Stop Managing Your Managed IT Service Provider: How Proactive IT Partners Maximize Your ROI

As organizations operate across various cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments, managing their technology has become more challenging.

Employees need to collaborate seamlessly from multiple locations, technology is advancing rapidly, and cyber threats are growing in sophistication, frequency, and impact. In fact, cybercrime is projected to cost a staggering $12 trillion by 2025. To handle this complexity, many are turning to a managed IT service provider to ensure their systems remain efficient and reliable.

But too often, organizations find themselves spending their valuable time managing their MSP—following up on unresolved tickets and chasing after critical updates—rather than focusing on their core goals.

Below, you’ll learn about the importance of MSP-led communication for maximizing your return on investment and tips on how to select the right provider for long-term success.

The Role of Proactive IT Communication in MSP-Client Relationships

Because the relationship with an IT provider has become so essential to its ability to operate, an organization should feel like they are in good hands.

Good-quality managed IT services for nonprofits are especially important, as these organizations often operate with limited resources and must prioritize efficiency to fulfill their mission effectively. For example, an autism-focused nonprofit organization in DC was able to streamline their workday by offloading their IT management to designDATA. Our responsiveness was key to ensuring they had adequate employee support and timely issue resolution.

Unfortunately, not all MSPs will communicate effectively.

It should never be your job to oversee your IT service management. Instead, your managed IT service provider should be responsible for establishing a clear communication channel with you about your IT priorities. This will let you all stay aligned on goals, expectations, and ongoing IT needs while your organization can make informed decisions about your technology. You will also feel confident that your MSP’s solutions are tailored to your specific context and strategic objectives.

The Five Keys to Effective Communication

Achieving that effective working relationship and proactive IT communication requires a well-established MSP communication cadence, where you know that you’re getting the maximum value for your time, money, and resources.

At our company, we’ve honed a tried-and-true approach that involves:

Weekly tactical meetings where you review your IT support services and discuss any ongoing IT issues. You can also schedule and communicate any downtime or maintenance and address any concerns.
Proactive Priority of the Month meeting where you tackle non-urgent but essential maintenance items that other MSPs often leave at the bottom of the pile indefinitely.
Quarterly IT benchmarking assessments, where we evaluate your IT environment in five key areas: productivity, cybersecurity, infrastructure management, cloud service enablement, and business continuity. We compare your systems and processes against other organizations to ensure you effectively use your technology.
Bi-Annual Business Reviews where we have an executive-level discussion about our recent accomplishments and upcoming plans, their budgetary impacts, the possibility of adding emerging technology to your tech stack, and how we can add more value to your organization.
Yearly Initiative Rankings meeting where we discuss more broad-level critical success factors. We use a project ranking matrix that scores IT initiatives based on your criteria, looking at which has the most significant impact on your operations to help us prioritize what is most important.

The Benefits of a Team-Based Approach for IT Service Management

Beyond having a regular and established communication cadence, your organization will feel happier with a managed IT services provider that takes a team-based approach to IT support.

In our experience, MSP’s client satisfaction hinges on organizations knowing they have access to reliable support whenever needed. That’s why a good provider will act as an extension of your team, making it feel almost as if your organization has its own in-house IT while still leveraging the benefits of working with a comprehensive outsourced provider.

Your staff should be able to connect with familiar engineers whenever they need support and have a dedicated point of contact to create comfort and consistency.

This is especially valuable when working with an MSP for nonprofits. With a dedicated team that understands your organization, its environment, and specific needs, you’ll be better equipped to proactively anticipate and address challenges, keeping your operations running smoothly.

How to Choose the Right MSP for Your Organization

Your choice for your managed IT service provider will directly impact your efficiency, security, and growth, so it’s important to be diligent in finding the right fit. Yet with so many options available, it can be overwhelming to determine who will best address your unique needs.

Here are a few factors to consider when selecting an MSP for nonprofits:

1. Assess your IT needs, current and future

Conduct a thorough assessment of your infrastructure and operations to understand your organization’s priorities for its technology. Before you start looking for a provider, you should know as much as you can about your current vulnerabilities, desires for upgrades, and long-term operational goals. This knowledge will help you find someone whose skills reflect your environment.

2. Review their available services

Once you know your needs, you can evaluate providers to determine whether they offer services that can help you meet them.

Qualified managed IT providers should definitely prioritize your cybersecurity and provide services such as security assessments, incident response and business continuity planning, identity management, and 24/7 continuous monitoring to keep your data safe.

You should also consider looking for providers who offer data center and cloud management services, as well as staff training to ensure your team can confidently navigate their digital workplaces.

3. Evaluate their track record

You can gain valuable insight into a managed IT service provider’s ability to foster a long-term, high-quality partnership by looking at the people and reputation surrounding them. Start by reviewing client testimonials and recommendations to understand the experiences of other organizations. It’s also helpful to consider how long a provider has been in business and how long their employees have stayed with the company. Additionally, examining their client base and identifying organizations similar to yours can give you a clearer sense of how well they understand your specific challenges.

4. Assess their IT service quality

Providers should make it easy for you to examine their customer support capabilities in their service level agreements. Pay close attention to their claims around uptime, response times, and average resolution times to ensure they can provide IT solutions for nonprofits that meet your operational needs without unnecessary delays. Additionally, evaluate their onboarding process to understand how quickly and smoothly they can integrate with your team, as well as their ongoing communication practices.

Partner with designDATA for your IT Success

The key to getting the most out of your IT investment is partnering with an MSP that takes a proactive approach rather than one that needs constant oversight. Your provider should focus on boosting efficiency, reducing downtime, and supporting long-term growth for your organization.

designDATA offers tailored managed IT services for nonprofits, associations, and other organizations, applying a strong emphasis on transparent communication and long-term planning to keep your IT reliable and hassle-free.

Let’s connect to discuss how we can deliver IT that works for you. Schedule a consultation with us today!