There are over 40,000 Managed Services Providers (MSPs) in the US, according to a recent estimate. As ONE of the 40k, we know how difficult it can be to choose an IT partner. We know what it means to be selected, the trust it takes from one business to another to put your most critical systems and data in someone else’s hands. One of the main things we hear from people is that it’s challenging to tell the difference between providers, services and tools. What’s worth the spend? What will be a disappointment? Is the marketing accurate? In this blog, I’m going to share some perspective and tips for understanding key differences between IT services and providers. They may look the same, or sound the same…but trust us, they are not the same. We are not the same.
When IT services all look the same
Let’s use Amazon as an example. Imagine you’re searching for something. You type it in, click and wait…and thousands of options appear. As you scroll through, you notice that many of them look identical. The stock photos have different backgrounds, but the product displayed in them looks the same. The colors have different descriptions, but you see the same three options on almost every listing. The prices vary, ranging from cheap to expensive. Even the shipping options are all over the place – from free shipping, to paid, to complimentary next day delivery. The only easily visible difference between the products is the name of the vendor. How do you choose?
If you were to order three of these products from different vendors, there would most likely be differences in your experience. From quality, packaging, and arrival time to overall satisfaction. But that wouldn’t be obvious right away. Maybe you wouldn’t even notice until you started using the product. By then, the damage is done.
With online shopping, the worst-case scenario is you have to return an item. With your IT environment, the risks are considerably higher. That’s why it’s so important to compare the value of the services, not the prices.
Price, or value?
When you’re comparing based on price, you’re purely looking at the numbers of seemingly similar services. IT Company A has “managed IT” for $2000 a month for your environment. IT Company B tells you they can “manage your IT” for $999 a month. That’s a huge difference – but we still don’t know what the services include, their business model, staffing, ease of use, or what’s covered. Does “managing IT” mean rolling out patches and nothing else? It could. But you won’t know right away.
Partnership vs. Selling
The level of service, involvement, and personal investment made by an organization is what defines whether they’re partnering or simply “selling.” ADNET focuses on partnerships. If you’re speaking to someone on our team, they want to understand your business. Your goals. Where you are, and where you want to go. And our goal is always to help you get there, in the way that’s right for your business.
We don’t charge for professional account management, and our managed clients have access to our advisory services and dozens of other benefits. Our team is made up of over 60 highly-skilled experts, and they’re all on your team if you’re a client. Client service and satisfaction is delivered with a holistic, organizational approach.
There’s a reason we don’t have a dropdown where you can select services and “add to cart” on our website. That’s not who we are. We’re advisors, strategic partners, and experts passionate about sharing our knowledge and developing custom solutions. Sure, we have services that are repeatable, but how we leverage them is different.
Many MSPs offer “managed” and “all inclusive” services, but they’re not all the same. Our idea of management is a team of professionals, actual humans, ensuring your environment functions as it should. Theirs may be a program that automatically pushes out patches. If you don’t know the nuances, it can be extremely difficult to tell the difference. We also see a lot of claims for comprehensive, all inclusive services, but when you look at their idea of all inclusive services versus ours, it’s clear that its all relative. We may have a list of 100, and they might have 10. It just depends on the company, their business model, their tech stack and team.
How to spot key differences between IT services and providers
We’re embedded in the IT community, and we regularly discuss services, tools and solutions with our peers. One thing we’ve noticed is that while services may look the same on the surface, as you peel back the layers the differences become clear.
Here are tips you can use to ask the right questions, research providers, and tell the difference between services – even when they seem similar.
1. Trust the people
No, not the people trying to sell the services. We’ll be the first to connect you to our clients if you want to chat with them about their experience – and we regularly get (and show) their feedback on our website, social media, and other places. Integrity is a big part of this, and you can’t always trust reviews. If they all read similarly, or don’t seem like they have enough detail, they may have been written by bots.
If you’re vetting a new IT partner, it’s absolutely within your rights to ask for client feedback or references. And if the business won’t provide that information in some form, you have your first red flag.
2. Check out the team
If someone is promising labor intensive services but boasts hundreds of clients and only has 3 team members, the math doesn’t work. Do a little reconnaissance on LinkedIn, the company website, and anywhere else you can to see how many people they have and get an idea of their team’s experience and expertise.
Maybe they have a partner, maybe they outsource, maybe they’ve got subcontractors – but any way you look at it, you should know that if you choose to move forward.
3. Look for relevant technical certifications
Technical certifications are notoriously hard to earn. They can also be expensive, factoring in time, training and the exam expenses. There’s a reason for that!
The IT industry and most major vendors (like Microsoft) don’t want people pretending to be experts if they’re not. It leads to a subpar experience for clients and reflects poorly on the technology itself. That’s why we encourage our team to get relevant certifications whenever possible, in tech they’re passionate about.
4. Awards and accolades
Industry awards aren’t everything, but they are a good indicator that an organization is considered capable and current by their peers. Chances are, a company that’s focused on being a leader in their industry is focused on providing best-in-class service as well.
5. Look for community connections
Are they involved in the local business community? Chambers of commerce, media outlets, and even community outreach and giving back can tell you a lot about a company. A willingness to share knowledge, help their communities, and encourage people to get involved speaks louder than saying “We’re good people!” on a website does.
When a company has deep roots in a community, they’re invested in the success of other organizations. Caring about the community means they care about their clients, and your business.
ADNET is incredibly proud of our team and their commitment to always expanding their knowledge and skills. We’re very fortunate to have such a dedicated, highly skilled group of people who have made us the company we are today. So when we say that not all IT services are the same, we know it’s true. We know that there are varying levels of service, at all different price points, and we’re not right for everyone. When you choose to work with ADNET as your IT partner, you have a team of 60+ people, locally and nationally, who care deeply about your business. It’s not just about implementing solutions quickly – we care about finding the right solutions. We listen, we learn, and we offer strategic guidance to all our managed IT services clients. If that sounds like the IT partnership you’re looking for – reach out to us. Let’s talk.
