How to Know When It’s Time to Look for a New Managed Services Provider
Top-quality Managed Services Providers (MSPs) are adaptable and will build, adapt, and shift as necessary as your business needs change over time. If you’re stuck with an MSP partner who no longer benefits your current business model, it’s time to find a new one. Though this common symptom signifies it’s time to find a new MSP, there are others.
Your MSP Has Problems Responding
Any relationship, whether business or personal, lives and breathes on effective communication. If your MSP cares about the business relationship with your company, expect them to have clear communication routes that run both ways.
Whether you are reaching out through the chat function with a software question, discussing where your business is looking to expand, or simply working on expanding the options for help at your disposal through your MSP, you should expect courteous and timely replies. Additionally, you should feel confident that your MSP is invested in ensuring that their service delivery is up to snuff and that they care about all aspects of your business’s success. If the communication levels shared between you and your MSP are fading, it’s time to look for an MSP who communicates well and shows a true interest in your success.
Downtime and Breakdowns Keep Your Business from Running
One of the essential reasons your business invests in MSP services is to keep all technology running for your business. So, when you experience downtime and frequent breakdowns – especially the kind that should have been prevented by attentive service – it’s time to find a more competent MSP. Don’t wait until there’s serious harm to your business before you consider switching.
Putting You at Risk with Ineffective Cybersecurity & Backup Plans
With security breaches and cyberattacks becoming increasingly intense, your MSP must hold your company’s online security in the highest regard. A good MSP knows that a comprehensive security plan is vital for your business success and helps incorporate end-user training to help your employees steer clear of threats and understand their role in keeping your company’s data and network safe.
If your MSP is not leading the charge on protecting your organization, and/or if your MSP has not locked down an internal plan of security for your company (as well as their own security practices), it’s time to move on.
You’ve Simply Outgrown Them
As alluded to at the top of this article, sometimes your MSP just isn’t capable of keeping pace as you scale your business. If your MSP doesn’t have the bandwidth or up-to-date resources to be an effective partner in your growth, it’s your business that will be most impacted by that struggle in the long run.
This is a common problem: some MSPs provide excellent service for companies of a specific size or industry type but are left behind when they grow past a certain threshold. The best MSPs not only continue accommodating your needs as you grow but actually help you make the technology-related decisions that enhance this growth.
These scenarios can help you assess whether it’s time to look for another MSP. But when it comes time to make the change, you may face another hurdle.
Are Your IT Support Services Stuck by the “Sticky Factor”?
The “sticky factor” is an unfortunate term in the MSP world that alludes to a practice that lassoes a client in and makes it very difficult for them to move on to another provider. The usage of every piece of software, every server, every desktop, and every process is purposefully made so “sticky” that the client feels like they’re trapped in a sticky spider web if they ever feel like it’s time to seek out a vendor who better serves their needs.
In other words, the volume of work, frustration, and accompanying risk it would take the client to go through everything necessary to “un-stick” themselves from the current MSP setup makes them choose just to stay stuck rather than try to find a vendor who could better serve their needs.
deskside is completely against this practice and only selects services, hardware, and software based on the clients’ needs; furthermore, we make sure that whatever we deploy is transferable to the client or their new map should we ever need to.
A client should stay with a vendor because they like the services, not because they are stuck.
Is It Time to Explore Your Options with a New MSP?
If any of the scenarios described here made you think, “yeah, that sounds like our MSP,” you owe it to the future success of your business to see if there’s another MSP who can better serve your needs. The deskside team would be happy to set up a call to determine if we can be the true MSP partner to help your business grow and thrive.