Choosing a Managed Services Provider

It’s that time of year. The brackets are filled out and the money has been exchanged. Now college basketball fans anxiously await that first bounce of the basketball and that first squeak of the shoes that means “The Madness” has commenced. Welcome to the 2017 NCAA Tournament! Fans are betting on what they hope are the winningest teams to advance to the Final Four and the championship game. The stats have been analyzed, players assessed and the pools finalized.

Madness is defined as a “state of frenzied or chaotic activity.”  March Madness gets its name from the unexpected upsets that create a whirlwind of outcomes that no one could predict. While it’s what makes the basketball tournament so exciting, unexpected outcomes in business are not so fun. Chaos in your infrastructure gets incredibly costly, very fast — and fixing chaos takes IT resources away from working on mission critical projects.

Because of the challenges that come with monitoring and managing your own systems, an increasing number of companies are turning towards managed service providers (MSPs), to either supplement their team or completely outsource their infrastructure management. The logic is similar – don’t take chances on unexpected outcomes, invest in the security of knowing your systems are running at optimal levels. Choosing the right IT systems and investing wisely in your technology team is paramount to keeping your business running strong.

Unlike March Madness, where a longshot might pay off, gambling on an MSP is not the answer. Due diligence is necessary as many MSPs do not offer a turnkey, full-service that goes beyond the basics of managing network and software infrastructure.

Considerations when choosing an MSP

1. Depth: Look for a deep bench of talent with experience deploying a wide range of delivery options to cover your needs now and into the future, whether you choose traditional IT, public cloud, private cloud or a hybrid deployment.
2. Continuous Improvements: You need a team who is proactively working to continuously improve operations, from performing backups and patch updates to addressing exploits before they become a threat.
3. Forward Thinking: Ensure your team is up to date on the latest advancement in technology and can demonstrate how they and training their staff to handle all situations. Look for industry certifications and best practices that align with your business goals.
4. Broad Coverage: Review and understand your SLA to understand all provisions from backups and disaster recovery to uptime guarantees, power standards and redundancy plans.
5. Flexibility and Versatility: Your business needs will change, and you need a partner who is a team player, can easily adapt to grow and change with you.
6. The Right Tools: Investigate what tools and partnerships your MSP has, as well as the talent on staff, to ensure the knowledge base is there. Is the MSP utilizing predictive monitoring services to ensure uptime and higher service levels via proactive and reliable notification of potential issues? Do they have a ticketing system that automates workflows for triage, prioritization, scheduling and escalation?
7. Stability: What is the history of the MSP? Are they a team that will win in the final four? How long have they been in business and are their business goals based on instant results or long term relationships?
8. Availability: You need 24x7x365 coverage for your systems that is monitored and managed around the clock. Who mans the Network Operations Center (NOC) and monitors the health of your infrastructure and are they available at any time, day or night?

When going up against your opponents, madness is ok for basketball, but not for your infrastructure.

OneNeck IT Solutions is a trusted partner that you can count on. With a deep portfolio, we deliver depth of experience, a proactive approach to keeping your systems on the cutting edge, a wealth of knowledge, and guaranteed coverage to ensure you are always on and monitored. We ensure stability by leveraging the latest and greatest technologies, using the right tools, continuously monitoring for issues, and ensuring uptime/availability that meets your specific requirements.

So, keep the madness in the arena, and gain control over your IT environment by choosing OneNeck as your trusted managed services partner. We are here to bring relief from the sidelines so you can focus on growing your business and winning against the competition.

Need additional information on managed services selection? Check out OneNeck’s eBook for more info.

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