Modern businesses are increasingly inclined to work with managed service providers (MSPs) in order to delegate IT tasks to professionals who have the know-how and experience. They manage cloud services, software, hardware, and other tech needs remotely – but the ones you should target should also have a physical office around you, or the possibility to send experts physically when you need on-site support for urgent issues or complex installations. Not every provider is built equal – some may seem the perfect match, until your business scales and they leave you hanging. Other MSPs sound excellent on paper; however, they care about closing a contract more than about offering real value.
There are several green flags that should be present in any MSP you’re considering. Four of the most important ones we’re discovering down below so you can make the best decision for the business you’re managing today – and the business you plan to grow into.
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Industry-standard certifications
It’s one thing to boast some qualities and another thing to actually be able to do the acclaimed job. That’s why you want to make sure an industry authority vouches for the capabilities stated by your targeted MSP – and here is where certifications come into play. They don’t just demonstrate to you how capable an MSP is, but also show that the provider is committed enough to have their operations and entire business tested, advance and keep pace with technological breakthroughs, constantly refine their services, and last but not least, put in the effort to sustain their advertising with real, verifiable facts.
The best MSPs have several, industry-recognized certifications in their CVs, like CEH, CHFI, CISSP, CCSP, CCISO, and SOC 2 Type 2 certifications. They all attest to different milestones and capabilities in an MSP – for instance, the CEH certificate is offered for those who have demonstrated they can enter the mind of a hacker and thus unearth vulnerabilities and weak points in a system to fix them before they turn into real issues. At the same time, a CCSP certificate proves that the certified MSP has the necessary tech capability and skill to create, manage, and secure infrastructure, apps, and data in the cloud, following the best standards in the industry.
The SOC 2 Type 2 report is another green flag that you’re looking at a competent MSP, as it implies the operator’s activity has been evaluated over an extended timeframe by an independent third-party auditor, who verified everything from how the audited organization maintains user data securely to how strict security and confidentiality standards are maintained, and more. In the era of AI-empowered cybersecurity threats, you can’t afford to leave your security to chance.
A good understanding of your goals
Needless to say, the MSP you’re targeting must have a solid understanding of all things tech. But is it enough, considering you’ll entrust them with your IT infrastructure for one, three, or ten years down the road? Not quite. Your choice of provider has to be deeply attuned to your business’s goals, aware of your goals, capabilities, and just as importantly, your limitations. Any valuable managed IT partner would invest to truly understand the industry you operate in, from your current struggles to the challenges that’ll emerge as you grow your business. That’s why you should expect them to dig deeply into your plans and expectations down the line, devoted to understanding where you’re envisioning your business years from now, and more importantly, how their technology and expertise can help you achieve your goals.
They should take a cooperative approach as well, working closely with you to really understand what your daily needs look like. Depending on the location of your business, it would be best to look for MSPs who can dispatch engineers on the same day they’re needed to solve technical issues like hardware failures. Suppose you’re running a business in Los Angeles, then the logical thing to do would be to collaborate with an MSP that can dispatch engineers in LA, knowing you’re covered in ways that remote teams can’t do in instances when physical attendance is needed.
Look for proof that your targeted MSP has been having long-term partnerships, not just one-time projects, and a willingness to go beyond the basic tech support. A good provider should make their proof of work publicly available, and you should be able to find insights into their workings like testimonials online.
Ability to help you scale
Be it versatility, adaptability, scalability – the idea is that you need a collaborator that has what it takes to remain aligned with you as your business scales. You want an MSP that has the skill necessary to oversee and handle your IT system down the line, no matter how your technical needs are evolving – and no matter how external cyber threats are progressing, too.
Going with the wrong, unprepared MSP can spell the end of your progress, or push you to end the collaboration and find a new partner, translating into lost opportunities and time, in the best-case scenario. This can happen if you outgrow your collaborator, too – that’s why you want an MSP that has handled the growth of other businesses in the past. A proven track record of quality and proficiency.
Valuable MSPs also combine flexibility with structure, offering flexible service models that adapt to their clients’ needs while sticking to the same formalized frameworks presented to maintain quality at all times. To figure out whether a targeted MSP is what you need, you can ask them directly how they intend to assist you when your requirements become more intricate.
A strong emphasis on cybersecurity
With agentic and generative AI here, it’s safe to say that the speed at which cyber threats evolve can put even the most prepared businesses to the test. It’s a new dimension where attacks like phishing can hit any organization and business. Phishing attacks target all sorts of businesses, but those with weak cybersecurity systems are evidently the soft spot. And attackers don’t bother trying to breach strong defenses, but rather use the easy entries, like the account of an admin that hasn’t been used in months, a singular password used for multiple accounts, or even an employee who downloads viruses unknowingly. From such risks, it’s a short road to ransomware. In fact, ransomware accounts for 68% of cyber attacks in organizations these days. That’s why you need an MSP that understands both the current and the evolving state of cybersecurity threats.
Endnote
Choose an MSP with multiple considerations in mind, all shaped by what your business needs today and what it might require further into the future. This is a strategic partner that’ll impact how your business evolves – or if it does, at all.
