MSPs typically deliver services on a subscription basis; companies pay a fixed amount, usually monthly, for a specific set of IT services. These services are usually sold as, “We’ll keep your IT systems running great. We’ll monitor them and be alerted before issues arise. If issues do come up let us know and we’ll fix them. You can concentrate on running your business.”

We stay away from the MSP model. Maybe some of the following will sound familiar.

MSP: Good for the Provider

We believe so many IT consulting and support organizations moved to the MSP model for two reasons.

First, it scales. Providers love this model because they are no longer limited by the number of hours they can work in a week.

Second, the MSP model allows IT consulting organizations to deliver services with lesser experienced and typically less expensive employees. Too often issues raised by the customer are first directed to the provider’s help desk or first tier support. Sometimes this is OK. Often this means more work for you trying to get to a qualified engineer.

MSP: Not So Good for the Customer

The larger problem with the MSP engagement model is far subtler and systemic. When you call with an issue the provider has little incentive to attend to it in a meaningful way. Band-aids are too often applied.

Whoever ends up with your issue is not happy to get it. Your work does not immediately result in billable hours. Your problem is too often viewed as a distraction and not part of the billable project he was planning on working on that morning.

Security is a considerable concern today and is not something that can be handled after the fact. Applying security patches often falls through the cracks. Protecting your network from ransomware introduced by careless employees requires proactive training along with reducing unnecessary permission levels.

Too often a work around is found and a more suitable permanent resolution is promised for smaller problems where only one person is being affected. Just reboot. Then the work arounds and the reboots stack up. The customer finds themselves with a long list of ‘things’ that are irritating and wasting people’s time.

There are cases where the monthly service fee is large enough that this model works, but in those cases the customer is probably paying more than they should. In other cases, the degree to which this is a problem varies. Large problems always (I would hope) get immediate attention.

We would expect that after too much headache the customer would move on and find another provider. In our experience, by the time the customer has reached out to us, it is amazing how much neglect they have put up with. We find organizations detest starting over with someone new. But it's not that hard.

There Is a Better Engagement Model

It should be obvious that whatever engagement model is used must work for you. Less obvious is that it should also work for the provider. If not, we end up with the same problem: the provider does not provide.

If you’re not happy with your current IT provider get a new one. We have helped several companies through this transition and it is not that difficult.  

Lastly, use an engagement model that incentivizes your vendor to attend to your problems. Mainly, if they don’t attend to your problems, they don’t make any money.  On the other hand, be prepared to truly partner with your IT provider so the engagement is mutually beneficial.

Enterprise Network Solutions has been engaging clients with just such an engagement model for over 25 years. We have a long list for references excited to talk about the success of our relationships. What we ask is that we are included in IT decisions as they are being considered. We do almost all our work on site, so you see what you are paying for. We check in with you before we leave. Want to know more? Email [email protected] or visit www.ENSLabs.com. Better yet, call us at 206.799-2105.