There are many reasons an organization would partner with a managed services provider. But once you decide to push forward with that option, the big question is, “how do you find the MSP that serves the Dallas area and is the right fit for your business?” Here are a few steps in finding the best information technology provider for you:
Internal Audit
Before you can determine what you need in an MSP, it’s important to take a step back and assess your current internal IT department. This means taking a close look at your strengths and weaknesses in terms of experience, skill sets, technology services, resources, and more. Where are you exposed? Where do you feel adequately covered? What type of support do you need? What are your budget restraints?
This audit should help you identify areas where you may need some help, guidance, or a complete overhaul. In addition, by taking the time to do this initial assessment, you will be able to better communicate your IT needs to potential MSPs and will be more likely to find a great partner for your company.
Set Short and Long-Term Goals
Once you have audited your in-house IT team, you will want to begin setting departmental goals as the next critical step in finding the right MSP to optimize your operations. First, you should sit down with your core group and ask questions like:
- What should our IT priorities be?
- What do we want our cybersecurity and IT support to look like?
- Should we consider IT consulting, cloud computing, data backups, disaster recovery, or other IT management solutions?
- Where do we want our overall IT infrastructure to be in 5 or 10 years?
The answers should clarify your overall IT objectives and help you to define your approach to partnering with a Dallas-based managed IT services provider. In addition, you should start to see the vision of what you are trying to accomplish and how you want your IT department to look in the coming years.
The 3 R’s
Realizing that your organization should entrust a Dallas MSP with the management of your IT is a huge leap of faith. Still, selecting the right IT support company to partner with can be even more challenging. Here are some steps to take to narrow your search:
Referrals
Getting MSP recommendations from trusted advisors is a great place to start. Many of your peers have experience working with IT providers, so it is a logical first step in kicking off your quest to find the right IT services provider for your business. One of your contacts could be the person who connects you to the perfect match to fix your IT issues.
Reviews
While taking individual reviews with a grain of salt is important, you can get a sense of an IT services company’s overall strengths and weaknesses through the lens of numerous unbiased, third-party perspectives. These insights can be invaluable when making an informed decision on which vendor you will be welcoming into your inner circle.
Research
This is a bit of a broad term, but you should dig into each potential partner’s background and public persona. Start by seeing where they pop up in a Google search and see if you can find any profiles on various review websites like Clutch or Upcity. Then, of course, you should also peruse each MSPs website to explore their services, their overall expertise in the industries they serve, and any additional information they share about the IT space.
While the 3 R’s are an excellent foundation for how you can go about finding a list of MSPs to choose from, they don’t need to be done in any particular order.
Collaborative Interviews
Once you feel comfortable with your research on a particular managed services provider, you should schedule a meeting with their sales or solutions team. Your initial goal for these discovery conversations should be collaborative. Try to avoid telling them precisely what you need, but instead, start with sharing findings from your internal audit, the goal-setting sessions with your team, and your budget constraints. Next, dig deep into their overall offering to see if they have other types of experience, including network monitoring, help desk ticketing, cloud solutions, security services, network support, consulting services, or even virtualization. See how flexible they are in tailoring their solution sets around your needs to understand better how they actually work with clients. Please pay attention to how well they listen along with their responses. Are they trying to force pre-packaged technology solutions on you, or are they thoughtful in presenting a solid IT strategy for your unique environment and budget? Get a sense of their communication skills, their business culture, and who they are as people.
If you feel like the meeting(s) go well and that they could be a potential partner, add them to the “contender” list and request a quote from their sales team. Move on to conversations with other MSPs in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and compile quotes from each provider on your “contender” list. Once you feel comfortable with the group of potential partners, it’s time to transition to the decision-making process and begin comparing support services and pricing.
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Greg Allen2023-03-20 18:52:062023-02-20 18:53:18What is Managed SD-WAN?
