HOW TO: SELECT THE RIGHT MANAGED SERVICE PROVIDER
The pollen of technology has spread across the globe and we’re all suffused with it. MSP has far greater implications than regular pollen which calls for unprecedented caution and awareness. For business, such a booming and indispensable industry means a lot of work. Businesses need to worry about their security as much as their core competency, but this need not necessarily imply a distraction.
The managed services-the practice of outsourcing IT responsibilities is gaining recognition. At this stage, it is important to ask the question- what exactly must Organisations look for in potential managed service providers?
- Mapping Internal and External Synergies In MSP-
The first step would be knowing what you want, seriously. Organisation also needs to match their IT requirements with the vendor’s product offerings to see what best suits the needs of the Organisation. This would entail taking stock of the internal systems and understanding workflows, processes, and the desired goals. MSP assessment will simplify and streamline and if necessary tweak the processes in place while planning for innovation. Preliminary research and assessment are therefore essential.
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Delegating Routine Tasks-
Who doesn’t love offloading daily, routine chores to their sibling(s)? The reason for Organisations to offload routine tasks is for more mature reasons- to be able to focus their attention on more strategic endeavors. Organizations can thus, step away from tactical tasks and shift this responsibility to their MSP. Understanding how vendors propose to make the Organisation more goal-centered is essential.
- History of the MSP:
History is a window to the past and helps us understand ourselves better. It’s a mirror that Organisations must use when choosing an MSP. If an IT firm has recently transitioned to the solution providing spectrum, it is highly likely that it is inexperienced and will not be able to provide befitting solutions. They might have just jumped on the bandwagon without being efficient in scale or standard processes. There is no guarantee that the firm is in it for the long haul and being technologically deserted can cost companies heavily. Choosing an old and trusted IT partner with over a decade of experience might serve Organisations in good stead.
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Relentless support and availability:
An MSP must be able to provide continuous IT support to an Organisation, so that, all issues are nipped at the bud. The technology partner must be equipped to meet the IT demands and meet the issues that may arise at any time. This will remove a huge burden from the shoulders of the Organisation knowing that the IT partner can cover the IT base.
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Thought Leadership-
The responsibility of IT firms doesn’t end at only complying with the demands of the Organisation. Since Organisations are choosing a proactive approach to technology and security, access to quality resources is essential to educate themselves. MSP’s must guide Organisations so that they can harness the complete power of technology.
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Metrics-
An IT provider must also have clear Service-Level Agreements (SLAs), metrics, and standards that are crucial to success. Completing due diligence is essential. This can be completed by asking the potential vendor what their SLAs are, response times, and cross-reference recent reviews. MSP is also important to spell out specific procedures and compensation if the vendor doesn’t meet the service level agreement standards.
They say once bitten, twice shy. For companies getting bitten means heavy (and often irredeemable) financial loss, so they need the antidote before the poison.
DEALING WITH SERVER DOWNTIME
Whenever servers are attacked by hackers, companies are left scrambling to deal with the blow. It uncannily resembles Thanos snapping his fingers, eliminating half the world with utmost ease, and the entire team of Avengers is left to scramble with the consequences, Thanos symbolizing hackers and the Avengers symbolizing the IT teams. Hackers can inflict damage enough to put companies out of business. How?
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Lost Productivity-
Modern businesses are heavily reliant on online communications and services. Email is the most common method of external correspondence and virtual chat software is used for intra-office communication customer support systems.
Losing access to the network can bring the workplace to a screeching halt. Many companies solely depend on cloud applications to store and send data. Companies must pay operating costs to the different stakeholders regardless of network availability or continuity of operations. Companies thus continue to pay salaries and rent.
As far as manufacturing companies are concerned, an unplanned server outage could potentially shut down an entire production line. Delays in one area tend to have a Domino effect and result in compounded delays.
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Lost Opportunities-
Companies that largely conduct their business online are more adversely affected by downtime than their offline counterparts. A loss of network means less business since potential customers will be unable to purchase or enlist the products/services. MSPIf fewer customers are attracted to the organization, then, the revenue generation is jeopardized.
In cases where the business model relies upon network availability to deliver a service, any downtime to a website could make it impossible to connect with existing customers as well. MSP Maintaining business and expanding it are both closely linked to network availability and IT services.
System downtime can especially affect a company that heavily depends upon online sales to drive its business. Given that customers today have less patience for even slow service, a complete loss of service would be unacceptable and disparaging.
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Brand damage-
Goodwill is an indispensable asset for companies, the reputation garnered from years of client satisfaction cannot be staked. If consumers often encounter server outages that make accessing the goods or services of an organization difficult, they may not only avoid buying them but also share their negative experiences with others.
Poor word of mouth will put off potential clients and leave a business struggling to restore its image and win back the trust. Considering the high potential effect of a server outage, many smaller businesses simply cannot afford to take the risk and are searching for more robust cloud infrastructure solutions.
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Data loss-
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Data is the new oil and needs the necessary protection. The most threatening scenario for many companies is the risk of data loss or exposure that arises at times of network outages. While most service providers back up data, an unexpected loss of network access can have disastrous consequences.
Files can get damaged or corrupted, and failures in network security can create opportunities for cyberattacks that either destroy or compromise valuable data. Even if data is safely backed up, the unexpected failure to access it can confuse the consumers, causing them to lose trust in a business and search elsewhere for more reliable services. This is the most crippling scenario for companies.
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Service License Agreement payouts-
When customers trust companies with the assurance that they will be able to access products and services whenever they need them, the onus to fulfill the demand falls on the company. In some cases, companies provide this assurance in the form of Service Level Agreement contracts that stipulate provisions for financial remuneration in the event of a server outage. There have also been situations when the system downtime results from a software problem within the company’s control.
Situations like these are manageable and don’t generally snowball out of control. It’s altogether different when the server outage results from the company’s third-party cloud or the data center provider’s downtime. While a company may be granted compensation from the service providers, it may do little or nothing to repair the damage to the brand in the eyes of customers.
