Key Considerations for Choosing a Cloud Managed Service Provider

Cloud adoption is helping a large number of vendors and service providers. Apart from major cloud service providers such as Google, AWS, Azure, and other small cloud managed services providers are available in the market that are simpler, secure and affordable too. But despite the numerous improvements, the companies still face obstacles while managing their cloud services. To avoid such obstacles, enterprises can head to an expert managed service provider. But choosing an MSP is also not an easy task to handle. We shall give you an insight into what considerations to keep in mind while choosing a cloud-managed service provider.

Crucial Points in Choosing a Cloud MSP

1. The service is responsive.

Every business is obsessed with the response time offered by its managed IT services provider. Many organizations in the past have been left high and dry during the time of crisis, thereby making the response time a crucial part in selecting a cloud-managed service provider.  

If the response time of the provider is not good, there is no good going ahead with the deal. The response time of a particular MSP can be known by taking feedback from their previous references. To be extra sure, you can even test an MSP for their response time by taking a demo before you hire. This will save your money in hiring a new provider in a very short period, and also, you will not regret it later.

2. Skills and expertise

If the cloud managed services provider chosen by you does not have the required skills and experience for the task, your time and money invested in them will be a sheer waste. The expertise of your MSP impacts your company’s efficiency, uptime, and the bottom line, which further helps you stay ahead of your competitors. 

To ensure that you hire someone with relevant skills, a few queries should be kept in mind to get an answer from your MSP regarding the same.

• Can the managed IT services that you are choosing to run a heterogeneous IT environment? 

• Is your managed service provider aware of the latest trend and technology? Ask your cloud managed services provider what new features have they implemented in their working and how their customers have benefitted from it.  What type of businesses do they serve?

• The answer to what audience is targeted by your service provider should be known to you as this will give you an idea of whether the service provider will be able to handle your business properly or not, or will it be good for the audience that you are targeting.

• Do your managed IT services specialize in a particular vertical, for example, gaming, healthcare, etc.?

Answers to these queries will help you choose an MSP that will serve you in the long run.

3. The provider’s security and compliance

Knowing the security and compliance of the MSP that you are going to work with is essential as any breach in the security of your company documents can land you in big trouble. It is very important to determine whether the service provider is reliable and certified to carry out the tasks. 

A few security questions you can put up to your managed IT services to know more about them are listed below:

• What type of certification does your service provider hold? In recent times, each vendor is providing its partner programs. It is essential to know if your service provider is a partner with any of these programs.

• Does the MSP also require individual certifications from its employees? It is an important part to know before you hire the MSP.

• Does your cloud managed services provider maintain a compliant environment, and what physical measures do they take to secure their teams and the working environment? For instance, the MSP should be physically secured at the data integration point, and the physical infrastructure should be well managed.
• You should be aware of whether the service provider’s company is compliant or not as it demonstrates their level of maturity and capability.

• Also, they should be compliant with the industry standard and abide by the regulations of the industry they are representing.

4. Resource allocation

Your managed IT services provider also works as a broker for services like computing, storage, and capacities resources. You should always ask questions like their transparency to the enterprise environment and maintain the security of your environments before you take them on board. 

To know more about the managed services provider and what to look into them before you hire as it will assist you in your cloud-managed services.