What are some challenges internally regarding outsourcing your IT department to a MSP Managed Service Provider?

There are good reasons and bad reasons to outsource your IT.

Two of the bad reasons are:

1. You want to reduce costs. The days of seeing IT as a cost center are coming to an end. IT is a key business driver and asset for businesses and trying to starve it of resources will just hasten the demise of a business.
2. You have a very complex IT environment and don't know how to manage it (but don't want it to change). An outsource provider likely won't do any better than you unless trust them enough to let them transition you to a more efficient and robust environment.

Now some good reasons to consider outsourcing:

1. It isn't your core business and it is distracting you from your core business. Why waste money and effort maintaining systems just for you? MSPs are experts in this field. They can leverage their training and expertise across dozens or hundreds of clients and not just yours.
2. An MSP can see the forest AND the trees. Business leaders tend to be risk and cost adverse and they often are too close to their environment to see the gaps, challenges, and problems before they emerge. They may not be aware of the trends and best practices in IT. They can only see their immediate infrastructure (the tree beside them) and can't appreciate that a technology roadmap can get them to a better place.
   

Some tips on picking a good MSP partner:

1. Do you trust them? What are their references? What is their expertise? Does their business model and pricing model align with yours?
2. What are your "Service Level" requirements? Can they meet them? Keep in mind that faster SL times come at a cost, but outages have a cost too. What is the crossover point between faster recovery times and ensuring a longer recovery time? Don't ask for a system to be recovered in an hour if you only use it once a month.
3. How is their billing structured? Many MSPs see additional work, projects, and system changes as a license to print money. You want an MSP that sees you as a partner and wants to be your partner. Sure services and goods cost money but the prices and increments, after hour calls, and other charges should be reasonable and justifiable. When they give you advice on new products, configurations or services to procure and install, their goal should be to improve your bottom line (strategic goals, productivity, efficiency, reliability, and cost) and not just theirs.

Our concept is to understand what the internal business processes are and therefore address issues which technology can be leveraged to address. This is often as easy as basic workflow improvement to backup and disaster prevention with a proper business continuity plan. In the recent Stay-At-Home order we were able to assist a significant part of our client base to remote work based on our understanding of their needs and established processes. Every business is different, our approach is flexible to account for that.

You need to find a provider who understands your business.  Not all IT setups are the same.  Your provider needs to understand your needs and goals, in order to set up and manager your IT infrastructure appropriately.  When you interview a company, see how much they ask about your company and how much they try to fit you into a standard plan.

We provide a service referred to as Advanced IT Support Services, which is a much more thorough program than MSP.  We provide remote support for all of our customers, on-site as needed, and pro-active programs to catch things before they become a problem.  Most of the companies we work with have gone this route, due to the cost of IT Staff, and the diverse skill sets of our Engineers, which covers all areas of the IT Infrastructure.

Instead of selling our MSP services as an answer to this question, I will simply answer it directly and to the point. I hear this from some of our clients who outsourced their IT department to us (GEEK911) that the biggest internal challenge to doing so came from their own internal IT team/department. Understandably because their internal IT team/department felt that outsourcing all of even some elements of the IT department meant that they (the internal IT team) might be let go at some point. And when that is the mindset, it becomes difficult to do a good job because you will have an internal IT team that is opposed to the outsourcing and thus will try to make it fail. For those situations, we offer the client a hybrid approach where we would augment their internal IT department rather than replace it. Unless, of course, the customer comes to us dead set against keeping an internal IT department and instead has decided they want to do away with their internal IT team.

Challenges are usually initially tied to cost.  Where the MSP is billing x per year and the client feels they could hire a person for that.  It is true, but client now has to pay SS, benefits, insurance so the cost is not quite a competitive as they thought.  Depending on infrastructure, that one person will not have the knowledge and experience an entire team has and most importantly depending on the overall amount of work/tickets the client has per month the internal IT person may become very slow or may have too much available time on his hands.  IT people in general are always looking to learn and therefore being hired internally will probably see a fair amount of turnover and then the training and frustration of a new person starts all over again.  It is still better to retain an MSP.

MSPs provide all of the benefits of an internal IT department for a fraction of the price of staffing one yourself. We reduce the business impact of IT failures by minimizing their occurrence, and any unforeseen issues are dealt with as a top priority. When you outsource the management of your important IT resources, we look upon this as a partnership. Our comprehensive approach means we are your IT department. An MSP also has the advantage of having expertise in the latest technologies.

Business ventures are often the result of someone's dream, significant investment in time and resources, and is our livelihoods!

I have shared my mission statement with my clients for years:  "My business is keeping your business alive!"

What does this mission statement mean?

1).  I want to make sure that my clients' systems are operational at all times!  If a business is not able to function because of a system failure, they are unable to do business.  Not only does this affect their bottom line, it can also affect their relationships with their clients, and also their public image.  An effective MSP will work with the business owner to create redundancy, disaster recovery, institute security protocols and procedures, and even offer training for their office staff to help prevent system downtime.

2).  While putting together custom solutions for my clients, I get to know their business intimately.  Their internal processes and procedures.  this allows me to help maximize their efficiency.  Questions I ponder to myself.  How can I cut their operating costs as in materials and labor?  Where will my client be in the next 1-5, 5-10 years; and what should I institute NOW to prepare for their expected growth?

3).  Finally - consider availability of your MSP or technical contact?  How quickly will they respond when you need their support?  Are they proactive at spotting weaknesses and potential failure points - and are they responsive in correcting these issues before a failure causes a system outage?

4).  My clients can fully trust that I have a genuine interest in the success of their ventures at all times.

TDW Tech Solutions offers on-site services from south Georgia to Orlando, Florida.  Additionally, we offer remote-based services nationwide.  Please call us toll-free for a consultation:  (844) 379-4357

As an IT service provider myself, I have found it is about trust. There have been so many times that I walk and talked with a potential client, in which there current IT provider has over built, over charged and added undue complexity to the environment.   A client or potential client has to trust in you that you are doing the right thing by them and not your bottom line.  I give my clients option and explain what the benefits are in each plan. They ultimately choose based on the information.  Be honest with the clients and build trust. 

From the client's perspective, MSP's/MSSP's have taken a hard hit on reputation.  Failure or lackluster service delivery has been the cause.  Improving in simply delivering what you said you were going to do is a start toward repair or overcoming others poor performance now jeopardizing your business.

Also, communicate with the client and set reasonable expectations that are confirmed in an agreement signed by the client and the provider.  This can remove the grey area between what is actually to be done and what is perceived on down the road.  Keeps memories fresh and not subjective on both sides.

If you hope for a renewal, then deliver value.  The client will detect lack of value in anything they are being invoiced for and will be searching for your replacement before your contract term is even up.

Don't over-promise.  Do what you say and say what you do.  Communicate that.