IN THIS GUIDE

  1. 01Make the environment visible
  2. 02Define the support relationship
  3. 03Connect daily support with the next stage

Make the environment visible

Bring a list of your locations, users, devices, business applications and existing suppliers. The aim is to understand what the business relies on, including the services people may manage informally.

Define the support relationship

Clarify how requests are raised, what is covered, when human support is available and how urgent issues are escalated. Agentic assistance and human support should have clearly described roles.

Connect daily support with the next stage

Talk about upcoming changes, office plans, security worries and anything that wastes your team’s time. We work onsite in Sydney and remotely everywhere else.

Document the service boundary

Record what the provider manages, what the customer retains and where another supplier is involved. Include administrative access, licensing, warranties, backups, security events and work outside the normal support scope.

Ask how the provider protects its own access

Managed providers may hold privileged access to customer systems. Ask how that access is controlled, monitored and removed, and how the provider prepares for incidents affecting its services or tools.

USE THIS IN PRACTICE

Bring these questions to an MSP conversation

  1. 01

    Which users, sites, devices and applications are covered?

  2. 02

    What is monitored or maintained between support requests?

  3. 03

    When is human support available and how are urgent issues escalated?

  4. 04

    Who owns backup, security, licensing and vendor coordination?

  5. 05

    How are administrative access and customer information protected?

  6. 06

    What documentation and transition support are provided?

Common questions

Should an MSP replace every existing supplier?

No. A good provider first works out who already does what, then fills the gaps.

Is a service-level target the same as a guaranteed fix time?

Not necessarily. Response, restoration and resolution can mean different things. The agreement should define the measure and any exclusions clearly.

EXPLORE THE SOURCE

EXPLORE THE RELATED CAPABILITY

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