An increasing number of businesses are embracing cloud migration at a higher rate than ever before. The unmatched scalability and adaptability of a Managed IT Services Provider offer advantages for companies of all sizes, including cost reduction, enhanced performance, and strengthened cybersecurity defences. Nonetheless, migrating to the cloud is typically a complex endeavour that requires more than just internal resources and a substantial budget. Consequently, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are increasingly realising the advantages of engaging a (MSP) to handle their cloud migration and ongoing IT management needs.
How to Choose a Managed Services Provider
Industry Expertise
Certain IT Managed Services Provider assert their expertise across various industries, offering their services to businesses irrespective of their specific sector. However, this broad approach may raise concerns since it is improbable for an MSP to possess in-depth knowledge of the unique requirements of every business within a given industry. An MSP that adopts a more generic approach may align with the saying “a jack of all trades but master of none.” In contrast, at Pulse Tech, we specialize in collaborating with companies operating in finance, professional services, manufacturing, aviation, and construction. By focusing on these sectors, we have gained extensive familiarity with the distinct applications and systems employed in these industries.
Service Level Agreements
MSPs prioritize delivering high-quality services, which are defined by contracts called service level agreements (SLAs). These agreements establish the minimum service standards that the MSP is obligated to uphold, including factors like service uptime, cybersecurity monitoring protocols, performance benchmarks, and service availability. It is essential for a reputable MSP to be willing to commit to their responsibilities through an SLA. However, it is highly advisable to select a company that offers manageable and responsive agreements. SLAs should evolve alongside the service and the evolving needs of your business, enabling you to assess and revise them at regular intervals.
Scalability
Scalability is often regarded as the primary advantage of cloud migration, and it should hold significant importance when selecting an MSP. It is crucial to avoid any potential issues that may arise if your expanding business surpasses the capabilities of your existing IT infrastructure. Some smaller MSPs might not possess the necessary resources to scale their services according to the demands of a rapidly growing company. While many MSPs offer services without long-term commitments, it is prudent to think ahead. A dependable MSP should be capable of catering to your business IT requirements over an extended period, ensuring seamless support for many years to come.
End-to-end Capabilities
A crucial objective of migrating to a cloud-based IT infrastructure is to enhance data visibility by establishing a centralized system for data storage and processing. However, achieving this goal becomes challenging when relying on a combination of multiple service providers, vendors, and in-house systems. To fully capitalize on cloud services, it is advisable to select an MSP that can support you throughout the entire cloud journey, starting from initial planning and extending to migration, management, and future adaptation and optimization. Additionally, it is beneficial to choose a company that maintains a strong relationship with one or more major hyper-scale providers like Azure, AWS, or Google, as this enhances their ability to provide comprehensive and integrated cloud solutions.
Continual Improvement
Managed IT Services Provider should continually improve their services by taking advantage of the latest technology and being deeply involved with the major cloud-computing platforms. Ideally, they should adopt an agile framework to provide continual improvement, an automated approach, and large-scale innovation. After all, the job of an MSP is to build and provide a complete and scalable IT framework that allows your business to take advantage of the same technology used by some of the world’s largest corporations. An MSP should be able to scale to migrate and manage a multiple-vendor infrastructure that’s always on the cutting edge of technology.
