Nowadays, the incorporation of IT into your work space is a key element towards the success of any business or enterprise, regardless of its size or sector. More often than not organizations turn to IT managed service providers to help them in the implementation and management of critical It resources. Here are some useful tips and things to look for in your next It Managed service provider.
1. Identify Business Requirements
Before starting to look at prices and comparing companies through that sole indicator, it is best to analyze the needs of your company. Most managed IT providers have a selection of services that can benefit your business. These can range from communication tools to help your teams be more productive, to back-end cyber-security technologies and policies to protect your network from cyber-threats.
Any business needs a good IT service provider in order to be successful, and implementing some of the technology needs of a business is often not an easy task. Therefore, it's prudent to leave IT management to the hands of true specialists. A managed IT service provider's job is to ensure all of your workspace's technology needs are met.
2. Find potential partners that align to your requirements
Once you have identified your business requirements, you can start doing research and analyze the different offers and skills managed services partners have. Although most organizations tend to work with Managed Service providers that have industry-specific knowledge, more important than this is to work with a company that understand the impact of technology in business outcomes as their view of technology will be more holistic providing you with powerful insights into how to optimize your IT investments.
3. Evaluate Providers based on key capabilities and expertise
When finding an IT Managed service provider there are seven key capabilities that will determine their knowledge, experience and give you a better idea of their approach to managing technology environments.
Experience in the market: In a very competitive market, choosing a seasoned managed IT service provider is the best way to ensure a top of the line service. A proven track record of having attended to diverse cases, with a history of offering efficient technology solutions that have led to the satisfaction of their customers.
Knowledge and Innovation: MSPs (Managed Services Providers) need to be knowledgeable in industry leading solutions, having partnerships with industry leaders such as Cisco, Microsoft and DellEMc is a good indicator of the level of specialization a partner can have to deploy and manage a high-performing solution. Moreover, look for a MSP who has innovated developing their proprietary solutions based on these technologies. Many times these solutions will be tailored and fully designed for SMBs like yours with a backend of enterprise technologies.
Efficient IT advisory services: An ideal managed IT service provider should make a personalized strategic plan for your company, and then advise you on the best ways to implement technology so you can reduce costs and maximize efficiency, while at the same time getting all your IT needs. Effective assistance is not limited to face-to-face but must also be done remotely. Make sure the IT service provider has experts that offer a personalized consulting service for your business. Finally, the services that work best are those that maintain a balanced cost-benefit relationship.
Offer range of services: An IT service provider with experience in services like cybersecurity, networking, and systems can offer a comprehensive view of your technology environment. All of these technologies work in tandem towards your business success so finding an IT service provider that understands it that way is essential as you can trust more and more of your infrastructure to them knowing you are in great hands. In this day and age in which cloud technology is becoming more and more prominent, ensuring that the provider offers cloud solutions as well as full migration should be a priority.
Cyber-security: A company that offers proper security for your company should be a priority. Items like firewalls are important to prevent something unexpected from happening with your data, as well as from hedging against cyber-attackers. A company that offers credible security services should be necessary in order to protect your data and make sure IT operations in your business run smoothly.
Certified experts: Not all managed service providers have them. Accreditation of a recognized certification guarantees maturity, experience in the work processes and adds greater value for the clients. The quality of the training of technicians adds to the incorporation of effective solutions that are adjusted to the diverse IT needs a company might have.
Constantly updated: Ensuring efficient communication and maintaining a good relationship with their clients should be prioritized by your IT managed service provider. Full transparency should be available, as well as support that works for your company’s working hours.
Furthermore, by following these general guidelines towards choosing the best managed IT service provider for your company, your company will be benefited, given that it will ensure the best possible outcome for all your technology needs while at the same time maximizing your return on investment.
These tips are the result of what we've seen with our customers over the past ten years. They summarized some of the biggest concerns businesses like yours have expressed when hiring Tekscape as their managed service provider. How have we helped?
- By reducing the complexity of IT deployments making it easier for our customers to reallocate resources into more business centric technologies.
- By increasing the return on investment for various companies and helping increase workforce productivity through collaboration solutions.
- By ensuring smoothly run IT operations for several companies providing 24/7 assistance for any issues that may arise.
Proactive IT Managed Services
A proactive approach to IT managed services will give you peace of mind, your critical technologies and processes are constantly being monitored to detect any issues before they can cause any business disruptions.
Partners like Tekscape have an approach with clear steps that add value, visibility and transparency into the management of your technology infrastructure.
Learn More about Tekscape’s Approach to Network Managed Services.
