Thinking about working with a Managed IT Service Provider – Here are the Pros and Cons

Thinking about working with a Managed IT Service Provider – Here are the Pros and Cons

Are you interested in partnering with a Managed Services Provider (MSP), or already working with one now and concerned it may be overkill for your business?  We have put together an objective list of pros and cons for businesses partnering with an MSP.

Pros:

1. Expertise. Building a team of resources and expertise internally would be very expensive. Often having a dedicated cybersecurity specialist, multiple network administrators, professional services team, provisioning team, and help desk is out of reach for small businesses. MSP’s offer an entire bench of certified, trained professionals to be deployed as needed.
2. The suite of tools that MSPs have access to are oftentimes specialized and expensive. Due to the economies of scale of the computers and networks they support, they can manage and monitor your network at a higher level than internal IT (usually) at a lower cost.
3. They have vast knowledge of technology at hundreds of different locations. They see what works and does not work in different settings. They are not “siloed” and can introduce you to new and better technology to improve your business operation.
4. Robust processes and documentation to ensure tickets are completely in a timely fashion. There is a mutual incentive to fix problems quickly and ensure service tickets are minimized, which requires doing things right the first time!
5. Allows scaling up and down easily. Pricing is often based on a per endpoint or per user method. As you grow, your technology spending is easy to predict, rather than having to hire an additional IT team member that may not be working at full capacity or even close to it.

Cons:

1. You have access to the resources of the MSP, but the amount of time you get is much less than if you had an internal team. Internal teams are dedicated to your needs while an MSP dispatches resources as needed on a reactive or planned basis.
2. They will never know the ins and outs of your business specific applications or vendor nuances like an internal IT person could.
3. Massive variation in the quality and responsiveness of MSPs. It can be difficult to determine which MSP to choose. Support and pricing can vary greatly!
4. Employees don’t have contracts usually. Even if you’re unhappy with an MSP oftentimes, there is a minimum of a one-year contract in place.
5. Less direct management of your IT systems – Your provider will likely have a standard set of tools they implement. If you or your internal IT prefer a different set of tools, there will often be a mishmash. This is rarely an issue because most organizations hire a Managed Service Provider, so they do not have to consider these things. However, in rare cases, if they do want to stray away from the recommendations, it could be considered a con for both parties.

Read through our list and decide that working with a Managed Service Provider may be the right fit for your business? Still need a bit more convincing? Reach out today for a free consultation to identify your technology and goals!