Thrive with your MSP

Working with a Managed Service Provider (MSP) isn’t like working with other vendors; it requires an enhanced partnership and working as one to ensure your organization can succeed and grow. When your organization is working with an MSP, getting the most out of your partnership is a top priority, and that means ensuring that communication is open, strategic planning aligns with business goals, and that there is a connected culture between both organizations.

Here are the top five things you can do to ensure that your organization is getting the most out of your MSP:

Promote Open Communication

Communication is a core part of modern work. If there is a problem or a disconnect between you and your MSP, make sure that everyone involved is aware of the issue. Your MSP is like an employee or a department; they work for you, but sometimes they may need guidance. Like any employee, your MSP only knows there is an issue if you tell them.

It’s important to be in touch with how your employees perceive the service. Make sure your MSP regularly conducts surveys that review the quality of their service periodically. If they don’t, conduct your own survey among your employees to ensure that you know how they feel about your MSP. Surveys can allow you to be proactive with communication and avoid unnecessary communication mishaps. Rather than waiting for issues to boil over, this can be a great way to address if there are perceived issues with the service that need to be remedied.

Take Advantage of Training

Your MSP is more is more than just a service for fixing IT issues; it’s also a service for proactively preventing them, and training is a key way of doing so. Ensuring your MSP offers training and adoption management can help ensure your employees are prepared to utilize the technology they need for their positions. Taking advantage of training opportunities with your MSP is a great way to help your employees familiarize themselves with technology and grow as professionals.

Training can go beyond technical training, too. Basic guidelines on submitting tickets can help employees understand when a request should be marked as urgent and when it isn’t necessary. If your employees mark everything as urgent, your MSP might not know when something is actually time sensitive. If everything is urgent, nothing is urgent.

Implement Executive Representation

Your executive team should be consistently and actively engaged with your MSP. Building a strong base of trust and communication is central to building a partnership with your MSP. Your executive team should be present to ensure that the strategic plan aligns with your business goals. Many organizations utilize an administrative or operational staff member as their point of contact with their MSP, but having multiple points of contact can be important. Having an operational staff member as a point of contact for day-to-day IT is very effective, but having your CTO as a representative who works directly with your MSP can ensure that your strategic plan aligns with your business goals. Don’t be a bystander in your own strategic planning—be an active participant and ensure it’s being driven in the right direction.

Executive representation can go both ways. Having your executive leadership meet with the CEO or CTO of your MSP can be a great way of ensuring technology has a seat at your round table. In a world where technology is becoming increasingly more prominent in the workplace, it’s important to ensure your organization is keeping up with the latest trends and developments.

Leverage Strategic Value

Unlike an internet service provider, your MSP isn’t a commodity or a utility; it’s an asset that provides strategic value. Your MSP is more than a service desk; they are your strategic technology advisors. Technology enables your organization to follow its mission and achieve business goals. But in order to do so, it needs to be strategically leveraged. Utilizing an MSP over in-house IT can help you by aligning your planning with your business goals to ensure that you are leveraging the strategic value of technology.

Create a Cohesive Culture

An organization’s culture drives it to success, and since your MSP is an extension of your organization, it is critical that you foster a culture of collaboration. Finding an exact match isn’t necessary, but it is important that your values align and complement each other. If your culture is at odds with your MSP’s, it could lead to a lack of understanding, poor communication, and dysfunction. If your company boasts being ahead of the curve, then you should look for an MSP that focuses on innovation with a dedication to continual learning. Your MSP should not only be able to seamlessly integrate with your organization but enhance and improve it.

Following this guide can help you get the most out of your MSP and create a lasting partnership that drives your organization to success. To learn more about how partnering with an MSP can help your organization thrive in the modern workplace, check out our eBook. Or contact us to start your journey today!