Managed Service Provider: Single Contact Point?

Does your Managed Service Provider give a single point of contact for support who can quickly swarm experts to resolve an issue in your network?

Your networks are being managed, they are running nicely and nobody has any issues. It’s a dream environment where workers are communicating freely and collaborating as you want them to.

All your mobile workers on their own devices and that BYOD policy you were entrusted to deliver is flowing nicely. You probably even crack a little smile, feeling rather pleased.

Then it goes wrong.

Your phone starts ringing off the hook as disgruntled employees are only too quick to let you know they can no longer access their work, the internet, or any manner of applications and services.

People start knocking on your door asking for help and looking across the office you can see a workforce as confused as Lionel Messi as he realised he wasn’t going to be a World Champion.

What happened? Where did the peace and quiet go? Why didn’t Higuain score that opportunity early in the first half?

You pick up the phone and ring your Managed Service Provider.

What happens next?

Your network issue is the most important thing to you at that moment. You want to know that the person the other end firstly understands that, but secondly delivers the type of service that you want and need.

Speak to someone you know.

Speaking to someone with advanced knowledge of the account and someone that you know is a great starting point to help you resolve your problem.

Is there someone aligned specifically to you? Do you have a team of people that you know you can rely on?

You want to know your problem can be handled through one interaction.

Does your Managed Service Provider have the capacity to handle the issue themselves or are they likely to act as a middle ground between you and the technology vendor?

Are they able to help you avoid the problem in the first place with specialist tools and applications?

Put some contractual obligations in place to help avoid these problems.

What types of response times do they promise you and are they delivering against them? What about placing guarantees in your contract regarding up-times and availability to help push back on your Managed Service Provider?

Any Managed Service Provider reluctant to put in place reasonable remunerations and guarantees against their service delivery should make you suspicious and ask more questions.

How does your Managed Service Provider treat you currently? Are you getting the best support you could?

Give us a call to find out more on how aligning a dedicated Account Manager and team of specialists to your business could help you keep your systems running better, for longer.