Choosing the Right MSP to Help Your Business

A managed service provider (MSP) is a company that offers outsourced IT service to various businesses. These companies usually work together with the customer organization to make sure that their brand new infrastructure and digital solutions are running effectively and smoothly for their particular business operations. This article will help you learn more about some of the most common problems that you may encounter when working with these types of companies. By the time you have finished reading this article, you should be able to figure out whether or not working with these companies is right for your organization.

The biggest issue that you may encounter with a managed service provider is the fact that they are not properly trained in using Microsoft technologies. Microsoft Exchange Server is one of the most important elements of a traditional MSP solution and it is imperative that the managed service provider you hire is proficient and experienced in deploying and managing the Exchange server. The reason why you need a Microsoft Certified consultant/expert is because Microsoft Exchange Server is a server application and if your consultant cannot even install and run Microsoft Exchange Server on his own computer then how would he or she be able to provide effective IT consulting services to you?

Another big issue with many MSPs is that they fail to implement patches in a timely fashion. Often times patching procedures can become very complicated and very tedious for consultants. Also, some consultants may not understand how critical patches are to the business operations. Some companies hire third party companies to perform these patches, but this step can also become complicated and extremely time consuming. If your in-house IT team is unable to perform this task in a timely manner then hiring a managed service provider may be your best option.

Hardware disasters are also something that many organizations struggle with. If you have experienced a hardware failure, then you know how inconvenient it can be. The best way to address this issue is by obtaining a managed service provider that will outsource the recovery tasks to them. There are a number of reasons why your company may require disaster recovery such as software, hardware or both.

If your company utilizes Microsoft Sharepoint applications or Microsoft Sharepoint web hosting then you’ll require the services of a managed Sharepoint service provider. In order to troubleshoot this particular scenario, there are several things to consider. The first thing that you need to determine is whether or not your employees are familiar with how to use this specific program. Many employees may have training that will last a few months, but others may not know how to use this application. If your IT department does not have enough technical people available to perform the majority of the Exchange server support calls then outsourcing the work may be the best alternative.

When performing the troubleshooting process on Exchange server errors you’ll find that there are two primary methods to perform the task. The first method would be to access the Windows OS and open the Exchange server. This allows you to view the logs and troubleshooting information in the Exchange library. If you’re unable to connect to the Windows OS then you’ll need to use an Active Directory site and set up a group policy. Creating this group policy can be done by using the “manage groups” menu on the user manager console.

The second method is to utilize the windows server management tools. You can perform this task by first creating a backup of all of your data so that if a disaster rears it won’t take hours or days to recover. Then, utilize the standard outsource features within your Microsoft office suite to accomplish the recovery. One thing that should be noted is that Microsoft Sharepoint is no longer supported on the following operating systems: Windows XP Home Edition, Windows Vista Home Edition, and Windows 7 Home Edition. This is also true for Windows Server 2021.

When you utilize a managed services provider, make sure that the managed service provider has backup and recovery tools that are included with their managed solutions. You don’t want to invest in additional resources that are not part of your managed solution. In the end it will ultimately benefit your business operations as it will allow you to maintain your systems in a more efficient manner. As an added note you may want to inquire whether or not your IT department participates in any of the managed services programs. It may be a good investment to enhance your systems today.