- What is MSP (Managed Service Provider)?
- What is BPO (Business Process Outsourcing)?
- What are the Benefits of MSP?
- Why Hire MSP?
- How MSP can Help Your Business?
- How does MSP Work?
- Things to Consider When Hiring an MSP
- What are the Common Managed Services Offered by an MSP Company?
- Challenges of MSP
- Types of Managed Service Providers (MSP
- MSPs for MSPs
- MSP Trends
- MSP Models
- Essential MSP Tools for Growth
- What are the Top Industries Who Need MSP?
- MSP Hiring Process
- Conclusion
- Managed Service Providers Guide FAQs
The MSP (Managed Service Provider) can be the ideal solution for managing all kind of businesses remotely. That’s why businesses hire remote managed service providers and offshore MSPs. Companies are now more interested in the MSP process and want to know more about how MSP works. I will explain everything related to managed service providers (MSP) in this ultimate MSP guide.
Businesses that have a partial in-house IT staff hire remote Managed Service Providers. You may know that sometimes organizations want to outsource their IT services. So that they can help internal employees focus on more strategic tasks.
Remote MSP works proactively, which inspired many companies to hire Managed Service Providers. By helping businesses to remain competitive and implementing high availability, managed services left the old models behind.
I am here to let you know every detail about Managed Service Provider (MSP). In this ultimate MSP guide, you will find the benefits of offshore MSPs.
The ultimate MSP guide will also discuss the types and importance of Remote MSPs. In addition, you will learn how to select a remote Managed Service Provider for your business and how MSP works.
So what are you waiting for?
Explore now! Match your business problems and get the solutions.
What is MSP (Managed Service Provider)?
Managed service providers (MSP) refer to the companies that provide services like:
- Applications
- Networks
- Security
- Infrastructure etc.
Offshore MSP provides services through regular and ongoing support.
So, what is MSP (Managed Service Provider)?
Suppose you have a business. For running your business, there are a lot of processes that you should do. But you do not want to monitor the management system on your own.
In that case, you can hire a remote MSP (Managed Service Provider) company. The offshore MSP company will be responsible for your company’s whole management system.
Remote Managed Service Provider means outsourcing your business processes related to information technology.
Besides, active administration service is also open on customers’ premises. It may occur in their MSP’s data center (hosting). Remote MSPs can also work in a third-party data center.
In short, MSP is a company that provides IT services to other companies. The offshore MSP process emerged as the counterpoint of the ‘old break-fix model.’
Basically, the MSP process provides IT solutions to prevent risks.
That means they work preventively. It enables constant monitoring of technology assets. The MSP process also identifies threats before they become real problems.
In result, this type of company focuses on offering IT services. And these services are available to customers. This helps the contracting party’s internal team dedicate itself to strategic internal activities. For example, without worrying about maintenance or updates.
You will understand the MSP process after knowing Business Process Outsourcing. Since Managed Services are part of BPO, the ultimate MSP guide explains it here.
What is BPO (Business Process Outsourcing)?
Business Process Outsourcing, in a short BPO, is a popular term worldwide. In a business, there are a lot of processes, such as
- Management
- Accounts
- Human resources
- Security
- Data entry
- Quality Assurance etc.
But if any business is unwilling to perform these processes, it can hire a BPO vendor or BPO company.
This process is business process outsourcing.
When businesses hire bpo companies to outsource their business processes is BPO.
Companies hire BPO services because of their benefits, like saving costs and time. Remote managed service providers remove the barrier of locality and languages etc.
So, MSP is a part of BPO.
What is a BPO Company?
Business process outsourcing companies are also called BPO vendors. The BPO vendors are the companies that provide you with business processes and knowledge based processes that include KPO, RTO, HRO, ITO, etc.
As mentioned above, you may feel unwilling to run any part of your business. But some companies assure you to do that task very carefully all on their own.
These companies are BPO companies.
How do BPO Companies Help Outsource Managed Services?
Remote managed service providers are the companies that perform as a part of BPO.
Offshore MSP is a service under BPO.
As mentioned above, in a business, there are so many processes. But performing every process in-house can be costly. Besides, it needs extra tools, resources and skills. Offshore MSP offers services for these businesses.
Remote-managed service providers ensure the management of a whole process remotely.That’s how various companies hire BPO companies to outsource their tasks. These companies can be:
- Health Care
- IT
- Automation
- Transportation
- Real estate
- Telecommunications etc.
What are the Benefits of MSP?
Hiring a remote MSP (managed service provider) can help you in various ways. The advantages of an MSP are huge.
You may think that why I should hire offshore MSPs. Or how remote MSPs can benefit my business?
No worries!
Here I present the benefits of hiring a remote-managed service provider or Remote MSPs.
Below, check out some benefits of these managed services:
- High Availability
- Operational Flexibility
- Cost Reduction
- Improving Focus
- Improving Internet Security
- Problems Anticipation
- Process Automation
- Technology Maintenance
- IT Route Monitoring
High Availability
As mentioned above, the break-fix model has the biggest disadvantage of being unavailable. The issue applies to both the company services and human resources.
When problems arise, focusing only on maintenance, the team loses productivity.
Your team can construct projects and expand processes with the offshore MSPs (Managed Service Providers). Managed IT service providers will help improve the quality of services or products.
Then the technicians can support in training. Besides, they can improve their knowledge to develop new strategies. Ultimately, they will no longer waste their time dedicated to maintenance and support.
By doing this, they can seek new tools and technologies to improve your business.
This way, you can make the in-house IT team focused on innovation and technology. That will be beneficial for the company and the customers.
Operational Flexibility
You know that the creation of new technologies is a constant process.
So, businesses must be able to adapt to these new demands. Else they cannot meet their goal.
This variation is also significant in the workforce. After all, it is necessary to have more professionals focused on a specific project in a fixed period.
For example, suppose your business has completed a project. Now dealing with expenses related to the dismissal is not in your interest. Thus, the MSP process can be a great option for you. You can manage services that provide the ideal operational flexibility.
Besides, you can reallocate human resources if needed, using the workforce optimally.
Offshore MSPs can help you increase your operational flexibility.
Cost Reduction
Without reducing the quality, reducing costs is one of the biggest challenges. You may agree with this.
Besides, operating costs for human resources to assets and maintaining them are expensive. Offshore MSPs also need frequent investments, weighing on the organization’s financial budget.
But offshore MSPs can provide cost savings over IT. By hiring a remote MSP, you can remain competitive in the market. Moreover, it can be a manageable investment in the technological area.
For instance, imagine you need a security service for your website or software. If you hire an in-house team or resource for this task, you may offer him every month. Further, you need to provide other employee facilities such as health allowance.
But you can reduce costs by hiring a remote-managed service provider or remote MSP.
That means you don’t need to hire many professionals for the internal team. But you will still get the benefit.
You may notice that companies with less knowledge about IT can make some wrong choices. For instance, they may buy more machines or employees than they need.
But remote Managed Service providers can save you from these situations.
Improving Focus
One of the biggest disadvantages of the break-fix model is a waste of time. For support and maintenance, the internal team requires a lot of time. That directly influences the company’s growth. Besides, sometimes it is unable to dedicate efforts to more strategic tasks.
Using an MSP process, you can improve your company’s focus. Your employees can dedicate themselves to the company’s focus. Moreover, they can use their time more effectively.
Finally, the company must grow when everybody focuses on improving your business.
Improving Your Internet Security
Information technology is a blessing if you can assure information security. You must protect your data to prevent cyber-attacks
This security management can be a hassle for your company. But the MSP process uses several resources for security information, systems and networks.
To do this, managed IT services perform the following tasks:
- Patch management
- Scanning tools
- Cloud backup capabilities
- Disaster recovery plans.
Process Automation
Process automation is one of the biggest advantages of remote-managed services. Offshore MSPs are a real revolution in the technological environment.
Before, most activities had to do manually and needed to perform locally. Furthermore, that was costly and needed travel and pay over time.
Yet, Managed Services, in other words, offshore MSPs, changed this whole scenario. It happened because of the emergence of IT services automation.
Besides, quick data resourcing is possible with the most recent copy. It also avoids major losses. That’s how MSP works.
Problems Prediction
Let me explain to you how MSP works to benefit you by anticipating the problems.
You may face many problems working with the break-fix model in the IT environment. But you can avoid them easily with remote-managed service providers.
Suppose you have an ecommerce application. Suddenly, your customers need help finding your site. In the old break-fix model, you will need time to fix the bugs. But the hours of unavailability will affect your customers. They can consider it a breach of contact.
Your employees will also suffer from this situation.
As a result, your company has lost its customer satisfaction.
Yet, managed IT service provider can help you reduce this kind of stress. The MSP process works to expect problems and manage to avoid interruption of services. And finally, you can prevent your customers’ dissatisfaction.
You may now understand how MSP works. Actually, the MSP process discovers an anomaly; it works to solve it before it becomes a big issue.
Technology Maintenance
Technologies are essential for any company that wants to continue growing with competitiveness. You must agree that all these companies cannot maintain things working properly. That’s why they need to rely on the MSP.
Managed IT services work as your allies. Besides, you can avoid having outdated assets. Moreover, you can use resources in the best possible way.
In addition, Remote MSP works as a partner. Offshore MSPs allow your company to install more efficient practices. You will also enjoy the benefits of technological innovations through remote Managed Service Providers.
In this context, what is MSP?
The MSP handles being ahead with innovations. MSP works to make investments in the implementation and training of employees.
IT Route Monitoring
Remote managed services also help managers stay up-to-date on the IT area. The provider can also constantly check the sector.
MSP processes work with the details such as reports and performance indicators. It also verifies whether the technological environment is meeting the specified goals. Another task of the MSP process is to help the company to develop.
You can identify if executing improvements for the organization’s expectations are necessary.
Why Hire MSP?
Hiring an MSP is necessary if a business wants to enhance IT services to make it more competitive.
Right now, you are in less confusion.
Am I right?
You have already learned what MSP is and how MSP works. Besides, you are also aware of the benefits it offers businesses. So, are you still confused about whether hire MSP or not?
Let’s remove your doubt.
First, look at your company. Check whether it needs external help in the technological environment.
Second, think about it. Do you feel your IT department is overloaded? Do you need more resources to invest in new employees or machines? Are customers satisfied with your IT-related issues?
Third, now think about what MSP is offering you. The service provider can be an absolute ally for your organization. It will help to reduce costs for your business. Moreover, MSP will expect problems and expand your business focus.
How MSP can Help Your Business?
MSP is a company that provides resource management services. Generally, MSP works for businesses that do not have an IT infrastructure.
Offshore MSPs can help your business be more careful with project management. It will benefit you, especially if you are dealing with the storage and handling of customer information.
In this context, they specialize in working abiding by the law and use the skill as a competitive advantage.
An MSP company offers you service focused on IT. In short, it helps you with:
- Data privacy
- Maintain public data
- Maintain private data
- Security
- Expense reduction, etc.
How does MSP Work?
Small and medium businesses without good IT infrastructure need professional help. Remote MSPs work for those companies, as mentioned above.
However, the size of a business does matter in hiring remote managed services. Large companies are also hiring MSPs to reduce their cost and increase productivity.
So, how MSP works, then?
MSP works both as share packages or a monthly payment based. There are different models for managed services. According to the model, the payment or price can also vary.
Simply, there are two models of Managed Provider’s services.
- Subscription model
- Custom Package
I will discuss MSP models and strategies in detail later in this ultimate MSP guide.
Before going there, you should find out how MSP works elaborately.
MSP works also depend on MSP types. But from all types, remote-managed service providers or offshore MSPs perform very well.
For managed IT services, managed service contractors use special software, such as RMM (Remote Monitoring and Management). Sometimes you cannot afford these types of software. Or you may afford it, but it will be a big expense.
In these cases, hiring remote MSPs or offshore MSPs is the best solution.
So, here you can look at this stage of this ultimate MSP guide to understand how MSP works and what tasks are related to it.
See the followings:
- Integrated service call center
- Reporting
- Antivirus Management
- Asset Monitoring
- Internet protection
- Process mapping
- Routine Tasks Automating
- Suggesting Changes
Things to Consider When Hiring an MSP
Since MSP is a very popular service nowadays, the number of offshore MSP companies is also increasing. But which one should you select?
Isn’t it very challenging?
Of course!
Who doesn’t want a good ROI? You must always try to get a good value for your investment, right? Believe me; this is very natural.
How you can choose the best MSP company is more challenging. However, you can select the best-managed service provider for your company if you know what to consider before hiring.
In this stage of the ultimate MSP guide, you will know the key characteristics you should look for and what to expect from an ideal managed service partner.
These are
- Industry Expertise
- Accreditation
- Automation Technology
- Customization to Meet Your Unique Needs
- Efficient Turnaround Times
- Comprehensive Services
- Transparent Pricing
- Compliance and Risk Management Support
- Quality Assurance Processes
- Customer Support
Industry Expertise
First, you should measure your industry type.
The legal requirements and the norms can vary according to the industry type. So, you should find offshore MSPs already experienced with businesses like yours.
Running background screening is mandatory for businesses like healthcare, criminal records searches or a social security number (SSN) trace etc.
Accreditation
Not only for MSPs but accreditation also works as a certificate for all. It is considered one of the most valuable key characteristics.
Accreditation refers to an MSP’s ability to work, standard, quality, professionalism, compliance, etc.
So, when you are up to selecting a remote managed service provider, you must enquire if it has accreditation.
Automation Technology
A quality MSP will provide you with the specific technology for a specific task. Automating manual processes improves work efficiency.
While evaluating a service provider’s technology capability, look for its software capability. Find whether it integrates with your existing systems.
You can integrate background screening technology with your applicant tracking system (ATS).
Customization to Meet Your Unique Needs
Since companies are different, their requirements are also different. Managed IT service providers should customize their offerings according to the company’s requirements. However, finding an MSP like this can be not easy.
The research found that 71% of companies expect service providers to innovate. They want the providers to improve more than back-office functions.
So, find an MSP company that will listen to you, and understand your demands. An ideal provider will provide the solution to your pain point. It will support your company in reaching its goals and growth.
Efficient Turnaround Times
There is nothing to say about the value of time. So make sure you do not choose a slow or inefficient managed security service provider.
Besides, it would be best to remember that a speedy service can be full of errors or missed critical info.
Do not risk your business. Find the managed services that have a great match with time and performance.
Comprehensive Services
Choose a provider who offers comprehensive services, such as Managed VA Services, Ecommerce Managed Services, Managed QA Services, Managed Technology Support, Managed IT etc.
It will help you expand your outsourcing of other processes if needed. Let me clear you up.
Suppose you have contact with a remote managed service provider for managed security services. After the task is done or in the middle of the task, you may need managed QA services too. But the provider does not offer the second service.
In that case, you must contact another MSP process and go through the same process again.
Select a multi-managed service provider to avoid these issues and save time and money.
Scaling DevOps
For a digital transformation maximizing the benefits of cloud
computing is very challenging. In fact, technological integration into company processes, culture and structures are all considered challenges.
To meet these goals, companies adopt DevOps methods. The DevOps methods include continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD).
Transparent Pricing
Always try to be transparent about the price of a service. Ask your service provider whether the price is only for the managed services you use or it is for the package.
Sometimes you may only need some of the managed services in a package. So, ask before you hire them. Understand whether the company offers value or focuses only on profitability.
Compliance and Risk Management Support
Compliance is another essential factor in background screening.
You should select a compliance-minded screening provider who helps you navigate applicable laws. Besides, it will help your organization to spare lawsuits, fines, and other penalties.
Moreover, it will work for managing risks for your company.
Quality Assurance Processes
Quality Assurance (QA) processes are mandatory for managed IT services. You should search for proven processes to avoid errors. When evaluating a provider, look for its reporting inconsistencies.
You should not be satisfied by their verbal guarantees only.
Ask questions about the Quality Assurance processes.
Customer Support
If you had more than an online knowledge base or an overseas call center outside your time zone, it would be best.
Find a partner who listens to your questions and solves any pain points you face.
A trusted remote MSP offers the following customer support:
- A dedicated customer success management
- Responsive U.S.-based phone support
- In-platform direct messaging services
What are the Common Managed Services Offered by an MSP Company?
It is no surprise that there are a lot of managed service providers. But do you know about the common or major managed services that an MSP process generally offers?
So, before hiring any managed IT service provider or managed security service provider, go through the key services. The ultimate MSP guide will show you these common managed service provider services.
Find from the following which one you need to hire:
- Managed IT
- Managed VA Services
- Ecommerce Managed Services
- QA Managed Services
- Technology Managed Support
- Data Management Services
- Managed Lead Generation
- Healthcare IT Support
- Security Services
- Software Development
- Cloud Services
- Managed Support Services
- Infrastructure Managed Services
- Application Management Services
- Network Management
- Contact Center
- Managed Communication
- Help Desk Managed Services
- Managed End-User Services
- Backup and Disaster Recovery
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
Challenges of MSP
You have already learned the advantages of having a managed service provider.
But you must know that everything has pros and cons.
Although offshore managed services have a lot of benefits, there are some challenges too. If you overcome these challenges, you can get the full advantage.
In order to help you with benefits, here my ultimate MSP guide has added the challenges of it below:
- Broadband Dependent
- Integration Challenges
- Unexpected Costs
- Contract Lock-In
- Expertise Gap
- Flexibility and Control Tradeoffs
- Regulatory Requirements
- Performance
- Security
- Service Level Agreements
Broadband Dependent
Remote managed service is dependent on internet availability and connectivity. For the best advantage, you should pay deep attention to your internet bandwidth, availability and connection.
Integration Challenges
Some application requires isolation. Integration can be a great challenge in offshore managed services. Naturally, cloud-based services need to interact with other cloud systems or applications.
Unexpected Costs
While contracting with a remote-managed service provider, you may only see the cost of the service. But there may raise upfront costs you might not have accounted for.
Contract Lock-In
Sometimes, you may see that the provider needs to be fixed. Or, suppose you need to mention an exit clause or other strict terms of disengagement into the SLA. In that case, you have to wait till your MSP process contract terminates.
Expertise Gap
Ensuring expertise is another challenge. Sometimes you may find an expert-managed IT service provider who is not an expert at managed security services. So, find the expert MSP company that has specialization in your area.
Flexibility and Control Tradeoffs
First, find your type.
Do you like in-house control, flexibility, or a common set of practices a managed service provider offers? This finding will help you understand your business growth and set the goal before hiring an MSP.
Regulatory Requirements
Financial or healthcare companies are beholden to compliance or regulatory requirements. Since these companies evolve rapidly regarding privacy and data breach notification, they should select managed service providers according to these.
Performance
It is the performance of the Managed Service Provider you will hire for your company. So, before hiring, ensure everything you want in the Service Level Agreement (SLA).
Security
Businesses require security at different levels. Some need security to prevent their private data from third parties or hackers, and some use it for different requirements. So, choose your MSP vendor specialized in what you need.
Service Level Agreements
Service level agreement, in short, SLA, is the agreement paper where both of you will ensure your demands and requirements. SLA is the most important thing in managed services. You should ensure data security, 24/7 monitoring and other requirements are written in the SLA.
Types of Managed Service Providers (MSP)
There are different kinds of Managed Service Providers. These differences depend on the size of the business that chooses an MSP. Also, it can vary according to the responsibility and category of the hiring company.
The ultimate MSP guide presents various kinds of managed service providers.
These are:
- Pure-play MSPs
- Staffing legacy MSPs
- High-level MSPs
- Offshore MSPs
- On-shore (Domestic)
- Nearshore
Pure-Play MSP
Small size of managed service providers usually uses this type. In pure-play, providers are responsible for monitoring networks and application performance.
Especially companies offer native services to maintain the reporting system and alerts.
Staffing Legacy MSP
For mid-level organizations, managed service providers offer staffing legacy type. The Fortune 500 companies also managed services under staffing legacy.
This type of MSP covers a wide range. For example, they track, report, install software and upgrade them for the organization.
High-Level MSP
You can guess this type after hearing its title. High-level managed service providers cover a very wide range of managed services. Taking full responsibility for the complete delivery of services, they work.
Besides, they are responsible for ensuring uptime and performance.
Yet, the providers convince their clients to outsource IT processes as much as needed. Businesses hire high-level MSPs for their entire IT infrastructure.
Offshore MSPs
Offshore MSPs or Remote MSPs are providers from a foreign country.
Suppose you have a healthcare service. For the business, you want to build a healthcare application. You find a renowned remote MSP company from another country for the task. These remote MSP companies are offshore MSPs or remote-managed service providers.
Offshore MSPs will develop your application and everything related to its management.
Onshore/ Domestic MSPs
In an onshore MSP process, the hiring and service provider companies are from the same country. Another name for onshore MSP process is domestic MSP process.
If you hire a service provider for your business from your own country, that will be an onshore MSP.
Nearshore MSPs
It shows the proximity of the MSP company and the hiring business. Whenever businesses hire MSP services from the neighboring country, it is nearshore MSP process.
You can categorize managed service providers by their types of services.
These are:
- Monitoring
- Remote support
- Proactive support
- Centralized management
- Scheduled maintenance
- Simplified billing
- Data Analytics
- Software-as-a-Service
- Cloud Infrastructure
- Communication
Monitoring
The offshore service providers that offer real-time monitoring are in this category. The monitoring services they offer for:
- Network devices
- Applications
- Websites
- Servers.
Remote Support
The remote-managed service providers support a business from a distant place. The MSPs support are:
- Remote devices Support
- Offer cloud-based software
- Troubleshoot technical issues remotely.
Proactive Support
As mentioned above, the MSP process itself is proactive support. The managed service providers especially provide preventative maintenance of any device or network.
These MSP’s tasks are:
- Finding potential issues
- Finding potential bugs
- Solving raised issues
- Constant support
Centralized Management
These types of managed service providers offer a management console. The tasks they perform are below:
- Monitor businesses remotely
- Patch management
- Security software development
- Track complex networks.
Scheduled Maintenance
You may wonder what scheduled maintenance is. Specifically, organizations hire these managed service providers to maintain their scheduled network regularly.
Simplified Billing
The managed service providers that handle the billing management are of this type.
The tasks they perform are below:
- Handle invoicing
- Payments
- Budgeting
- Handle bill management system.
Data Analytics
These types of managed providers work for specific data. Their services include the followings:
- Data acquisition
- Data analysis
- AI/ML technologies
- Provide insights.
Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
SaaS is a popular service for MSPs and businesses in today’s faster-growing technology. Basically, it provides software to businesses that need it and works as a service.
Many demands that SaaS is equal to the traditional ASP model.
Cloud Infrastructure
Cloud infrastructure-based managed service providers offer the following services to remote businesses:
- Cloud-based computing
- Networks
- Cloud operating system
- Cloud storage.
Communication
In this type, you can hire MSPs for the followings:
- Managed contact center
- Unified communication
- Collaboration (UCCE) tools
The services include audio and video devices over the IP network.
MSPs for MSPs
Surprised?
What is MSP for MSP?
No worries. Let me clear you from the history of the MSP process in this ultimate MSP guide.
Previously, managed service providers used to sell only hardware and software. Then remote monitoring and management (RMM) system emerged. After that, these value-added resellers started covering basic managed services.
But, home-grown RMM tools, IT operations management platforms (ITOM) and NOCs have appeared too expensive. In that situation, smaller providers are unable to provide these services.
As a result, today, MSP companies provide services to their customers by outsourcing managed IT services. Well-equipped managed service providers support smaller MSPs with technology solutions. Some third-party vendors help small providers provide solutions to their hiring companies.
Through this process, there has arisen another new type of MSP. And that is MSP for MSP.
These MSP processes offer small MSPs services like RMM/NOC/ITOM via their own products. This service is known as platform-as-a-service (PaaS).
MSP Trends
At this point in this ultimate MSP guide, I will discuss the current trends of the MSPs. What are the common trends in remote MSPs or offshore MSPs?
You will get to know all these. The answers will help you understand what MSP is.
With the advancements in IT, the remote MSP industry is growing day by day.
You may ask, why?
The answer is very simple. Businesses hire Offshore MSPs for their expertise in technology.
Remote MSPs improvise their services according to the advancement of technology. For example, they change their processes, management practices and technological infrastructure. By doing so, remote-managed service providers help businesses to beat their competitors. That’s how MSP works.
The ultimate MSP guide shows you with statistics.
Statistics show that by 2023, the global cloud computing market will reach $623.3 billion (Six Hundred and Twenty-Three point Three Billion US Dollar).
That means companies worldwide understand the importance of MSPs. MSP is mandatory to run a business efficiently. Besides and beat competitors in the continuously changing world.
So, what are the current MSPs trends that employment agencies follow?
Here the ultimate MSP guide presenting the current MSP trends:
- Outsourcing
- Cloud
- Automation
- IoT and blockchain
- Hyper-converged infrastructure
- Mergers and acquisitions (M&A)
- Enhanced security
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Outsourcing
Businesses realize that in-house teams are not always worth it. It is also expensive and creates obstacles to global growth. In the case of the IT industry, it is too expensive. Moreover, small businesses can’t afford these many expenses.
So, recruitment agencies are very likely to outsource their processes. Research says that 78% (Seventy-Eight Percent) of businesses worldwide showed positive attitudes toward outsourcing partners.
It will surprise you that the USA alone outsources over 300,000 (Three Lac) jobs annually.
Now you can understand by this ultimate MSP guide that the outsourcing trend is still prominent among businesses.
Cloud
The cloud industry reached into every corner of the IT industry. Today even the smallest businesses aim to be global. The cloud enables companies to provide services from anywhere.
Yet, many companies cannot process their business to cloud platforms. This happens because of their lower skills and internal infrastructure.
Remote MSPs can help these organizations process their businesses using the latest technology. Businesses can hire offshore MSPs at an affordable cost.
Automation
Like cloud computing or outsourcing, businesses have also adopted automation.
Automation helps businesses refrain from doing repetitive tasks, for example, manual data migration.
There are a lot of advantages of automation, such as
- Simple rule-based
- Makes IT teams more efficient
- Reduces human error
- Saves time
- Saves workforce
- Maximize businesses’ profitability
IoT and Blockchain
IoT (Internet of Things) connects devices over a network. These devices can interact with each other without human intervention.
Blockchain works as a distributed archive. It provides a highly scalable environment for IoT applications, devices and platforms.
IoT development combines two empowering IoT devices with enhanced security. It brings much-required transparency to IoT ecosystems.
Offshore MSPs experts in IoT development and blockchain development can help your business. Through their services, you can adopt these technologies. Remote MSPs offer services to stay relevant in the market.
Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI)
Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) works for a single system. For example, it combines storage, networking and computing into a system. With intelligent software, HCI creates flexible building blocks. These blocks replace legacy infrastructure with a single infrastructure.
The HCI can help you in the following ways:
- Make businesses more efficient
- Reduce data center complexity
- Increase scalability
- Simplify management
- Increased performance
- Reduce time-to-market (TTM)
Remote MSP experts help companies set up HCI. Whereas it improvises according to technological changes.
Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A)
Usually, Offshore MSPs invest in new technology to go ahead. Besides, they differentiate and engage themselves in the world of M&A.
The remote MSPs can merge themselves by acquiring other companies.
You will understand this easily if you read the MSPs for MSPs part of this ultimate MSP guide.
Enhanced security
Security is one of the most crucial parts of the IT industry. Identifying all the at-risk touchpoints is the first requirement for this. Not only this, managed security service providers offer solutions to secure them.
Offshore MSPs experts in data security can help secure their clients’ IT infrastructure. They provide 24×7 monitoring and help clients optimize their security measures.
Since the risk of cyberattacks increases, Managed security service providers got popular.
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Another common trend of the MSP process is IaaS. Infrastructure as a Service provides services like:
- Hardware
- Software
- Storage
- Servers
- Networking components
- Virtualization layer etc.
IaaS eliminates wait times for hardware or other components. The idea of on-site support no longer exists due to this. And businesses are getting several benefits through IaaS, such as
- Scalability
- Reduce costs
- Increase security
For this service model, businesses hire remote MSPs and VARs rapidly.
MSP Models
At this stage of this ultimate MSP guide, you will know the models of MSPs. How many models are available in hiring MSP for a recruitment agency?
An employment agency chooses MSP models according to its need and capability. Each model has its unique strength.
Here the ultimate MSP guide discusses three different models of MSP:
- Vendor-Neutral Model
- Master Vendor Model
- Hybrid Model
Vendor-Neutral Model
In the vendor-neutral model, the MSP and the supply chain are separate.
The recruitment suppliers find the available MSP vendors and choose the best one. Whether it is an offshore MSP or remote MSP, it cannot play directly any role in the hiring process.
Master Vendor Model
Vendors associated with the VMS get priority in this model. In the master vendor model, an MSP vendor works to fulfill the vacancies. Besides, it offers additional services to second-tier vendors as needed.
Hybrid Model
The hybrid model is not anything pre-defined. It offers unique services to clients’ needs. In fact, this is a combination of vendor-neutral and master vendor models.
In essence, the solution has come from the best parts of the other two models. Remote MSPs provide services as per the need of the business.
Essential MSP Tools for Growth
Offshore MSPs use several types of essential MSP tools.
Here the MSP guide will discuss these essential MSP tools. These tools help business growth and save time.
There are some major tools that best offshore MSPs use. These are:
- General tools
- PMA – Patch Management and Automation
- Reporting Software
- MIS – Management Information System
- ITSM – Information Technology Service Management
- RMM – Remote Monitoring and Management
- Help Desk
- PSA – Professional Services Automation
- Cloud Migration
- Ransomware Backup Protection
- PRM – Partner Relationship Management
- CIM – Channel Incentive Management
General Tools
MSPs use some general tools to support different areas of business operations. These are:
- Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR)
- Security
- Remote Access
In everyday performance, a remote MSP works with these tools. Sometimes MSPs use all of them at a time or individually. But in any kind of service, these are common.
These tools help service providers in many ways:
- Reduce time
- Save money
- Drive efficiency.
PMA – Patch Management and Automation
Patch management automation keeps systems and devices up to date. The PMA tool ensures everything across an MSP’s systems and devices automatically.
In a word, the tool guards against the latest cyber threats.
A patch automation tool helps MSPs to do the following tasks:
- Plan tasks for servers and workstations
- Detect and build driver updates
- Set up triggers
- Smoothly apply driver updates
- Track and monitor patches
- Install automated processes
Reporting Software
Reporting software is as same as remote monitoring and management software. Besides, it has similarities with professional services automation tools.
The tasks of this MSP tool are:
- Collect valuable data
- Increase customer satisfaction
- Collect staff performance
- Store data
Furthermore, reporting software tools can view any command or activity at any time.
MIS – Management Information System
There is an MIS tool for business data management and keeping all information in a system. Management information system helps MSP companies, even remote MSPs, to store employee. Moreover, it checks the performance and others data of their client company.
ITSM – Information Technology Service Management
Information technology service management (ITSM) is one of the most critical tools. This tool helps the MSPs by managing the following:
- Design
- Creation
- Delivery
- Support
- IT services
- End-user services
- Applications
- Hardware,
- Infrastructure
The ITSM tool is capable of solving business problems efficiently. Besides, it maximizes ROI.
RMM – Remote Monitoring and Management
You may already know about the RMM. RMM provides support to monitor systems and devices in real-time. By RMM, remote MSPs can identify incidents and alert appropriate stakeholders quickly.
Since monitoring is a constant process in RMM, it identifies issues before they arise. After finding them, RMM resolves them too.
Help Desk
Help desk tools help MSPs meet clients’ expectations. These tools provide them with support as needed. These tools allow MSPs the following:
- Improve
- Secure
- Capitalize on the services.
Help desk tools help remote MSPs to maintain a positive relationship with clients.
PSA – Professional Services Automation
PSA tools work for visibility.
It provides an MSP to look into a customer’s operations. Besides, MSPs get the following benefits from these tools:
- Organize customer data
- Create Inventory
- Calculate Billable hours
- Organize Time-off requests
- Keep other pertinent business information
Cloud Migration
One of the expensive MSP tools is cloud migration. The average cost for a server cloud migration is between $1,000 (One Thousand US Dollar) to $3,000 (Three Thousand US Dollar). In addition, a complicated migration needs a cost of up to $15,000 (Fifteen Thousand US Dollar) per server.
These migration tools can help businesses by:
- Organizing data
- Data management
- Transferring Application Data
- Keeping data secure
- Preventing loss by encrypting
- Keeping data backup etc.
Ransomware Backup Protection
In this faster-growing technology, ransomware attacks are also growing. Businesses need extra protection to avoid ransomware attacks.
Remote MSPs offer companies backup protection against these attacks. Offshore MSPs provide a wide range of functionality. Companies can recover data with ransomware backup.
PRM – Partner Relationship Management
MSPs use these tools in various ways. Remote MSPs focus on IT vendors to manage their partner programs.
Partner relationship management (PRM) software helps manage the partnership. By automating and enhancing, it maintains vendor-partner processes. PRM tools tasks are:
- Allow building custom portals for partners
- Reward successful sales teams
- Manage lead and deal registration policies
- Strategically develop partner relationships.
The key benefits of PRM tools are:
- Improved collaboration
- Centralized visibility
- Informed decision-making
- Faster introduction of new products
- Productive channel relationship
CIM – Channel Incentive Management
Channel incentive management (CIM) software works for an organization in the following ways:
- Establish rewards
- Optimize rewards
- Rebates
- Promotions
- Marketing promotions
- Motivate partners
- Drive sales performance.
In this increasingly complex global IT channel ecosystem, Offshore MSPs use CIM tools. It provides a strategic approach to deploying incentives.
Moreover, CIM improves performance from MDFs (marketing development funds) to SPIFFs (sales program incentive funds).
CIM ensures that you can drive your sales short time.
What are the Top Industries that Need to Hire MSP?
Till now, in this ultimate MSP guide, you have already understood how MSP works. Besides, what tools it uses, what services it includes etc. But do you know what major industries use MSP?
You may know that there are a lot of industries worldwide. Some major industries always need offshore MSPs for their businesses.
These are:
- Software Development
- Manufacturing
- Health care
- Textile
- Energy
- Construction Material
- Finance
- Agriculture
- Transport
- Real Estate
- Communications
MSP Hiring Process
Are you ready to hire a managed service provider now?
Suppose you have already decided to hire an MSP, whether an offshore MSP or a remote MSP. In that case, you must know how to hire an MSP.
So the ultimate MSP guide adds the hiring process of a managed service provider.
These are:
- Search
- Industry Expertise
- Portfolio Check
- Contact
- Budget
- SLA (Service-Level Agreement)
Step 1: Search:
The primary stage is to search for MSP. As mentioned above, there are a lot of managed service provider companies. So, you have to find what type of MSP you want to hire. Suppose you have decided to hire a remote MSP.
Now search for the best remote MSPs. So, you will get the result.
Step 2: Industry Expertise:
You have a long list in your hand now, right?
This stage is a bit confusing. You may think that from these many providers, which one should I hire?
No worries. The ultimate MSP guide is here for all the solutions.
Only choose the companies who have the expertise in your industry type.
Suppose you are an IT company. So, find the best MSP provider for this industry. And must check whether they offer the service you want.
Step 3: Portfolio Check
In step three, the number of MSPs will reduce than the step 1.
Now your task should be to check their profile. Find their previous client and partners. Search if they worked with any global organization such as UNICEF, UN, WHO etc.
If you find some like these, keep them on your shortlist.
Step 4: Contact
You have selected the best remote MSPs in step 3. Now, contact them. You can contact in many ways.
Many renowned MSPs use the form to fill up by the clients on the websites. You can send an email if you do not find anything like this. You can also knock them on WhatsApp or make a phone call, as many of them include these.
Step 5: Budget
You may already fixed a budget, as everybody does. But whenever you contact one or more than one MSP companies, you will get a solid idea about the service costs. It will help you to fix your ultimate budget.
Or, you can share your budget with the MSPs you have selected. They can also help you in this step.
Step 6: SLA (Service-Level Agreement)
You may come to the last step if your budget and costs match with the specific company.
SLA is the Service-level agreement. You should include your demands, payments and services related everything in the SLA.
SLA is very important. So, must ensure it includes everything so that you do not face any further problems after signing it.
Conclusion
Managed service providers are helping many businesses of different sizes worldwide. It removes not only the barriers of languages and locality but also your headache and pain point, including cost. In conclusion of this ultimate MSP guide, I want to say that MSP is the best solution for distributing your work. With Managed Service Provider, you can focus on exactly what you are experts in and distribute other tasks to the experts on that tasks. After all, your business will grow flawlessly and save your valuable time.
Managed Service Providers FAQs
Businesses of all categories want to know various things about managed service providers. So, the ultimate MSP guide includes here all the frequently asked questions by people about managed services.
Managed Service Providers provide IT services to other companies. This emerged as the counterpoint of the ‘old break-fix model.’
All sizes of businesses, including non-profit and govt agencies, can hire MSP companies for various tasks.
An MSP company provides monitoring and maintenance services, security, IT, offshore management service and so on. Companies that need these services need MSP.
There are a lot of managed services, such as
1. Managed IT
2. Managed VA Services
3. Ecommerce Managed Services
4. QA Managed Services
5. Technology Managed Support
6. Security Services
7. Software Development
8. Cloud Services
9. Managed Support Services
10. Infrastructure Managed Services
11. Application Management Services
12. Network Management
13. Contact Center
This security management can be a hassle for your company. But MSP provider uses several resources for security information, systems and networks. That’s how MSP works.
Some criteria can help you to choose the best offshore managed service provider. These are
1. Experience & Skills.
2. Scalability.
3. Business Continuity and Redundancies.
4. Prioritize Your Solution Needs.
5. Support.
Managed Services Provider offers services to businesses at a lower price than in-house IT personnel. And that can happen because the providers provide services to many companies.
This page was last edited on 27 February 2024, at 3:00 pm
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