How Do I Onboard When Working With an MSP?
Partnering with a Managed Service Provider (MSP) offers a wide range of benefits for your business. You may wonder if an MSP is right for you and what working with an MSP entails. Of course, this is different for every individual and every business. This article will cover various scenarios that you should find helpful, aiding your decision to migrate to an MSP structure.
1. Moving a one-person team to an MSP
If you are a smaller business, you may likely have a one-person IT department. This could be an original employee and someone you have a great affinity with.
Like all businesses, there comes a time where the company outgrows some systems and ways of working. Your needs as a business could be far beyond the capability of one person.
This is where migrating to an MSP will benefit your business. Together with your current IT technician, you are looking to expand your capabilities, and it could be valuable that said employee is working alongside an IT support company. This means continued support in their absence, safeguarding the business from potential shortcomings.
2. Moving a larger team to an MSP
The following scenario relates to having a larger internal IT team. This could involve your own helpdesk, first-line technician and a selection of specialists – all changing to working with an MSP.
Having an internal team of engineers comes with many complications, such as an employee deciding to leave and needing to recruit for a position. This involves:
> Ensuring a thorough handover
> Training the new engineer with a lengthy induction process.
What happens if, after this six-month probation, you decide they are not the right fit? You would have wasted so much time and energy when working with an MSP would have solved these problems instantly.
Working with an IT support company such as an MSP has the following benefits:
> Save money through fixed monthly fees rather than paying for salaries with annual leave and sick pay.
> An MSP can manage technology supply orders and set up hardware for your business – keeping it offsite until it is ready to go. No clutter is excellent for you.
Like the previous example, having a few internal staff on the IT team to work alongside the offsite company is beneficial. They can aid in working with an MSP, acting as a bridge to keep things running smoothly.
3. Moving from one MSP to another
You’ve already undertaken the decision of working with an MSP. What a good decision that is. Though, you might have realised this MSP is not the right fit for you and your business.
Some of the things to consider when assessing the quality of an MSP are:
> Will they provide proactive advice? It is important to be up to date with current technology. Working with an IT support company should provide the expertise that serves when needed and proactively advises as they see fit.
> They should hold reviews of the business every quarter to look for improvements.
> Constant monitoring of the business should take place.
> You should get a continuity of service. You should not be answering the same questions, and you should be dealing with the same person each time.
> The MSP should provide engineers dedicated to your company or accurate handover notes to other engineers.
4. Moving from pay as you go support to an MSP
If you’re not already partnered with a Managed Service Provider, you may be receiving outsourced IT support. It is common to see many businesses requiring ad-hoc support from time to time and structuring it on a pay as you go feature of their company. While this is a good solution for the occasional break or fault, it can be detrimental to your business in a variety of ways:
> If calls to your IT support increase – so will your bill. The pay as you go structure of the agreement means the more work, the more cost to you and the business.
> There is no guarantee of the quality of service you will receive. You have no idea how sound the engineer is at their job and are stuck with whoever gets put on your job.
> Each time a problem arises, you are likely dealing with someone different from the support company.
Working with an MSP would solve all of the above issues, with a strong agreement in place that offers a certain work quality at a fixed rate.
Want to move to an MSP?
If you’d like to discuss your options further, then reach out today. We can discuss your specific needs and tailor a solution that directly impacts the success of your business.
If you like the sound of the ‘hands-off’ experience and having your IT and Cybersecurity taken care of by highly trained professionals, we would love to hear from you. Call our friendly team of experts on 0345 314 2001 for a relaxed chat about how we can make all this happen for you.
Alternatively, feel free to email us from our contact page here.
Our team is ready and waiting to help in any way they can.
Comments are closed.