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MSP Comparison Checklist
29 questions to ask any IT support company or managed service provider before you sign, with a Word scorecard to compare up to three providers side by side. Ask us them too.
Support and response
- What is your guaranteed response time, and separately, your typical fix time?
- What are your support hours, and what happens out of hours?
- How do staff ask for help: phone, email, portal, Teams?
- Will we speak to the same small team, or a different person each time?
- Are on-site visits included, and how quickly can someone attend?
Security
- Is multi-factor authentication enforced on every account as standard?
- How do you secure your own access to our systems (named accounts, MFA, logging)?
- What endpoint protection and email security do you provide?
- How do you keep devices and software patched, and how do you report on it?
- Can you help us meet Cyber Essentials or our insurer's requirements?
- What happens if we're hit by a cyber attack? Is there an incident plan?
Backups and recovery
- Do you back up Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace separately from the provider?
- Where are backups stored, and are they protected from ransomware?
- How often are restores tested, and can we see the results?
- How long would it take to get us working again after a major failure?
Ownership and access
- Will we always have our own top-level admin account?
- Who is the registered owner of our domain name and licences?
- Will you document our setup, and will we get a copy?
- Which of your tools would be removed if we left, and what happens to our data?
Contract and costs
- How long is the contract, and what is the notice period?
- What exactly is included in the monthly fee, and what is charged extra?
- How are new starters, leavers and new devices charged?
- How are projects such as office moves or migrations quoted?
- What is the exit process, and will you help hand over to a new provider?
Fit and proof
- Do you support businesses of our size and industry?
- Can we speak to two or three current clients?
- Do you support the systems we use (Windows, Mac, specialist software)?
- How will you onboard us, and how long will it take?
- How do you keep us informed: reviews, reports, a named contact?
Want our answers?
We're happy to answer every question on this list in writing. If you're with another provider, see how switching to Senri works.
Ask us the questionsChoosing an MSP: common questions
Ask about response and fix times, how they secure your systems and their own access, how backups are tested, who owns your admin accounts and domain, the contract length and exit process, and whether you can speak to current clients.
Two or three is usually enough. Ask each the same questions, score the answers, and ask to speak to a current client of a similar size before deciding.
Long contracts with hard exit terms, vague answers on response times, no clear process for backups and testing, reluctance to give you your own admin access, and no client references.