When meeting with a prospective client, one question that we often get is:
“What support is included with your agreement?”
At first, that question can seem difficult to answer, especially if the prospect is already familiar with receiving services from a Managed Services Provider (MSP).
Why is it difficult though?
While I understand all the services we provide, I’ve learned that a lot of what Auxzillium does, other MSPs either do not do or cannot do.
Often, clients come to us because they need to scale and lack confidence in their current IT partner. Sometimes, an MSP may provide services à la carte, so businesses are accustomed to being penny-pinched at every corner throughout the relationship.
What Should a Boston MSP Actually Manage?
I have often said:
“Auxzillium manages everything from the edge to the end user and everything in between.”
We do that 24 x 7 x 365.
Easy, right?
If you had internal IT and something broke over the weekend, you’d expect IT to handle it, right?
If a new employee is hired and needs a computer, you’d expect IT to handle everything from procurement and setup to delivery, right?
If your business requires a certain amount of onsite IT support, that should be baked into the agreement with your MSP.
For Boston businesses relying on a Managed Services Provider, these shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as a collection of individual add-on services. They’re part of managing your IT environment.
Managed IT Services vs. Third-Party Technology Costs
The one thing your MSP must clearly differentiate is what you are paying them for professional IT services versus what your business is paying for third-party services such as Microsoft, Azure, Google Workspace, antivirus, backups, and other technology platforms.
It’s really that simple.
Your MSP should make it clear what you’re paying for technology and licensing and what you’re paying them to actually manage, support, and maintain your IT environment.
What Should Determine the Cost of Managed IT Services?
The most significant factor contributing to what you should be paying your MSP for professional services is complexity.
That is how it works at Auxzillium.
If your endpoints are purely Linux, that’s a different level of complexity.
If your business needs to meet a certain level of compliance, that’s complexity.
Managing an infrastructure with these demands is entirely different from managing one that is purely Windows and Microsoft 365 based.
For Boston businesses evaluating managed IT services, this distinction matters. The cost of IT support should reflect the knowledge, experience, and resources required to properly manage the environment.
IT Complexity Requires the Right Experience
You’re not going to take a car that needs an engine rebuild to a shop that only does state inspections.
The knowledge, experience, and effort needed to do an engine rebuild are significantly greater than what is required at a state inspection station.
The same principle applies to IT.
For those reasons, service costs can change, and these should remain the reasons service charges change.
The complexity of your business and its technology should drive the cost—not a growing list of unexpected add-ons every time you need your MSP to do something.
More Than Traditional IT Support
While Auxzillium has great success augmenting internally placed IT professionals, we are a business composed of technical professionals experienced in past, present, and the latest innovative technologies.
That means we aren’t just equipped to support some elements of an information technology platform. We can support all parts of it, regardless of complexity.
For businesses throughout Boston and the surrounding area, that means having an MSP capable of doing more than responding to help desk tickets.
We can truly be a strategic element of your internal IT operation—or take core responsibility for the management of your business’s entire information technology system.
From the edge to the end user and everything in between.
