MSP Buyer's Guide for SMBs: 10 Questions to Ask an IT Support Provider

Why this mattersYou rely on a Managed Service Provider (MSP) for your email, your devices, your backups and your security. Every provider will tell you they're proactive, secure and responsive. The hard part is knowing who can prove it.The 10 questions to ask

How do you evidence your security practices to clients, and can I see examples?

What certifications do you hold, and are they current?

How do you handle a security incident, and what's your guaranteed response time?

What compliance frameworks do you support?

Can I speak to references in a similar industry to mine?

How do you keep your own business secure?

If we part ways, who owns my data and accounts, and how do you hand them over?

Who actually does the work, and will I have a named point of contact?

What's not included, and what triggers an extra charge?

How will you prove, month to month, that you're doing what you promised?

The provider scorecardScore each provider 0, 1 or 2 across all 10 questions. 16-20: shortlist them. 10-15: push hard on the low scores before you commit. Below 10: keep looking.Find verified providersBrowse verified MSPs in the Assurix directory - providers who have already had most of these questions independently checked.