Ready to pivot from your MSP?

Pivot from your MSP? How to verify your concerns at one of the busiest times of the year.

For many people the (new) working year begins this week and it is typically an exceptionally busy period that reflects the need to continue delivering on the financial year’s strategic and operational commitments. In this rush to deliver, which is then followed by the next budgeting cycle and then further projects and initiatives, we find our time-poor clients frequently miss the opportunity to review their MSP’s performance and determine whether the current arrangement still stacks up against their organisation’s mid to long term vision and goals.

While it’s not always easy to get in front of competing priorities and ensure your MSP is delivering to spec. and acting as a true partner, it is still imperative that organisations and executives actively manage the risks and exposure that a poorly performing or insecure MSP represents. For an organisation that is invested in successful outcomes for both its customers and shareholders these risks can negatively impact upcoming projects, operational finances, brand reputation, and even a company’s valuation.

Depending on the breadth and depth of the services being consumed simple review items such as those listed below can be the start of a sanity check to see if further review is warranted:

• Are we actively completing restores to demonstrate end-to-end validity of the MSP’s data integrity service rather than a limited perspective defined by their system generated report on the success of backup jobs?

• Is the MSP maintaining agreed currency on software versions, and also implementing critical/security patches within agreed timeframes?

• Have we validated the raw data used to create the MSP’s reports especially around Service Desk, Change, and Support services?

Moving from the operations focus other points of review can include:

• Have we negotiated an agreement that reflects reducing technology costs over time with a defined flow-through from the MSP to the customer in the form of reduced billing?

• Is the agreement reflective of current business sentiment such as critical system availability rather than price point for example?

• Is our MSP’s security position aligned with our organisation’s documented risk appetite or compliance regime?

• Are we verifying the MSP’s security position via regular audits and mandated penetration/vulnerability testing, or at least have a self-reporting requirement within the agreement?

While a true partnership and positive relationship between an MSP and customer delivers the best outcomes for all, unfortunately it is when things begin to move beyond infrequent hiccups or excusable oversight that the key component of dispute resolution comes to the fore. This is where the time invested in negotiating a well-defined services agreement delivers the mechanisms to remedy the situation through service credits, mandated remedial action, minimising clawback, breach notices, and even up to step-in clauses.

If you currently have or suspect you have performance, governance, or cost issues with your MSP, or are simply not sure if your existing services agreement puts you in a solid and optioned position then I would love to discuss how our MSP assessment offerings can assist you in this area. I can be contacted directly on 0409285045 or owenflynn@zenitil.com.au