What to Look for in a Managed Services Provider?

The landscape of managed services providers can be unwieldy and get complicated quick. Here’s what to look for in a managed services provider:

Service Levels

The MSP should offer 24/7/365 fully managed services and provide you the flexibility to co-manage the solution or operate on an on-demand basis. As your business scales, your MSP should adapt to meet your requirements.

Certifications

Certifications present an instant test for credibility. An MSP certified by dozens of technology vendors and compliance auditors will keep your solutions up-to-date and in line with industry standards.

Geographic Availability

An MSP with nationwide coverage can grow with your business as you expand into new regional markets and meet the IT needs of multiple locations.

Technical Expertise

Your MSP should have specialists on staff that can handle installation, ongoing management and troubleshooting for every solution set you’re using. Don’t assume that just because the MSP understands cybersecurity, they also understand unified communications and collaboration applications. Select a provider that can deliver genuine expertise for all your services.

Size for Scale & Influence

Small MSPs lack the resources to deliver a fully managed IT solution that spans a broad spectrum of services. Further, the relationship power of large MSPs pays off in ways that smaller MSPs can’t match. For instance, the senior staff at TPx can get the head of engineering at Cisco to help us design a customized solution on our UCx with Webex platform. Smaller and regional MSPs don’t have that same clout.

Technical Infrastructure

Your MSP should have the infrastructure necessary to manage the solutions they’re providing. These include capital investments like Network Operations Centers (NOCs) for managed network providers, Security Operations Centers (SOCs) for managed security vendors, remote desktop access for instantaneous support and testing labs for testing firmware and software updates in staging environments before applying them to your live setup.