The benefits of partnering with a managed service provider (MSP) cannot be overlooked. Beyond offering peace of mind that your software service is in good hands, trusting a managed service provider to tackle any bugs and fix any problems that may come up frees up your own internal resources time for more value-add work. By partnering with an MSP, you’ll gain benefits such as increased efficiency, access to knowledge, expert advice, years of experience, increased security, and reduced risk.
While these benefits are all very much attainable, it is essential to pick the right Managed Service provider that fits your organizational needs and team structure. Below, we’ll dive into key considerations for selecting a managed services provider.
Ticket Response Time
When meeting with potential managed service providers, one of the questions at the top of your list will likely be what kind of response time can I expect? Having a clear idea of how and when you can seek help from your managed service provider will give you peace of mind and help both organizations to forge a trusting relationship.
For the most part, providers should be upfront regarding their policy for responding to submitted tickets and what kind of response times clients can expect. This is usually in the form of an agreed-upon Service Level Agreement (SLA), defining the amount of time to be expected for issue resolution depending upon the level of severity of the issue.
Industry Experience
In the technical support world, experience is everything. Industry experience is most important for those whose work involves skill and specialized knowledge that takes years to gain. By partnering with a managed service team with plenty of industry experience, you are ensuring that your IT partner has seen it all. The value of relevant experience to your industry or organizational structure cannot be underestimated.
A team with years of experience will know what needs to be done and how to do it, reducing the overall time and effort required to complete tickets and make sure that tasks are resolved in a timely and accurate manner.
Experience Managing Remote Work
With remote work at the forefront of our world today, the ability to manage tickets and offer support remotely is critical. The managed services provider that you select should be able to provide client success stories highlighting successful remote work and resolutions.
Scalability
What happens if your support needs change in the future? The ability to grow, maintain, or expand the level of support your organization has come to expect is crucial to success. Taking stock of each MSP and their ability to scale up their support efforts should the needs of your organization change is a necessary step that can increase the odds of forming a long-lasting relationship.
Note and compare the different levels of support they offer. Predicting future needs and growth can be difficult, but having peace of mind that scaling up can be accomplished further down the road if needed is highly valuable to your organization.
Conclusion
The value partnering with a managed service provider can bring to your organization goes beyond cost-savings and protecting the bottom line. A knowledgeable, professional team in your corner that can grow and scale along with your company is an invaluable asset. If you haven’t already, looking into partnering with an MSP to free up your IT staff bandwidth and reduce costs is worthwhile.
Elire is here to help. View our managed services page and download our informational one sheet here for more information. In the meantime, check out this blog piece on The Great Resignation and How to Support Your IT Services here.