Trusting another company to look over your IT infrastructure can be a very difficult thing to do. Today’s business landscape requires organizations to be increasingly dependent on the strength of their cyber security and IT team to hold the fort down and keep the company moving day to day. But technology and cyber security is an industry that is constantly evolving, and the challenges businesses are facing include how to keep up and finding out what the right questions are to ask when choosing an IT partner. The following guidelines can help lead business owners in the right direction.
1. Can They Prove Themselves?
Many MSP’s (managed service providers) claim that they are the premier, number one or most experienced in your area, but can they prove it? A truly premier MSP should be willing to show you their operations and invite you to their headquarters to see just what resources they have and how they plan to achieve your IT goals. This level of transparency should come with any MSP that wants your business. If you are willing to trust them with your company data, they should be at least able to show you their operations and make you familiar with their staff of IT professionals that will be handling your infrastructure. Successful experts should also reflect a proven track record for dealing with IT issues, so do your research! Look around to find testimonials from other companies that are dealing with this MSP, do they have nice things to say? MSP’s that have open client testimonials and good reviews should be on top of your list for a potential partnership.
2. Don’t Be Another Line Item
Your business is unlike any other, even others in your industry do not have the exact employees with the same exact processes, so why should your technology services be any different? Each organization’s pain points are unique and require customized solutions. If any other MSP is not willing to approach your company’s technology requirements with a tailored technique and a process that focuses on your individual need, then they are not providing the highest level of value.
3. Don’t Think Just Do
Continually identifying incidents, potential threats and risks in a network infrastructure should be a required task for all managed service providers. However, just identifying threats isn’t enough. Working to fix identified holes in an organizations security strategy requires a huge level of focused analysis and evaluation. An MSP should not only be able to fix your problems, but they should be able to do so within a reasonable amount of time. Downtime to an organization is critical, no one can afford for their operations to be put to a screeching halt, especially because of some technical issues. Find that MSP that will guarantee you they will be there when needed and within the time you need them to be.
4. Find a Business Partner
The role of a good MSP is to work cooperatively with a company’s top executives to create a strategy that is relevant and comprehensible throughout the business. They should form a partnership with you and your team in order to help the business grow. A top expert should be able to take confusing topics and make them clear. They should understand that one size does not fit all and a cookie cutter approach to IT does not work anymore. Finally, a good MSP should be able to narrow down the issues to create a cost-effective solution for your organization.
If you have any questions regarding MSP’s and how one can help your business, please feel free to give us a call at 330-750-1428 ECMSI is here to make IT easy!