Is Your MSP Playing These 8 Most Common Tricks?

There are countless frustrating and frightening things that could go wrong when you're running your business. One of the quieter ways you could be losing money or productivity is due to technical issues or outages. When these happen, you're at the mercy of your IT service provider to get you back up and running.

The cost of faulty IT is increasing because of our reliance on technology to make money in today's world. However, not every IT provider has fine-tuned their process in serving clients. They still pull tricks to get you to sign on for services you don't need or won't get enough out of to justify the pricing.

To help you determine whether you're being "tricked or treated" by your managed service provider (MSP), here are 8 of the most common sneaky practices in the industry.

1. They Lie About the Quality of Their Customer Service to Get You in the Door

If you're speaking with a provider and considering signing on with them, there are many talk tracks they'll use to get you in the door. They may promise excellent service, but often have nothing to back up these claims.

What is their average response time to service tickets and calls? Is it just a goal they set or a standard across their company? Make sure to ask these questions and find customer reviews for a thorough look into how they'll actually take care of you.

After all, speed is of the essence when you're experiencing an outage. To read about the hidden costs of outages and what they could mean for your revenue, read about what one outage did to the entire auto industry in our blog: CDK Outage: New Vehicle Sales Take Estimated 2-7% Hit After Massive Outage.

2. They Fail to Adequately Manage or Update Your Software

This issue could be due to one of two reasons. Either they don't have proper protocols in place to ensure your software and devices are regularly updated, or they don't have the bandwidth to adequately serve you. Some IT companies are comprised of just a few techs, which is not sufficient for even SMBs.

Outdated software is a major liability to your business. It jeopardizes your bottom line due to cybersecurity risks, downtime from bugs or crashes, and more. Don't wait until your server is compromised to switch to a proactive IT provider.

3. They Do Not Offer Any Clear Technology Roadmaps

In the same vein as software updates, devices often become outdated and need upgrades or replacements. As a general rule, you should have a 5-year cycle for replacing equipment, with a plan and budget in place to go along with it.

Some providers don't offer technology roadmaps, or living documents to plan out equipment refreshes and subsequent budgeting. These are crucial to your IT strategy, so it's not a good sign if your MSP isn't providing them.

Waiting for things to break or reach end-of-life before refreshes spell disaster for large costs and downtime waiting for emergency replacements. For this reason, if you don't have any active roadmap in place, you might want to consider a switch.

4. They Overlook Security Protocols or Cut Corners in Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity should be a top priority for managed IT support companies. Managed services for small businesses especially need to encompass cyber protections along with day-to-day technical support.

When you're considering whether to nix your current IT service support company, consider whether they offer network management and proactive monitoring. If they don't, it's not a good sign and can greatly affect you risk of suffering an attack. Your MSP should have minimum security tools in place such as:

• Firewalls
• Antivirus & Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR) tools
• Multi-factor authentication
• Cybersecurity training (see section below)

To learn more about proactive cybersecurity and what it should look like, read our blog: Proactive vs Reactive Cyber Security: Examples & Trade-Offs

5. You’re Left in the Dark on Technology and Cybersecurity Training

Another essential service you should get from your MSP is regular cybersecurity training for employees. These should be quick videos or email tests to educate your staff on common cyber threats such as phishing and other online safety topics.

If your provider doesn't set these up/send them out for you, or if the training you get isn't digestible or frequent, it might be time to explore other providers. This is a very basic necessity in protecting your business, as your biggest cyber liability is human error which can be mitigated by proper awareness training.

6. Vendor Management Is a Foreign Concept to Them

If you've ever sat on a customer service helpline waiting for a representative, you know how frustrating vendor management can be. This is a major relief MSPs can (and should) offer to their clients to take the time-consuming phone queues off their plates.

Unfortunately, vendor management is not a very common practice among MSPs. It should raise red flags if your MSP directs you to call vendors yourself, or otherwise allows you to shoulder the burden of dealing with them.

Medium to small business managed IT services need to account for the time and focus it takes to conduct your business operations. You should feel at ease knowing the service you pay to handle your IT, well.. handles it!

7. You Only Get Services When Something Breaks (Break-Fix Model)

Many businesses fall victim to the trap of break-fix IT. This business model is labeled as the cheaper alternative to IT, because you only pay for service when something breaks. However, break-fix IT is a reactive approach to issues that could occur due to more overarching problems.

Would you keep dishing out hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix an old car, or would it be more cost-effective to buy/lease a new one? The same can be said about managing IT.

Investing in IT support and services that address larger IT projects like replacements or migrations is much more cost-effective in the long run. Managed IT offers a wide range of support in areas where break-fix models often fail, such as:

• Reducing the frequency and length of outages by regularly updating software and technology
• Implementing system-wide cybersecurity protections
• Ensuring your users are set up with the right permissions and access privileges
• Eliminating old accounts that pose risks for cyber-attacks and insider threats

8. They Vastly Overcharge You for Sub-Par Service

Finally, it's important to do a cost-benefit-analysis on the services of your IT company. You can get a good read on whether you're getting the most band for your buck by undergoing a network assessment from another MSP.

Network assessments will evaluate the service contracts you currently have, and compare them to industry rates, standard services, and more. They look at every document you can produce to determine whether you're grossly overpaying, underpaying, or just not getting the thorough services you need.

How to Find Out If Your MSP is a Trickster

The first step in re-evaluating your IT strategy is to get a thorough assessment from a reputable MSP. Sometimes an outside perspective from a team of experts is the best way to gauge whether you're getting the most out of your budget.

To learn more about the benefits of getting a network assessment, check out our blog: Understanding Network Assessments: What to Expect & Examples

If you're ready to get a clear picture of your current IT posture, click the button below to speak to an IT expert about getting an assessment.