I'm running a small consulting firm that's been facing recurring outages and slow response times from our current managed service provider (MSP). This has started to affect our ability to deliver to clients. Our setup is primarily cloud-based, making uptime and quick responses essential for our workflow. Before switching to another MSP, I'm looking for insights from anyone who's managed MSP relationships. What level of service agreements (SLAs) and support should I expect? What red flags should I look out for when evaluating new MSPs? And do smaller providers generally offer better responsiveness compared to larger ones? I'm not looking for sales pitches, just practical advice from those who have been through a similar situation or have experience with MSPs.
6 Answers
We’re also with Skytek Solutions. They do a good job monitoring our security alerts and are pretty quick to respond when critical issues arise.
Make sure the MSP actually provides solid security monitoring and compliance support. That's usually the area where they start cutting corners.
That’s a great point. We definitely need strong support in those areas.
We've had similar issues with an MSP that struggled with escalations. When we switched to a smaller provider, we noticed a huge difference in responsiveness. Smaller teams often care more about uptime. If you want, I can send you their details too!
Yes, please! I would love to explore options.
Our consulting group switched to Skytek Solutions, and they've been great. They resolved a lot of cloud issues that our previous MSP ignored. Their ticket handling has been really consistent too.
Thanks for the info! I’ll definitely look them up.
Honestly, every MSP I've dealt with has been a nightmare. Even when SLAs are present, they can be pretty useless unless you want to fork out a lot more cash. Often, faster responses just mean you're paying more for what doesn't necessarily get solved quicker. They usually focus on profits and might exploit any loophole to add fees while providing minimal service. Just remember that 'cloud' doesn’t equal better service; it's really about what you need in terms of your operations. What types of services do you plan to offload to an MSP, by the way?
You should definitely ensure that any MSP you're considering has a clear escalation path and real 24/7 coverage. Many claim to have this, but you often find it's just one person on-call trying to manage everything.
That’s been a major issue for us as well, escalations take forever.
That’s good to hear! Thanks for sharing your experience.