business needs a provider that seizes the initiative and moves to fix problems before they derail your day-to-day operations. But you also need a partner that’s looking to the future, and preempting potential issues before they take mission-critical processes offline.

Ultimately, response time is the critical factor but it’s also helpful to qualify providers based on their ability to utilise technology effectively. For example, MSPs who surpass the traditional ‘break/fix’ model and use advanced analytics to proactively monitor and prevent incidents before they escalate tend to provide a much better level of service than so-called ‘reactive’ IT partners.

We are looking for a technology-based approach that prioritises early warnings and quick resolutions, without neglecting the need for strategic or long-term planning, which is why it’s critical to push for real detail about a potential partner’s managed IT processes.

What to look for: Looking at a prospective supplier’s service level agreements (SLAs) is one way to assess their responsiveness, but there’s still the question of whether or not a given firm actually meets the obligation laid down in their SLAs. To make a more holistic assessment, consider:

• Contacting references to ask about response times and readiness, future planning and adherence to SLAs.

• Engaging prospective partners with a pilot exercise that will allow you to test their responsiveness.

• Asking potential partners whether they are willing to back up commitments with financial penalties or other consequences.

Why it matters: Supporting an increasingly diversified and complex IT environment requires deep skills and experience that extends well beyond the basics. A strong understanding of network infrastructure, the ability to understand how different technologies interface and a good understanding of how to futureproof your tech stack are key to delivering real value for money.

Note that no one expert can cover all of these requirements. Proficient MSPs generally employ a diverse team of highly-trained and qualified IT specialists, with a broad technical proficiency covering a wide range of technologies.

Ideally, your potential MSP would employ specialists with expertise in key areas like cybersecurity and cloud computing, business continuity, connectivity and networking. It’s also important to select for soft skills like problem solving, team work and communication as technically-excellent IT professionals with no ability to work together rarely deliver on their potential.

What to look for: Assessing technical proficiency can be done looking at industry accreditations, certifications and vendor partnerships. You may also want to ask potential MSPs about staff skillsets, how specialists are organized and share knowledge, and how best practices are communicated within the organisation.

Why it matters: A good understanding of the core technologies is vital, but long-term growth potential can only be realised if your MSP is also keyed into your business, and understands the journey you are going on.

In an ideal world, any MSP would want to invest in understanding your industry; the pressures your business deals with, and the challenges you will face as you scale. They’d be asking questions about your requirements 1, 3 and 5 years into the future, would want to know what your growth strategy looks like and, above all, how you see technology supporting your goals.

They’d also be collaborative in their approach; working with you to build out a solid understanding of your day-to-day requirements and offering advisory services like roadmap planning and/or reviews of your current tech stack to ensure that you have a strong foundation for future growth.

What to look for: Case studies that suggest long-term collaboration and a focus on delivering beyond operational requirements. It may also help to quiz references on strategic input and ask for tangible examples of work designed to support long-term growth.

Why it matters: In a rapidly-evolving and increasingly multifaceted environment, strong cybersecurity skills are a must. To adequately defend your business from external threats, these skills must be baked into every aspect of a potential partner’s offering:

It’s one thing to offer standalone cybersecurity services, another to ensure that everything from OS updates to network planning are done with cybersecurity best practices in mind.

Ideally, potential MSPs would also offer cybersecurity training to potential partners, and/or coach organisations through industry-standard certifications like Cybersecurity Essentials, or Cybersecurity Essentials Plus. You may not need these certifications, but an MSP’s ability to guide organisations through the certification process speaks volumes about how deeply ingrained cybersecurity has become in their practice.

What to look for: Cybersecurity certifications, and relationships with market-leading cybersecurity technology vendors are good indicators, but to ensure that MSPs are fully skilled up in this area, it’s important to probe the work they do to stay on top of current best practice, and continually improve their cybersecurity offering.

Why it matters: Failure to select a partner with this capacity for growth will either hinder your ability to deliver digital transformation, or force you to exit your contract and repeat the selection process when you outgrow your provider.

Call it scalability, flexibility or agility; whatever your chosen buzzword, it’s critical that future partners will be able to support you as you scale. For example, you’ll need a partner that can provide the manpower needed to monitor and maintain your IT environment in 3 and 5 years time, and the technical proficiency needed to run the tech a future version of your business depends on.

There’s a process element at play here too: A good MSP has an elastic service model, but uses formalised frameworks and strong processes to ensure that delivery is always good. They also maintain clear escalation paths and accountability models so that clients are never unsure of how or when a specific requirement will be services.

What to look for: It can be hard to accurately assess scalability, but a frank conversation about how potential partners plan to support an increasingly complex requirement will help. You can also look for case studies that evidence an evolving offering (or ask references whether potential partners have supported growth).

Selecting the right MSP is challenging, and the consequences for making a poor choice are as significant as they are hard to detect. This document provides a framework that moves beyond weak signals like reputation, financial stability or accreditations and seeks to help you dig into the fundamental skills an MSP will need to support growth.

But it’s important to remember that no amount of prescriptive advice will guarantee a good choice. Above all, remember that you are selecting a partner, and not a vendor. There’s an indefinable human element to this process that can’t be overlooked, and while it’s important to consider everything from cybersecurity credentials to internal skillset, it’s equally important to make sure that you can see yourself working with a potential partner for the next 3, 5 or 10 years.