Tag Archives: why use a managed service provider

Six Workflow Questions to Ask Your Managed Service Provider (MSP)

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A good MSP provider always consults with clients when technology arrives that can deliver innovative solutions and service to their customers.

”A good decision is based on knowledge and not on numbers.” -Plato

In today’s technology and data-driven world, your greatest competitive asset or your biggest headache will be IT. With that in mind you shopped around, received referrals from trusted resources, studied the costs, determined your budget and decided which Managed Service Provider (MSP) your company can afford to hire. However, the answers to these six questions that have to do with workflow rather than numbers are equally important before you sign on the dotted line.

1) How are issues handled and how long is the response time?

A good MSP documents the systems in place to prevent an issue from reoccurring and corresponds with you in a timely manner. At the very least, when you ask for support, you should receive an acknowledgment immediately, and a response from a support technician shortly after that. If the issue is unsolvable by the first response, you should be notified of when you could look forward to a resolution of your issue.

2) How are response times categorized?

Every MSP has systems in place to sort out issues. The seriousness of each issue is determined and categorized by the amount of workflow that is impacted and the number of employees unable to complete their tasks.

If your business cannot function at all, there should be a response within 5 to 15 minutes after you have alerted your MSP of this problem.

If critical applications have gone offline or are not functioning, impacting entire departments or a significant portion of your business, you should receive a response within 15 to 30 minutes of your notification.

If some employees are being prevented from doing their work, due to application slowness or because of lost or missing data, a MSP technician should contact you within 1 to 2 hours after being alerted of your issue.

If only a few employees are impacted, but it is still “business as usual,” you may be asked to schedule an appointment at a later time.

3) Will you be consulted when newer, more efficient products become available?

A good MSP provider always consults with clients when technology arrives that can deliver innovative solutions and service to their customers. The recommendations should justify the cost of upgrading through increased efficiency, security or long-term savings. In addition, the recommendations should be supported by data and reports directly linked to your business functions and priorities.

4) How will you be notified of increased or one-time costs?

One of the reasons to contract with a MSP is to help you maintain your IT budget. To be able to forecast and chart fixed expenses. A good MSP will give you a detailed account of what is and what isn’t covered. It is important to make sure that not only you, but also your employees, understand what IT needs are covered in the MSP contract. If your support is contracted for a specific or limited amount of monthly time, ask if you will be notified when that contracted time is close to expiring. It should be absolutely clear to you and completely itemized regarding what is being covered in terms of time, cost and open issues.

5) Who will be handling my business?

When you call for support, knowing which technicians to ask for and trusting that they know your unique business needs is paramount to your company’s IT well-being. You should be provided a set group of representatives acquainted with your IT needs and workflow necessities. Every business has its share of employee turnover, and while it is important to understand that new employees will need time to “get up-to-speed”, it is also important to understand that you should not have to explain your business or reoccurring events every time you reach out for support.

6)Where does the proverbial “buck” stop?

Contracting with a MSP means a single company is monitoring and managing all your IT assets. Although you will still require an internet provider and probably other software applications, a dedicated MSP will have a working knowledge of the other IT services linked with your account. You should be alerted before something becomes problematic, even if it is a periphery resource. Contact us, you need an advocate that will work for you in all your IT needs.

Why Your Managed Service Provider Should Be Comprehensive in Remote and In-Person Services

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All managed services we provide work either remotely or through in-person visits. We feel combining the two is important so it's not just one or the other.

All managed services we provide work either remotely or through in-person visits. We feel combining the two is important so it’s not just one or the other.

Any managed service provider worth its price should never have limited services to help your business run more efficiently. Just like a regular manager of a company, true management means being comprehensive in making sure every aspect of a business runs well. Sometimes this means in unexpected areas you perhaps overlooked.

This is the philosophy we take here at SystemsNet where we provide an excellent managed service with no angles missed. We named our service Vita, with three different tiers providing everything you need to keep your business running well. However, we added some additional things we know businesses sometimes don’t consider.

All managed services we provide work either remotely or through in-person visits. We feel combining the two is important so it’s not just one or the other. When it’s entirely in-person visitations, IT management sometimes gets in the way. If it’s entirely done remotely, some services requiring in-person repair get ignored and leave a business more vulnerable.

Take a look at some areas we focus on that provide services you don’t always find elsewhere, other than the usual promises of backup and recovery.

A More Comprehensive Help Desk

Back in the old days of the help desk, you usually had to follow directions from a technician over the phone. While you still see some of that today, our help desk is more convenient and more comprehensive in getting things fixed. Most of the time, it’s done remotely while we keep things monitored. Many times, we’ll catch issues before you even know they happened, and we’ll fix them without incident.

Other times, you’ll need some on-site help. Some technical issues aren’t always fixable directly through an Internet line. A number of these in-person visits are stand-alone technical services we provide. They’re also done at your convenience so they don’t interfere with a busy work day and disrupt your employees.

Repairing Cables and Wiring

One of the above individual in-person services we provide is helping you deal with any cable or wiring issues within your company headquarters. We know that cables and wires are sometimes a major problem when you have limited space. While wireless services are plenty, you still need proper wiring for Internet and your desktop computers as just starters.

Even if all tech will eventually go wireless, we’re there for you to help you properly place cables and wires so they don’t become obtrusive. Also, if you suspect you need to replace any cables or wiring due to bad connections, we’re there to help scope it out and replace them immediately.

Consultations on Hardware and Software

The world of technology changes constantly, and keeping up on which software or hardware is the best for your company is daunting without some guidance. This is part of our service to you, almost as a form of a consultancy. While many consultants will tell you which hardware and software is the best in the industry, they have to understand whether it’s really right for you first.

Using our management services first, we determine whether certain hardware or software is really a right fit for you. Much of that hardware and software is useable through the cloud.

Training Your Employees

You’ve perhaps forgotten how important it is to train your employees so they understand the technology they’re using. Rather than attempt to train them yourself or hire an outsider training course that doesn’t understand your company structure, we provide this service for you. Since we’ll already understand what you need, training is more efficient and done on your own time.

Contact us here at SystemsNet to find out more about our Vita, Vita Plus, and Vita Pro managed services. You’ll have nothing overlooked for the ultimate in IT management.

How to Choose the Best Managed Service Provider (MSP)

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Quality Managed Service Providers will go beyond simple monitoring and management by preventing problems and ensuring continuous improvement.

Quality Managed Service Providers will go beyond simple monitoring and management by preventing problems and ensuring continuous improvement.

IT solutions today have redefined efficiency and effectiveness in any process, specifically in business operations. Yet the rapidly increasing reliance on IT is often not supported by resources needed for the complex IT environment. This is where managed service providers step in to provide professional assistance for businesses to assist in the delivery and management of IT operations. Despite this, the potential benefits of managed services can only be unlocked by selecting the right provider.

First, consider what kinds of services your business needs and which provider can best suit those needs. The provider selected needs an understanding of your unique service needs. This should be a priority, by offering more than just a “cookie cutter” solution. Giving you plenty of choices in your IT management are important so that your business can select the best option, whether it involves network speeds for each user or location, business-class voice services, range of equipment, or fee structures.

Also find out if providers are proactive in IT services management. Providers that take this approach will go beyond simple monitoring and management; preventing problems and ensuring continuous improvement are priorities to these providers. Sophisticated technology should elevate services to not only offer better solutions, but also to reduce human intervention to improve quality and productivity.

Managed service providers should measure up in terms of skills and experience. Providers should offer skills beyond basic maintenance and management to ensure that they are prepared to handle your requirements. Some areas to question your provider on may include: change management, virtualization, availability of staff, databases, security, cloud technologies, etc. It is crucial to ensure providers have the expertise across all delivery models so your business achieves an integrated multi-sourcing strategy.

Ensure that your provider is able to consistently provide services worldwide. Unified communication services globally are vital to supporting current and potential operations in various locations.

The success of business processes migrating to converged communications should depend on your provider using the ITIL standards. By ensuring that your provider is aligned with the best practices defined in ICT processes, customer service is optimized even on a global infrastructure, through quality delivery, SLAs, regular reporting and a control structure.

For more information on how we can help you choose the best managed service provider, contact us.