7 signs your managed service provider isn't cutting it

managed IT Services

Are you wondering if your current managed service provider(MSP) could be doing a better job? As a managed service provider, we have heard many horror stories coming from clients who come to us after realizing their MSP was not correctly supporting their business. 

 

It can seem complicated to determine whether or not you are with a sufficient managed service provider or not. To help make it a little easier, here are some easy-to-recognize signs that you can use to determine whether your managed service provider isn’t cutting it.  

Service tickets are not resolved promptly. 

When you are experiencing an issue, the first thing that you do is send in a service ticket to your managed service provider. When you do this, how long does it take for you to hear back from them? 

 

When minor issues occur, if it takes anything over 2 hours for your MSP to get back to you, this is a sign that they don’t have the resources necessary to support you. You should feel prioritized by your MSP, and if they aren’t taking your service requests as seriously as they should be, it’s time to make a switch.   

 

If you are experiencing an emergency, the response from your managed service provider should be immediate. If they are not prioritizing your situation to get you back up and running, this can be a sign that they do not have a well-mapped out process to deal with an incident or not enough resources to keep up.

 

 If your MSP is not providing quick support when you need them, your business could incur more significant damage during downtime. Find an MSP with the resources to support your team and resolve issues as quickly and efficiently as possible.

 

They don’t have the skill level to support you.

Does your MSP have the status of expertise they need to support you? Are there issues that have occurred over and over again and never get resolved? If you find yourself having a recurring problem, this could signify that your managed service provider doesn’t have the expertise they need to support your IT infrastructure. 

Your MSP should have a team of specialized experts who work together to create a long-term solution, not just a solution for a temporary fix. Having a reliable and knowledgeable team will ensure the problem isn’t recurring, leaving you with constant downtime. 

You have been hit with multiple breaches or ransomware attacks. 

 

If multiple breaches or ransomware attacks have compromised you, this can be a sign of: 

 

Insufficient security protocols: 

If your business is constantly dealing with breaches, this is a clear sign that your MSP doesn’t have the proper security protocols in place. Security should be the number one priority with your MSP.

 

Here are some ways to strengthen security:

Multi-factor authentication:

Your MSP should make MFA (multi-factor authentication) a requirement. MFA is one of the most basic yet effective security tools to block someone hacking into your secure network. Multi-factor authentication requires users to provide two or more verification factors to access an account, application, or VPN. Anytime that someone attempts to use your credentials to gain access to any of your devices, there will be another layer of protection to keep them out.  

 

Endpoint detection and response

Endpoint detection and response (EDR) is an integrated endpoint security solution that monitors your system for suspicious activity. The solution will monitor and collect information from your endpoints and look for potential threats. If a threat is recognized, the system will automatically respond by either removing or containing the threat. This ensures that threats are identified before they can cause harm to your network. A threat analysis is done to determine where it may have come from. 

 

Endpoint detection and response is a proactive threat detection solution that should be implemented to mitigate risk for your business. Being proactive is the best way to ensure you are not constantly running into security issues, which could halt your business goals. If your MSP does not take these necessary precautions and implement EDR, this could put your business at risk for breaches, ransomware attacks, and other security threats. 

 

Your network is always running slow or crashing. 

If your network is always running slow or crashing, this could be a sign of the following: 

Poor security: layered security

Viruses can be a significant reason for a slow network. If you don’t have the proper software installed to fight off viruses, they can easily infiltrate your system, causing it to slow down or crash. 

 

Old equipment:

If your equipment is old or out of date, this means that your software won't be able to update to the newest version. Old or outdated software can immensely slow down your systems and put you at risk of security threats. It is essential to have constant equipment refreshes to ensure everything is running in the quickest way possible. 

 

They don’t provide company cybersecurity training.   

It is crucial to have constant cybersecurity training. Knowledge of cyber threats can help your users avoid phishing scams and countless other security threats. Phishing scams are becoming more common; therefore, users should learn the latest techniques hackers use to infiltrate their systems. The training should make users aware of suspicious internet activity to easily avoid a situation that could put them and the company at risk. Training should occur monthly so that your employees stay alert. 

They don’t have a backup and disaster recovery plan.  

Your MSP must have a plan if you are to incur a ransomware attack. Having a backup and disaster recovery plan are two of the most important things for your MSP to have in place. 

Backup: 

A backup will ensure that all your important files are safely stored in the event of a network attack or a network crash. The backup will grab snapshots of your files every hour. This way, if you lose essential data, you can go back to the most recent snapshot and retrieve the data. The backups are typically stored locally but can get off-sited in the case of an absolute disaster.  

Disaster recovery plan:

A disaster recovery plan is a strategic plan put in place by your MSP that aims to minimize damage and downtime in the event of any network disaster that hits your company. The goal is to prevent disruption if you underwent a breach, ransomware attack, network crash, etc.  

They have a small support team.

The support team is who you reach out to when you have an issue and send a service request. They will work with you to try and resolve your problem. If your support team is not large enough to keep up with their client’s needs, your business’s success can be affected.

 

This way, there is an expert for each area of IT, and they will have the knowledge base to get your problem resolved as quickly as possible.  No one person can be an expert in all areas of IT. For this reason, the more members of the team who each have a specialty, the greater level of expertise they can use to support your business. 

 

There is also an advantage to having a large support team to ensure that your MSP is never understaffed. If someone on the support team gets sick or takes a vacation, it is essential that if something were to happen to your business, you would still have a team ready to take your call and get you back up and running. 

 

Do they have a vCIO on their support team? A cVIO has decades of experience in the industry and is very focused on cybersecurity. They will assist you with planning, strategizing, and implementing, your IT infrastructure. Their goal is to look past the short term and look at your IT in a perspective that focuses on long-term goals. 

 

Does your MSP meet these requirements? If not, here are some next steps. 

If you notice that your managed service provider is not meeting some of the expectations in this, this is a sign that it may be time to make a switch. Switching providers can seem like a scary task to take on, but as a managed service provider, we are here to assure you that it can be a very seamless transition if done correctly.

 

Having an MSP doing all the right things ensures your business can thrive without worrying about your IT getting compromised. They should also be constantly enhancing your infrastructure to set you up for future success. If you are wondering what switching managed service providers entails, here is an article you may want to check out:  How Do I Switch My Managed Service Provider?