What to Look For in a Managed Services Provider

Many organizations are struggling with the management of IT during this time of supply chain challenges and talent shortages. 

Cloud adoption, in particular, requires skills and resources beyond what many organizations have at the ready. 

The good news is that by partnering with a managed services provider (MSP), organizations like yours can effectively manage their operations and IT. This means you can adopt new cloud platforms without having to ramp up teams and onboard expensive new talent.

You can also stay focused on the core areas of your business without the strain and expense of rearchitecting your business and transforming your IT process.

But before you can partner with an MSP, you’ve got to find one.

What to look for in an MSP

Any MSP your organization considers partnering with should have a proven track record. This may seem obvious, but knowing that IT is the backbone of your business, you want to ensure it’s in good hands.

Beyond verifiable successes, here are six things you should look for when scouting MSPs:

1. End-to-end capabilities

Depending on your organization’s needs, you may need a full-service provider to handle management. Plus, if you’re adopting the cloud, you will also need cloud migration services. 

Even if you’re already in the cloud, an MSP with the full array of capabilities will most likely be aware of—and can help you implement—cutting edge technologies that may benefit your organization as they arrive.

2. Terms alignment

MSPs need to align with the terms and conditions, service level agreements (SLAs), and scope of services. This will likely require consensus among legal, management, and IT leadership.

Additionally, the MSP should not require vendor lock-in, since this typically results in you being saddled with proprietary technologies that are not compatible with competing MSPs.

3. Innovation

An MSP needs to match your modernization initiatives. 

That means they need to be forward-thinking themselves, with the ability to bring you new solutions that can expand your business while still helping you achieve cost savings and flexibility in how you manage your workloads.

4. Choice in pricing models

Typically, MSPs offer two pricing models: per-device monitoring and per-user pricing. 

Per-device monitoring is fairly common since its model of a flat fee for monitoring certain devices provides flexibility. Per-user pricing is similar, only the flat fee is applied per user.

Some MSPs, including Redapt, offer tiered pricing where top-tier packages include the most services provided. This often delivers the most value to organizations, depending on their needs.

5. Continuous optimization

MSPs should serve as long-term partners in order for your organization to realize the full value of the partnership. Continuous optimization delivers cost controls, governance, and accountability to ensure ongoing benefit to your organization.

6. Global delivery network

For those organizations with an existing or potential global footprint, MSPs that offer a global delivery network can be critical due to the ability to increase capacity at scale and manage cloud networks across the globe.

In the coming years, MSPs will increase insignificance when it comes to strategic partnerships in the digital economy. Click here to learn more about our managed service offerings. Or, get in touch with one of our experts here to get started.