A Managed IT Service Provider (MSP) can help your business leverage the benefits of current and emerging IT solutions, ensuring your company grows and prospers. Enclosed are 25 value points to see if you’re ready or should consider making the move to managed IT services. An MSP is a cost-effective solution that can scale with you as your business grows, integrating new processes and updating existing ones. And while an MSP is hard at work maintaining your organizations IT services and infrastructures, your internal team can focus on its own growth-related initiatives.

Partnering with a Managed Services Provider is a critical investment in your business’s stability. What should you look for when choosing MSP?  While MSP’s fundamentals don’t vary much across the board, every industry has unique needs, including operating standards, legal and compliance issues. If you have concerns with security or are involved in compliance you really should be considering an MSP who is also MSSP (Managed Security Service Provider). Whether you’re a bank, healthcare provider, grocery store, or manufacturer, the MSP you engage should be experienced and knowledgeable about working with your industry.

In the best practices guide, 25 value points of an MSP, the word MSP is used synonymous with the following characteristics of a quality MSP or MSSP.

• Stability: How long have they been in practice and who are there customers? Most MSP’s are either acquiring or planning to acquire other MSP’s, do you want that? What is their philosophy?
• Staff and Team: What are their skills, training programs, certifications, years of experience and does their culture align with your business?
• Processes: What are their day-to-day processes? Are they following compliances such as SOC 2, and other security reporting? What is their process if there is a crisis?
• Visionary: What is their track record on staying up to date on new technology deployments, tools they are using, and how do they view where cloud solutions bring value?
• Automation: Errors are going to happen if we have humans engaged. How do they use automation to help make redundant processes more efficient and make sure things are completed? Do they suggest ways to help your internal processes by using automation?
• Collaboration and Consultancy: Will you be a number, or will they create a partnership with you to understand your organization needs and vision and regularly meet with you?
• 7 X 24 X 365 Live Support. Working remotely at all hours of day and night from multiple locations and time zones your systems will need to be available. Security solutions need to have human eyes monitoring day and night as bad actors go around the clock.

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