When choosing an MSP make sure they know your business
A good managed service provider doesn’t just know technology but also has knowledge of what your firm needs to thrive, says Nick Hayne, head of professional services at Quiss.
There will be any number of factors you consider when selecting the best managed service provider for your law firm to work with, such as their size, financial stability, the experience of the team, technical knowledge, awards won and industry partnerships, to name but a few.
But as this is a relationship critical to the digital transformation of your business, not just the ability to keep the data flowing, the importance of a service provider’s sector expertise should not be underestimated. And no, cost per user per month, is not the most important factor.
When selecting the service providers to pitch to you, first consider the number of clients they have in your sector. How well do their engineers and the service desk team understand the technologies your firm works with every day, beyond the typical Microsoft applications?
Those firms new to your sector may talk about innovation and bringing new thinking to the issues you face, but now is not the time for a voyage of discovery on your time. You need service engineers that have solved issues unique to law firms a thousand times before.
The experience and knowledge to support you must be evident at every level within the service provider’s offering. You need to ensure there is not only surface knowledge of your technology, but a well-rounded understanding of your business and the issues most likely to impact your operations.
Here at Quiss for example, our work with law firms of varying sizes ensures the industry and application knowledge of our line one service desk engineers, we believe, is equivalent to line two engineers of those managed service providers (MSPs) that do not specialise in the legal sector.
The fact that we deal on a day-to-day basis with legal practice management, digital dictation, security and email solutions means that we are providing solutions and value at the initial touch point, without matters having to be escalated a level.
We are delivering industry leading first-time call fixes and we understand in the legal sector every second counts. Working with a business that truly understands law firms and the way you need to operate is a consideration that should come high on your list of must-haves.
It is easy to be impressed by the service provider offering lots of solutions. But a lack of understanding of the unique way law firms work, including modern hybrid working, can have a negative impact on your business. These MSPs may need to use third parties or even outsource engineering talent, which risks slowing resolutions.
What you require is a partner that can support you as issues arise – a partner that can not only support new technology decisions but can install, manage and service the solutions. And of course, in addition, a service provider that is fiercely independent offers real advantages as well.
A service provider as happy to work with on-premises infrastructure, public cloud, or hybrid cloud solutions, also offers the flexibility you will need. And if it is agnostic in its approach to deployments, you will benefit from solutions right for your business, not what works best for the service provider.
