Why Use a Managed Service Provider (MSP)? Seven Questions to Ask

It can take an army to track the numerous tasks that today’s IT departments must manage and complete. In fact, many businesses do enlist the help of others — they’re known as managed service providers (MSPs). Before a business jumps on the MSP bandwagon, it’s important to ask why you should use a managed service provider and consider other potential questions, so you get the MSP that best fits your needs.

Why Work with a Managed Service Provider? The Benefits of MSPs

Managed services don’t just hide the mess; they clean it up by implementing the appropriate tools, experience, and practices. Furthermore, effective managed services also give your company a competitive edge, offering increased efficiencies, faster technology, and improved internal communications. Another reason why you should hire a managed service provider is improved security and compliance risk. Your MSP will know how to keep your data safe on an everyday basis, while also keeping your data secure during a disaster. Here are what we consider the six most important questions that you should ask your potential MSP:

1. How Much Will Your MSP Enable You to Stay Ahead of the Competition?

Rather than asking if your MSP can help your IT department, try asking how much of a difference they will make. If an MSP can’t make a difference for your business, they aren’t a team you want to partner with anyway. Remember that you can also define what success looks like for your partnership and what metrics you feel are the most important for success.

2. How Will Your MSP Assist Us in Quickly Adopting the Latest Technologies?

This is another question where you should already assume that an MSP can help you adopt new technologies, so it’s not a matter of “if” but rather of “when.” As trends continue to move away from device-based storage and hardware in favor of cloud-based solutions, it’s important to know how your MSP can help you avoid inefficiencies and pain points during this transitional period.

3. Can This MSP Provide Transparency Without Becoming a Distraction?

You want to know what’s going on with your organization, but you don’t need to see every detail of each IT issue. It’s important that your MSP can provide information on each IT problem. Still, they should be willing to work with your organization to distribute that information as you need it — without overwhelming you.

4. How Will Your MSP Enhance Our Innovation and Collaboration Efforts?

An ideal MSP should have the ability to not only integrate with your current processes and plans but also offer ways that they can enhance or possibly even improve them. Can your MSP help streamline operations, deliver more IT value to your business, remain innovative with the latest technologies, and clean up an IT mess after taking it off your hands?

5. Will Your MSP Have Us Prepared for the Next Disruptive Technology Wave?

Technology is constantly advancing, so it is a matter of “when” the next disruption hits, not “if.” You need an MSP who can see the trends coming and won’t get caught flat-footed and unprepared when the next wave hits.

6. How Will Your MSP Encourage a Partnership Instead of a Transaction?

We have all heard of outsourcing nightmares, but less discussed is when companies feel invisible to their MSP, like just another account number. Look for one that’s eager to work with you and invest itself in your shared success.

7. When It Comes to the Bottom Line, Can This MSP Provide Enough Value?

While the intangible benefits of having a trusted MSP are indeed valuable, at the end of the day, why you would use a managed service provider is about dollars and cents. You should look for an MSP that can clear up inefficiencies and allow you to take your organization to new heights — all while saving you money in the long run.

The Bottom Line with MSPs

By now, you can probably see the value in why you should hire a managed service provider, and a better idea of what you should look for in your MSP.  The bottom line, however, is that it’s up to you to start the conversation. If you want to learn more about how your company could benefit from working with a managed service provider, please contact us at New Era Technology today. We’re ready to have this important conversation with you.