If you’re like many small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) today, you’ve reached a point in your organization’s growth that you can no longer go it alone when it comes to handling all of your technology-related issues.
Some companies have their own internal IT professionals, but they see the need for more comprehensive support. Others rely on companies to fix tech issues as they come up—often after a major problem has already occurred.
There are several key factors to explain why the demand for managed IT support has skyrocketed in recent years.
Organizations of all sizes and across various industries are struggling to stay on top of day-to-day equipment and software maintenance, constantly changing regulatory requirements, and long-term planning and budgeting issues.
A managed IT services provider (MSP) can help you address these and other IT challenges your business may be facing. They bring a breadth of IT knowledge and experience to solve your IT pain points while helping you prioritize your needs and develop a strategic IT plan that aligns with your business goals and objectives.
Related Article: 10 Reasons For SMBs To Hire A Managed IT Services Provider
If you’ve never worked with an MSP and are just starting out on the search for a provider, or you’re considering switching providers, you may be wondering what to expect after you first call or email Kelser about possibly working together.
What questions will we ask you during the discovery process? What specific information will you need to gather? Will you need to provide access to your IT infrastructure? How long does the process take?
After reading this article, you will learn the answers to these and other questions you may have about the preliminary stages of researching and selecting an MSP.
As a result, you will have a more complete understanding of what to expect during the initial stage, or discovery, part of the process when choosing a managed IT company.
Discovery Process: Getting To Know You
You may have decided to reach out to Kelser after getting a recommendation from a friend, coming across our website, or through some other connection.
Once you contact us—either by filling out a “contact us” form online, sending an email, or calling us directly—you will receive a prompt response to your initial query, typically that same day.
This will kick off the discovery stage of the process of getting to know one another; us learning about your business, and you discovering a little bit about us.
Like any courtship, both parties need to learn more about each other to see if we’re compatible. Along with that, both sides have to do our due diligence to make sure that there are no red flags.
The discovery stage is the getting-to-know you phase of the newfound relationship between an organization and an MSP. It can be broken down into five different phases: preliminary, video conference, site visit, proposal presentation, and final agreement.
Phase 1: Uncovering Your IT Challenges
Other than a quick reply to confirm receipt of your query, the preliminary phase usually begins with a short phone chat to get some essential background information.
You can expect this initial phone call will last about 10 to 15 minutes. During the call, we’re just trying to learn a little about your organization and the IT challenges you’re having. We won’t get too much into the weeds of your network and systems at this point.
This introductory conversation, although brief, will give both you and us a good sense of whether or not we might work well together.
Basic exploratory questions to expect from the MSP:
1. So, what made you contact us? What’s going on with your IT environment?2. Tell us a little bit about your business. What do you do? What industry are you in?
3. How many employees do you have? How many shifts?
4. What is your business work model—are you fully in-person, hybrid, or remote?
5. Where are you based and do you have other locations?
6. Have there been any recent changes to your IT systems?
7. Are you currently working with an MSP, and if so, why are you looking to switch?
8. Do you have an in-house IT team? If so, what roles and responsibilities do they have?
Phase 2: Video Conference Call
If we’re both on board with proceeding, the next step is the intermediate fact-finding phase.
This part of the process involves getting more detailed information about your IT environment. It’s often conducted over a video conference call.
In getting more specific data on the numbers of users and devices, as well as the operating systems and other software and hardware connected to your network, it will paint a clearer picture for us of your overall IT needs. There will be an engineer on the call as well to speak to technical components.
Questions to expect during the intermediate stage:
1. How many total users do you have (including contract workers, fully remote workers, temps, etc.)
2. How many desktops and laptops do you have?
3. Are you using Microsoft 365?
4. How many Microsoft 365 licenses do you have and what kind are they (basic, standard, premium, etc.)?
5. If you don’t have Microsoft 365, what mail system are you using?
6. How many servers do you have (physical and virtual)?
7. How many firewalls and switches do you have?
8. Do you have a phone system in place that will need support, and if so, how many users and handsets?
9. Do you have a backup system in place?
10. How many wi-fi access points do you have?
Related Article: Managed IT Services: What’s Your True ROI?
Phase 3: Site Visit
Kelser will schedule an on-site visit that is convenient for both of us.
During the visit, we’ll confirm the information you previously provided, gather additional information about your systems and the layout of your physical environment—including whether or not you have an on-prem server room.
We’ll likely need to take pictures and ask additional questions about your software and devices, such as the age of your equipment and the type of business cybersecurity measures you have implemented, among others.
The in-person visit will typically last about an hour or two, depending on the complexity of your business and IT environment. The visit will help us gain a more thorough understanding of the scope of the services you will need to have managed.
In addition, we’ll answer any questions you may have about us and our credentials.
Phase 4: Formal Proposal Review
After gathering all of the necessary information from our calls and on-site visit, we will present a formal proposal to you in person.
During the presentation, Kelser will lay out all of the services that will be provided as a standard part of the agreement, what, if any add-ons there are, and a detailed breakdown of the costs.
The formal presentation will last about 30 minutes, give or take time for extensive questions or discussion. After its conclusion, you should leave feeling assured that Kelser has the human and technical resources necessary to deliver on our promised services.
Phase 5: Sealing The Deal
If you’ve reached this point in the budding relationship with us and want to make it official, you will enter into a formal contract called a managed services provider agreement (MSPA).
This legally binding document solidifies the proposal and lays out exactly what you will be getting for your money, as well as your responsibilities as the client.
Related Article: What You Need to Know About Managed IT Services Provider Agreements
The Bottom Line On Kelser's Discovery Process
After reading this article, you should have a thorough understanding of what is involved in Kelser’s discovery process and questions you can expect us to ask after reaching out to us.
Read New To Kelser Managed IT Support? Here's What To Expect to learn about the Kelser onboarding process after you sign the MSPA contract.
At Kelser, we make sure the focus stays on you. As an SMB ourselves, we know your time is valuable. When you contact us, we’ll make sure we concentrate on learning about your IT concerns, rather than making the conversation about us.
We recognize that you have many choices when it comes to managed IT companies. Although we have a proven track record of providing comprehensive, advanced IT management and strategic planning to organizations across various industries, we encourage you to do your research.
If you’re trying to narrow down your selections, read about the 10 Best Questions To Ask Any IT Service Provider here. Already have a provider? Learn about the Signs It May Be Time To Switch Your Managed IT Services Provider.
If you’d prefer to speak to a human, click the button and put in your contact information and one of our IT professionals will respond promptly to get more information about your IT issues and see if we might be a good fit for your business.
