My MSP (Managed Service Provider) keeps dropping the ball, how many chances do we give them?

Using an IT MSP (Managed Services Provider) for help-desk support and infrastructure management can be a cost-effective way to leverage technical resources needed to keep your business operations running without having to staff your own department internally. Of course having robust cybersecurity measures in place as well to keep threat actors at bay are another important function that your MSP should be providing to your business. Maybe your provider has been providing adequate support for you throughout the majority of your engagement but lately you’ve noticed a shift in their response times?

Poor communication and slow response times are some of the issues that are plaguing many of these service providers as of late. MSPs are notorious for failing to provide clients with timely updates and in some cases neglecting to notify their clients of important changes. We have even seen instances where an MSP decided to patch a critical server on a Friday morning for a business without giving them any notice interrupting critical business operations. This is why it is imperative during onboarding with a new provider that they clearly articulate and provide to you an agreeable patch cycle schedule to follow - with the caveat that if something needs to happen off of that schedule they will reach out for approval. Sounds simple right? You’d be surprised how the lack of communication internally at an MSP can lead to this “process” not being followed. When MSPs have high turnover or are going through mergers and acquisitions the personal touch that MSPs once were known for can start to fade away.

A good example of this is a different technician being dispatched every single time someone from your business calls in with a similar issue. The problem with this is that the deep expertise within your technical environment becomes limited and you may find yourself or your staff repeating the same issue to someone on the other end of the phone. It can be quite frustrating to go through this as we have witnessed it first-hand. The other challenging part about this is that who do you think is paying for the time it takes for that unfamiliar technician to research and respond to your support request (that’s right you are)? Ideally the MSP should have the same team supporting your environment so that the back and forth and frustration of repeating yourself is kept to a minimum. Recurring issues at a business should be flagged by an MSP and their team should be investigating ways into how they can eliminate these frequent support tickets but due to the fast-paced nature internally this is often missed.

Let’s face it when the same problems persist, you as the client can feel unheard and rightfully frustrated. There was a time when MSPs prided themselves on having strong customer relationships where you had onsite visits with the engineer who got to know you personally. They knew about your family and would often ask how your kids were doing and would check in from a position of empathy. Sadly, these days quite a bit of that personal touch and excellent customer service/rapport has been lost. Most MSPs are now trying to have their technical staff support your environment remotely as this is significantly cheaper than paying for the travel and expense time for a resource to come onsite. We aren’t saying that all MSPs are this way but the vast majority of them are looking to come onsite to your business (assuming you are not a fully remote organization) as little as they possibly can so your account can be as profitable as possible.

When evaluating a new provider be weary of this and if you do require/want onsite visits as part of your engagement then you should read the language in the agreement carefully. We’ll be putting out a subsequent article on what to look out for, stay tuned. If you have been frustrated with your MSP time and time again and are wondering what to do next - you aren’t alone! We’ve been on the inside of MSPs for nearly a decade and have seen the internal dysfunction which ultimately trickles down to the client. It should not be part of your job as the client to have to chase after your IT provider and make sure they don’t keep letting you down. Our team at MSP Audit Partners takes that burden on for you and cuts through the noise by providing a fractional resource to sit on your team and ultimately hold your provider accountable. We are on a mission to ensure that your customer service experience is upheld to the standards that your MSP claims they provide. As MSP insiders for years, we speak their language and can advocate directly on your behalf or alongside your team so that you don’t have to wear the “IT point-of-contact” hat on top of your other job responsibilities.

If this resonates with you, feel free to reach out to us today and see how we can assist you in evaluating whether or not it makes sense to continue down the path with your current MSP provider. We will provide an expert unbiased analysis of the MSP and your current service agreements to make sure that they are in fact, the best-fit MSP for your specific business needs. Our consulting practice is driven by a mission to put your customer service experience above all else and assess whether your MSP is doing the same.