Article Summary
- Regular evaluations can ensure your MSP keeps your business secure and efficient.
- Slow response times, poor communication and a lack of proactive solutions can all be signs it’s time to switch MSPs.
- Tracking important performance metrics ensures both accountability and strong IT support.
Are you wondering if your provider is still the right fit? If it feels like your business is coasting, evaluating a managed service provider (MSP) might be the right move. It’s how you protect your business from slowdowns, vulnerabilities, and missed opportunities. Here’s how to know if it’s time to switch your MSP:
Why Regular MSP Evaluations Matter
Think of evaluating your MSP like a regular health checkup. You wouldn’t skip your annual physical, right? Your IT environment needs the same kind of attention. A consistent managed service provider assessment keeps your systems secure, efficient, and aligned with your business goals.
Keeping Your Business Running
Businesses face major outages from something as small as a missed patch or a failed backup. Regular evaluations ensure your MSP isn’t just promising uptime — it’s proving it. Business continuity is about making sure that if the worst happens, your operations won’t grind to a halt.
When to Schedule an MSP Performance Review
Your tech needs can outpace your MSP’s efforts when your business grows quickly. That’s when things start to fall through the cracks — outdated hardware, slow VPNs, missing licenses. These gaps become roadblocks and your business loses speed if no one is actively checking for them. Our job at Mirazon is to find those gaps before they cost you money or clients.
Is My MSP Doing a Good Job?
Here are some major signs to switch MSPs — or at least reevaluate.
Slow Response Times
If you have to chase your MSP for updates, or if it takes hours just to get a simple ticket acknowledged, that’s a red flag. Your business can’t afford to waste time on sluggish IT support, especially when downtime can cost thousands of dollars per hour, contributing to losses of $49 million annually.
A good MSP should keep you in the loop. You’re being underserved if you constantly ask for updates or struggle to get someone on the phone. You deserve a partner, not a ghost.
Zero Proactivity
If your Managed IT services show up only when something’s broken, that’s not proactive service — it’s damage control. You want a provider who offers solutions before problems arise. We at Mirazon stay ahead of the curve instead of playing catch-up.
Scale Stumbles
Whether onboarding a new department or doubling in size, your MSP should scale with you without nickel-and-diming you every step of the way. It might be time for a change if growth feels like pulling teeth with your current provider.
Performance Parameters to Track
You can’t manage what you don’t measure. These MSP performance metrics help you keep score and hold your provider accountable.
Quarterly Reviews and Reporting
You should receive regular reports on tickets, resolutions, vulnerabilities, and strategy. If you’re not getting them, ask why and switch to someone who provides them automatically.
Last year, businesses lost over $38 billion to account takeovers, which is expected to spike to $362 billion by 2028. These attacks are being supercharged by artificial intelligence (AI), and a recent index found that 78% of businesses are now consistently exposed to AI-powered fraud. If your MSP isn’t aggressively protecting you from cyberthreats, it’s time to revisit that contract.
Incident Resolution Time
Track how long it takes them to resolve issues, not just respond. Fast first replies are great, but the fix counts.
Uptime
At a minimum, your MSP should deliver 99.9% uptime. Anything less means too much downtime — and lost revenue.
User Satisfaction Scores
Even if leadership is happy, your staff might feel differently. Pulse surveys or help desk feedback let you spot hidden friction.
How to Evaluate a Managed Service Provider
Non-compliant organizations found that the average cost of a data breach was $4.88 million higher than that of compliant organizations. The average cost of a compliance-related data breach was $2.22 million for businesses of all sizes that use AI in security and automation for prevention. Ask for real data. If they can’t show you proof, consider it a definite red flag.
Check out these practical tools to make the MSP evaluation guide process easier:
- Benchmark metrics: Compare your MSP’s performance against your specific industry standards. Are they fulfilling all of your Service Level Objectives? If they lag in basic areas like patch cadence or backup frequency, it’s not you — it’s them.
- IT service provider checklist: Having a list handy helps walk you through everything from backup verification to compliance reviews. Print it out, grab some coffee, and start checking those boxes.
- MSP evaluation guide: Use a 1-to-5 rating system for communication, response times, strategic input, and reporting. If your MSP isn’t delivering, it’s time to reevaluate.
Don’t wait for a disaster to discover if your provider is snoozing at the wheel.
What to Look for in an MSP
If you’re shopping around, here’s how to proceed:
- Tailored plans: Managed services for small businesses must support your unique setup and needs, not be a template package.
- Proactive communication: You shouldn’t always be the one initiating the check-in. Clear communication and regular reviews are necessary. Come with questions to ask your MSP to make sure all is covered.
- Scalable services: When evaluating IT services for small businesses, look for a provider that grows with you effortlessly.
- Local support with national reach: Mirazon’s managed IT services in Louisville support small businesses across the region.
Maybe It’s Time for an MSP Evaluation
A little effort now goes a long way later. Whether you’re refining your current relationship or preparing to move on, evaluating your MSP protects your business, streamlines your tech, and helps you sleep better at night.
Take the guesswork out of IT. Contact Mirazon managed services for a free, no-pressure IT provider audit and see how we stack up as a managed services provider in Louisville — because your business deserves better.