More reactive than proactive
Too many providers rely on the old “if it breaks, fix it” mentality which causes undue headaches and lost revenue due to downtime.
Slow to respond or acknowledge an issue
Law firms don’t have the time or resources to spend waiting hours for a response or action.
Look for an MSP offering an SLA (service level agreement). By ensuring that you have an SLA in place with your provider, you’re guaranteeing that your concern will merit a prompt reply and that steps are taken to remediate the issue within a given time frame. If the SLA is breached, then a previously agreed upon penalty would apply e.g. a credit on account
Lack of confidence
The same issue continues to reoccur time and time again.
No matter how good they are, no tech will correctly identify and solve an issue the first time, every time. With that in mind, too many providers focus on fixing the immediate — often only the visible — issue without taking steps to prevent it from occurring again.
Your MSP should get you back up and running as quickly and efficiently as possible but continue to investigate offline to determine if there’s an underlying issue that needs to be addressed or other steps required to prevent it from occurring again.
Afraid to make the call
Is the issue severe enough to call “the I.T. guy”?
Your Firm shouldn’t have to decide if they can live with a little “glitch” or glaring “bug” due to the unknown costs associated with rectifying it.
Look for an MSP offering an AYCE (all you can eat) pricing plan that ensures that your monthly bill never fluctuates.
No reporting or poor reporting
What is the state of our systems, patches, or backups?
Clear and comprehensive reports should be provided monthly or quarterly. These reports should indicate the state of your patches, lists of possible vulnerabilities, and status of your backups.
Lack of transparency
Don’t know where your Firm’s I.T. budget is being spent and no one is taking the time to explain it?
The missing admin
We only see you when there’s a problem.
Ensure that you have an agreement that stipulates that you’ll meet face-to-face with your representative at least once every quarter. This is a great time to discuss any issues that need to be addressed, talk budget, Firm growth or strategy, and get an updated technology roadmap from your MSP.