Managed Service Provider (MSP) Onboarding of New Clients
Are you considering partnering with a Managed IT Services (MSP) onboarding provider? You’re not alone. At least 60% of U.S. organizations are expected to be using managed services by 2025. Hiring a new IT service partner is the best way to align your company’s tech with proven IT professionals and make your in-house staff more efficient and effective.
But hiring a new Managed IT Services Provider doesn’t come without a little trepidation. Maybe you’re worried how it will interrupt operations, or if your employees will be frustrated.
That’s why the onboarding process for transitioning to a new Managed Service Provider is so critical. In the following article we’ll be outlining the best practices, and 4 main phases of MSP onboarding. By following these phases, you can help avoid common mistakes managed services providers make.
Phase 1:
MSP Onboarding Needs Assessment & Planning
Kick-Off Meeting
- Immediately after the contract is signed, a kick-off meeting should be scheduled between the MSP and key client stakeholders. Your account manager will arrange a meeting to walk you and your team through the onboarding process and gather the information we need to get you up and running.
IT Intake
- We meet with your previous Managed Services Provider or IT team member to better understand the subtle nuances of your processes or systems. As they say in IT, this tells us where all the “bodies are buried” and what other challenges have been faced with current processes and IT tools.
Inventory and documentation
- We’ll document what your network architecture is and take a full inventory of your IT assets. Much of this step is already done in the initial Needs Assessment.
Needs Assessment
- Once we understand what’s broken, we can offer a fix that will prevent it from happening again and establish protocols to make sure similar headaches don’t happen again.
- We want to make sure we have full alignment with your team’s needs. It’s also important that we get their buy-in and engagement as soon in the planning process as possible.
Phase 2:
Implementation Of The MSP Onboarding Process
We’re going to become a common fixture on your organization’s team during this phase of going through the MPS onboarding checklist. This is where we:
Deploy and configure hardware
- We will install, configure, and test whatever new hardware and software identified in the needs assessment to make sure everything is working properly.
Network organization
- We’ll optimize your network architecture to ensure it’s secure and reliable. This may involve our team upgrading hardware, improving Wi-Fi coverage, or adding redundancy for the most critical systems.
Data migration
- This is the step that gives most organizations heartburn. But rest assured, our team of IT experts know how to carefully move your data while minimizing downtime and preserving data integrity.
Implement security
- We’ll assess and implement security measures to protect operational data and systems. This could include us setting up firewalls, installing antivirus software, and/or new data backup protocols.
Phase 3: Validation
Testing and validation is essential to ensure everything is working as intended. This is a very crucial point in the onboarding process so we can make sure all of your new tech is working together and working for you. During this phase, we conduct:
Rigorous testing
- Systems and applications are put through their paces to identify and resolve any issues or bugs.
Performance benchmarks
- These allow us to measure the efficiency of your IT systems.
Security measures
- We’ll test to identify and address security vulnerabilities and help you prevent cyber threats before they become cyber attacks.
Go Live with Support
Finally comes training and support to ensure your team is well-trained and comfortable with their new IT systems and processes. The more comfortable your staff is with the new IT support help desk, the quicker they’ll adopt it and become proficient in its operation. That leaves them with more time to focus on more strategic initiatives and know their tech is keeping pace with the speed of their business. This includes:
Establish effective communication channels
- Clear lines of communication are key to a successful partnership. For instance, how will you submit and track support requests to us? How do we help mitigate critical issues as soon as they arise?
User training
- We’ll train everyone in your organization how to use the new software, hardware, and IT support help desk procedures to ensure they can efficiently and effectively perform their roles.
Security awareness training
- Once your team understands best practices for cybersecurity and data protection, the risk of security breaches drops dramatically.
Ongoing Support
- Onboarding an outsourced managed IT services provider in an on-going process. Your outsourced IT support is always here to address any questions, issues, or technical challenges that might arise in day-to-day operations.
For Seamless MPS Onboarding to Managed Services – Turn to Frontline
At Frontline, our end goal with every partnership is to ensure reliable IT performance, unparalleled IT help desk support, improved efficiency, and enhanced security. If you already have a MSP and aren’t getting desired results, it may be time to consider switching your MSP.
With 60% of businesses forecasted to be using managed services by 2025, we’re intently focused on making the entire onboarding process as seamless and worry-free as possible. We are focused on little to no downtime and a very minimal disruption in operations throughout the entire 30-day onboarding window.
Throughout our mutual journey from the initial needs assessment to ongoing training and support, having a trusted partner like Frontline by your side can make all the difference. This will allow you and your team to focus on what you do best. When you leave the complexity of IT to our experts, we can help you navigate ever-changing technology with confidence and ease. Contact us today to begin your journey!
