The Pros And Cons of Using An RFP When Searching For Managed IT

Do you have a managed IT services provider (MSP), but feel you’re not getting everything you need? Have you decided to explore other providers, but you're unsure how to begin?

What is the best way to choose an MSP? How do you know if using a request for proposal (RFP) is the right approach in your MSP selection process?

Before you know whether or not to begin your search for a new provider through an RFP, you have to first figure out what your IT challenges are and how you think a provider could help solve those issues.

Developing a clear understanding of your IT needs is the first, and most critical, step to ensure a successful RFP outcome when considering IT outsourcing best practices.

In this article, we’ll explore the pros and cons of using an RFP for IT services, identify some common mistakes in the MSP RFP process, and give you useful tips to write an effective RFP for managed IT services.

After reading this article, you’ll be able to decide whether or not your search for a new MSP should begin with an RFP.

If so, you’ll learn the five practical steps that can help you leverage the RFP process to find the managed IT services company best suited for your business.

Do I Need An RFP To Pick A Managed IT Services Provider?

A managed IT service provider RFP can help businesses in several ways. First, it can help you identify exactly what your IT issues are.

Once you understand your needs, an RFP allows you to see a side-by-side comparison of how each provider could meet those needs and compare costs.

This detailed information can streamline your MSP selection process so that you're better able to evaluate the qualifications of each provider and make an informed decision.

So which businesses should use an RFP?

Quite frankly, the complex and time-consuming RFP process is really designed more for larger companies and enterprises.  Most small and medium-sized businesses would be better off skipping an RFP and using more direct ways to research and vet managed IT service companies.

Tips For A Successful Managed IT Provider Search Using The RFP Process

As we've mentioned, an RFP can be a bear of an undertaking for both you and MSP prospects.

Put simply, they can be tedious. RFPs require lots of legwork to gather and verify the necessary information outlined in the RFP and produce a detailed proposal by the deadline.

Managed IT providers that choose to participate have to use internal staff and resources to undertake all of that work—without any guarantee, of course, that they’ll ultimately win the business.

With this information in mind, how do you write an effective RFP for managed IT services? 

5 Steps To An Effective RFP Process When Searching For An MSP

1. Understand Your IT Needs

• Gaining a full understanding of your IT pain points and business objectives is an essential part of a successful RFP.
  
  
• If you don’t know what you need, how will a potential MSP partner? You need to be able to know what to ask for and how to ask it to be able to get the right responses.
  
  
• If you’re simply looking for information, that is a completely different animal, and should be included in a separate request for information (RFI). An RFI precedes an RFP.

2. Eliminate ambiguity

• Once you’re sure about your needs, you need to write a well-defined RFP to boost your chances of getting potential managed IT providers interested enough to participate.
  
  
• Nothing will turn off prospective MSPs faster than sending them a vague, jumbled request for proposal.
  
  
• Using clear, precise language in your RFP will also ensure that you’ll be able to compare apples to apples when evaluating the responses.

3. Determine your provider criteria

• Figure out the kind of MSP you’d feel most comfortable working with, and compile a list of provider candidates that you want to consider based on your own search criteria.
  
  Consider factors such as:
  
       ✔️Do you want a local or regional provider who might offer more personalized                      support, or are you OK using a national provider?
  
       ✔️Does the company specialize in your field and have existing clients within that                   industry?
  
       ✔️What type of IT help desk support does the provider offer—remote only? On-site?            Business hours and non-holidays only?
  
       ✔️Does the provider’s size matter to you?
  
       ✔️Are strategic vCIO consulting services important to your business?

4. Allow sufficient response time

• Your RFP must give participating vendors enough time to ask questions and get clarifications on specific parts of your request.
  
  
• Providers also need time to evaluate the request to see if they have the internal staff and bandwidth to satisfy all aspects of the proposed partnership before affirming their intent to participate.
  
  
• What’s more, the RFP needs to spell out the exact deadline, with the date and time, for all proposals to be submitted before the window is closed. Be sure to detail to whom the proposals should be addressed and how they should be submitted, such as via email and/or certified mail with a required signature.

5. Be considerate

• If a managed IT provider has taken considerable time and energy to get this far in the process, they’re obviously interested in working with your business.
  
  
• So, it’s only right that you respond in a reasonable timeframe to let each MSP know if they’ve been picked, or if you’ve decided to go with a different provider.

How Do I Choose A Managed IT Provider If I’m Not Using An RFP?

Weighing an RFP vs. direct selection for managed IT services often comes down to cost, time, and staff availability.

The resource drain and rigid requirements of an RFP are key reasons why an RFP is not ideal for most small and medium-sized businesses seeking managed IT services. 

Instead, SMBs can rely on the following key benchmarks in their IT service provider selection:

• Your own IT needs and search criteria
• Recommendations from peer business groups and industry associations
• Company website/internet search
• Direct engagement during the “getting-to-know-you” discovery process
• Company referrals/customer ratings & reviews

The Bottom Line With Using An RFP For Managed IT Services

We know that finding the right MSP goes hand-in-hand with ensuring the ongoing health, security, and efficiency of your business.

After reading this article, you now understand which businesses the RFP process is good for when teaming up with a managed IT company, and have a 5-step roadmap for an effective RFP search process. You also now know what SMBs can do to bypass the RFP process.

At Kelser, we’ve been offering proactive managed IT support for decades. As we’ve repeated time and time again, however, it’s critical that you do your research before deciding on an MSP.

We're so passionate about this that we’ve even saved you a step by doing some of the legwork for you.

Check out this article, What Are The Top 5 Managed IT Service Providers (MSPs) in Connecticut?, to compare the services offered by some of our state and regional competitors. The article uses facts obtained from readily available, public information.

You might think it’s a little strange that we’d compile a list of leading MSPs in the state and exclude ourselves. Our goal in writing articles like these is to simply provide you with information about pertinent IT issues to allow you to make the best decisions for your business.

Plus, we feel strongly that healthy competition strengthens both us and our industry.

Read this article to discover the eight key criteria in choosing an MSP.

Check out this article, Gain A Competitive Edge: Strategic vCIO And TAM Support in Managed IT, to learn how strategic vCIO services and TAM support can help drive your business.

Find out about Kelser’s discovery process here, or read about our approach to managed IT services.

Or, if you’d prefer to just speak to a person, click the button and we’ll respond promptly to schedule a brief chat and learn more about your IT issues to see if we might be a good fit to work with your business.