- How long have you been in business?
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, roughly 50% of small businesses fail within the first 5 years and you want to work with a company who is going to be there for a while and has learned how to be efficient in providing the service you deserve.
Additionally, Managed Services is not an easy service to provide and takes a lot of time, processes, people, and investments. It takes 6-10 years to get good at something, depending on how often and how much you do it. Some estimate that it takes 10,000 hours to master something.
- What is your billing model?
Technology spending based on time and materials creates a natural conflict of interest for clients and vendors because you don’t want to have to pay a vendor to come back and work on an issue which wasn’t fixed properly the first time. A better billing model charges a fixed fee (vs. an hourly one) for portions or all of the support.
- Is onsite support included in your billing model?
Technology spending based on time and materials creates a natural conflict of interest for clients and vendors because you don’t want to have to pay a vendor to come back and work on an issue which wasn’t fixed properly the first time. A better billing model charges a fixed fee (vs. an hourly one) for portions or all of the support.
- How many engineers do you have on staff? What is the availability of your helpdesk?
You should be looking for a company who has the ability to support your entire staff and has the capability to work with you while they have to support their other clients as well. You also want to be able to call the helpdesk during a timeframe that works for your organization.
- What are your technical specialties?
To gauge the best fit for your business, he suggests, look for providers with references and experience in your particular industry.
- How many clients do you have on your Managed IT Services Solution?
You should look for a company that knows what they are doing and this is a good measurement in many cases.
- How will things work when your technician arrives?
Standard, repeatable processes should be in place. “For example,” Trottier says, “the technician should check in with their point of contact, review open items, resolve what can be resolved on-site, assign items to remote staff as needed, and check out with the point of contact, explaining where things stand.”
- What response times do you guarantee?
A solid IT support contract guarantees someone from the managed service provider will respond to problems and requests within a given period of time. Without that, response times for ad hoc agreements leave the business vulnerable to whatever other, higher-priority commitments the service provider has.
- What does the agreement cover?
Increasingly, small-business owners rely on more than just the PCs in their stores or offices. If your company uses tablets, smartphones, or even just other peripherals, such as printers, be sure those devices are covered in your agreement if you want them serviced too. Equally important, if certain hardware, software, or services are not covered by the agreement, that’s good to know in advance, so you can plan accordingly.
- What type of insurance do you have, and how much?
Everybody makes mistakes. Accidents happen. Smaller managed service providers may not have the resources on their own to help you recover from these unforeseen events, but their insurance companies can.
- Do you provide services proactively?
Preventive, proactive maintenance lowers your total cost of ownership over time and many small- to mid-sized businesses have outdated technology systems that are not maintained or managed correctly. A good MSP will utilize technology to proactively monitor and prevent downtime.
- What is the length of the contract?
Anyone can enter into a contract. When things don’t go as planned and the managed service provider doesn’t take steps to correct the situation promptly, you’ll want to know how to get out of the contract — or at least how much longer you’ll have to put up with it.
- How do you measure customer satisfaction?
A good managed services provider will conduct surveys online and via telephone to check on the status of their support and will meet with their customers at regularly to discuss how things are going and what should be planned going forward.
- Are you on the MSP Mentor 501 List?
MSPmentor publishes the top 501 Managed Services Providers every year and this is a good way to measure a partner. The MSPs on the list know what they are doing and there is no guessing. They must be doing something right to be able to be one of the top MSPs in the world.
Again, no matter what Managed Services Provider you choose, the above questions should help you select one that make sense for your business goals and employees.