According to Shopify, you can easily spend more than $40K in your first year of business. That number can skyrocket as you grow your company. One of the best ways to reduce expenses is to partner with a managed service provider.
This article will help you find the right company.
How Do You Find a High-Quality Managed Service Provider?
The last thing you want to do is to end up working with a disreputable managed service provider. You stand to lose a lot of money and disrupt your operations.
We’ll help you avoid this issue with the following tips for choosing a dependable vendor.
Experience and Understanding of Your Industry
You need a provider who understands your company and industry. They should be familiar with the standards you must follow. Otherwise, you’ll end up with generic services that offer little-to-no value.
If you can find an experienced provider who’s well-versed in your company and industry, they can develop many beneficial solutions for your organization. They’re nimble and skilled enough to implement virtually any software while following the strictest regulations.
In other words, a seasoned provider understands there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution in your industry. They should consider your needs to render tailor-made services that help you grow your enterprise.
Proactive Approach to Problems
Having a managed service provider who quickly solves a problem is great, but this isn’t the only thing you should look for. Try and work with a company that proactively approaches various issues. They should go to great lengths to prevent problems from arising in the first place and continuously improve your company.
To verify, make sure your provider goes beyond device monitoring and management. For example, your team might employ advanced analytics and other cutting-edge technologies to analyze failure patterns on different platforms. This prevents incidents by enhancing visibility, paving the way for smoother software implementation and higher customer satisfaction.
Look for a provider who offers this capability. Other useful services include:
- State-of-the-art alert mechanisms
- Automated workload categories and prioritization
- Automated incident remediation
Connections With Major Brands
Your IT infrastructure probably consists of mixed solutions. Besides printers, copiers, and other traditional hardware, you may also need a number of software applications.
A managed service provider with good connections can help you implement them.
Your team should have ample experience working with hybrid environments and maintain close relationships with prominent vendors. This way, they help you keep up with the latest technologies, allowing you to polish your offerings and meet high customer demands.
Global Capabilities
Expanding your company to have a global presence may seem far-fetched now, but who knows where you’ll be two or three years down the line? You want to be ready for your expansion, and a great way to do so is to select a managed service provider with global capabilities.
These organizations can set you up for growth in practically any economy. Here are the factors that enable this:
- Rapid software application in new countries
- Managing projects with operations in various regions
- Language support for subsidiaries or branches
- In-country resources for addressing legal and regulatory requirements
When looking for your provider, ask about their global delivery process. Make sure it’s comprehensive in all locations and that their team is organized.
Only Consider Providers That Offer On-Site Maintenance
Remote monitoring can solve many problems, but it pales in comparison to in-person maintenance. Your managed service provider should be willing to come to your office for an audit or fix whenever necessary. It lets them inspect your hardware and software in greater detail, allowing them to solve current issues faster and anticipate future challenges.
Additionally, be sure their customer support is available 24/7. Otherwise, you might face a malfunction and have no way to fix it until the provider is back online. A great way to check the responsiveness of customer support teams is to read Google reviews and consult previous customers.
Verify There’s Accountability in Your Agreement
A reliable managed service provider doesn’t shy away from accountability. It should be part of your service agreement and is critical for your cooperation. Having it in writing ensures the provider is held accountable if their service doesn’t meet desired performance standards.
Besides agreements, there are other ways your provider can rectify failures. Inquire about them to get a complete picture of the company’s attitude toward mistakes.
Reputation and Financial Stability
Whether you’re looking for short-term or long-term cooperation with your managed service provider, consider their reputation and stability. This is because the time they’ve spent on the market no longer reliably predicts their future performance. You need to dig deeper:
- Go through annual reports
- Read financial statements
- Check the opinions of IT and business professionals and analysts
- Ask the company for references and other success metrics
What Can You Gain From a Credible Managed Service Provider?
If you can find a managed service provider that meets the above criteria, you can reap the following benefits:
- Timely maintenance – Your network has numerous tools and software that needs to be updated and fixed from time to time. A provider offers these services as part of your agreement. This way, you won’t have to spend thousands of dollars on costly projects because they’re covered.
- Scalability – A robust provider helps you upgrade and expand your solutions whenever necessary. They do so without requiring you to train your employees or waste time otherwise.
- Less downtime – High-quality providers help prevent equipment and software malfunctions to reduce downtime.
- Proactive approach – As previously discussed, managed service providers can scour your network for issues and nip them in the bud.
- Freeing up your time – By taking on maintenance and other tasks, managed service providers allow you to focus on more important duties.
Start the Search for a Worthy Provider
Integrating with an experienced and professional managed service provider is one of the best decisions you can make as a business owner. Make sure your partner checks all the boxes, and they’ll set you up for success.
If you’re looking for a top-rated managed service provider for your Tulsa business, JD Young is at your beck and call. Reach out to us today to learn how we can streamline your enterprise.