IT is essential for your business. So what questions should you ask a managed service provider (MSP) to ensure they are the right fit to set your technology systems up for success?
Why The Questions You Ask Matter
As a business owner myself, I know the importance of finding and working with partners and vendors you can trust and care about your business succeeding. One tip I’d share with any business owner is that in addition to doing your research, reach out to other business owners and contacts you trust and ask them which providers they partner with. Ask them to share their opinion and experience with their vendors. Google is a great tool, but nothing beats the first-hand feedback you can get from a fellow business owner.
Once you’ve narrowed down the number of MSPs you’d like to evaluate, it’s time to consider the questions you’ll use to vet potential vendors. To be clear, the five questions shared below should be included but are not the only questions you should be asking. Take a moment to think about the following:
- Your company’s mission and your goals
- The technology systems you currently have in place, their ease of use, and your employee’s knowledge of them
- The biggest technology challenges or roadblocks that might be hindering your progress
- Your budget and how much you can invest
Once you have all of that outlined, do some research on the vendors’ websites. Look at the services they provide and note how they speak about their company and their clients. From there, develop a series of questions, and don’t be afraid to get specific or technical. After all, you are hiring a technology expert.
Now, add the below five questions to the list you’ve already created. Answers to these questions will help you discover if the vendors’ goals and style of collaboration are aligned with your own.
5 Questions to Ask When Vetting Managed Service Providers
1.) Based on the information we’ve shared about our company’s needs, what strategic suggestions can you offer at this time? To be fair, since you’re in the interview phase, you can’t expect the vendor to understand every facet of your business. However, you can expect their response to be customized based on what you’ve shared thus far. It’s a red flag if they respond with a generic, one size fits all answer that doesn’t address the challenges you’ve mentioned. You want their response to resonate with what your company needs specifically.
2.) What services and expertise do you offer, and can we work with you on all our IT-related needs? Businesses often have a team of vendors specializing in a different service. However, when it comes to IT services, it pays to hire an MSP who takes care of everything from device upgrades and internet access points to backup and recovery. Ultimately, it’s beneficial to have a vendor who knows all of your systems. This approach will save you time and money. It also means your vendor can handle any interrelated issues that arise.
3.) Are your technicians required to do professional development? You want to know that the team you’re working with our experts will advise you on the latest software and technology updates. Continued learning is a must for their team to ensure your tech will remain current.
4.) Do you have service level agreements that keep both parties in the contract accountable? When signing on any vendor, you want to ensure they have service level agreements, or SLAs, that hold their team accountable. This way, you have something concrete to go back to and measure against during progress reports and project milestones.
5.) How easy is it to contact your provider by phone and talk to someone who intimately knows my network environment and business operations when we need help? This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s an important question. Communication is critical. You need to understand who you can reach, when, and what the process looks like outside of ordinary progress meetings. IT system never sleeps. If you encounter a problem on a weekend or an evening, you need to know if a vendor will be able to support you.
When you’re hiring someone to manage the IT building blocks of your business, you must ask the tricky questions. A great IT provider won’t mind and will answer them thoroughly. At Smooth-IT, we’re always happy to answer any questions from our clients and potential clients. Since we’re in the IT business, it’s a very true statement that your success is our success. Learn more about our philosophy and mission here.
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