How to choose the right IT Support Company for your business...

Selecting the right IT Support Company for your business can be daunting.  Our clients told us that Trust and Fast Service are the two most important things they considered.  But how do you trust someone you’ve only just met or found on the internet?  It’s a little easier if you know someone already using an MSP and they are happy with the services they receive. 

Reviews from Google and Yelp do help, but how relatable are they to your business?  Better Business Bureau ratings are a bit more reliable, but those usually only show how a business deals with complaints, which is important, but it doesn’t tell you how happy their clients are with the services provided.  If nobody is complaining, then their score is high. 

We hear a lot that IT has become commoditized.  I beg to differ.  As in every industry, no two companies execute services or produce materials exactly the same way.  You probably already know what sets your company apart from your competitors and the value you bring to your clients.  That applies to IT companies too.   

Approaching decisions in a systematic manner helps in evaluating big decisions: choosing new software, selecting a bank for your business, and even selecting an IT company to get and keep things ship shape.  I’ll share with you a template that you can use to measure or grade MSPs, but first it’s important that you have at least a basic understanding your own company's needs as well as the different support models employed by IT companies and how they apply to your business. 

Not all cruises, or sailing vessels are the same. Different sized boats need crews with different skill sets, and there are vast differences between luxury cruises and economy cruises. The IT needs for businesses are equally different based on many factors. Now that you’ve completed the profiling of your business, let’s take a tour of the different types of IT Support Company Business Models and how they might be applicable to your business scenario. 

1.  Break/Fix (reactive and unmanaged) - This model is mostly phasing out of the industry.  In this model you pay higher hourly rates for support, but only pay when you need help.  Think of this as a Pay-as-you-go model.  This sounds good on the surface, but it incentivizes the provider to allow things to continually break.  This model is still embraced by “Trunk Slammers”. 

2.  Fully Customized Plan for Every Client – This approach works well for smaller providers who support very few clients.  The lack of process standardization leaves a lot of room for human error on the part of the MSP’s team.  If the team consists of industry veterans, this might work well for a while until those veterans retire or move on.  Service Level Continuity is a frequent problem when personnel leave the MSP or get replaced.  The cost for these types of plans range dramatically, as does customer satisfaction.  In fact, the biggest topic of discussion among IT business owners is our model.  What is your per seat cost?  Do you include onsite or after-hours support labor?  Do your contracts cover project work? Hopefully, you get the picture. 

3.  The All-Inclusive Contract Model - This model is a "one size fits all" type of thing, and this approach is what many providers in our industry adopt.  They pick one prepackaged plan and force all clients into their mold.  In this model, the provider includes all services, whether their client uses them or not, and they pay for it, sometimes up to $300 per user per month.  For example, not all businesses or industries require the level of cyber security protections required in others.  So why pay for them if you don't need them?   

The flip side of that coin is that all businesses and industries do require a certain level of layered cyber protection in place, and that level can change as the cyber pirates improve their ability to attack.  Therefore, if you’re going to pay a premium, you should ask about the MSPs change process and their Cyber Security Program.  Learn more about our Cyber Security Managed Services Program. 

This model is usually the most expensive solution, but it does provide standardization and expectedly more mature process controls.  Sometimes providers will have more than one tier, and exclude certain services, and usage of excluded services when you need them can be quite costly. 

4.  Hybrid Model – This model is a combination of the Break/Fix and the All Inclusive model.  An MSP that embraces this model is typically looking to balance the importance of streamlined and standardized processes, economies of scale, along with cost savings for the client.  How this looks is usually some list of included services such as Remote Technical Support during business hours and also the exclusion of listed services which then get billed hourly such as after-hours support and maybe onsite support as well.  This is where you will find a lot of differences among MSPs.  Typically, project work is also billable separately, but some providers allow for discounted, prepaid blocks of time to account for projects, and these should be planned out well in advance to help with budgeting. 

5.  CoMITs (Co-Managed IT Services) - This is the newest, and perhaps, most complicated model.  Essentially, the MSP works with existing IT staff who are employed directly by the client.  If your business operates without any existing IT staff currently, then keep reading.  If you have IT staff and are looking to augment services or provide technical assistance and/or oversight to the team, this option is for you, so head to the galley to grab a cup of Joe, and learn more about our Co-Managed Services here.