Should a managed services assessment be free or paid?

Either can be legitimate. What matters is what it produces. A free assessment that generates a real number and a plan you could act on independently is worth more than a paid one that produces a proposal. Ask up front what the deliverable is and whether you own it, then judge on that.

How long should a managed services contract be?

Shorter than many providers will initially propose, particularly for a first engagement. Long terms usually exist to recover onboarding and remediation costs, so if those are priced separately the case for a long term weakens considerably. Start scoped, then extend once the service has proved itself.

What questions should I ask a managed service provider?

Six that matter: where does your responsibility end and ours begin, who is our named contact and how senior are they, what happens out of hours, what reporting will we get, can we start with part of the estate, and what does exit look like. Add a seventh on ownership if the term is longer than a year.

How do I compare managed service providers fairly?

Compare deliverables rather than proposals. Ask each provider for the same scoped assessment, then compare what came back: whether the numbers are specific, whether the gaps are named, whether anything inconvenient was said, and whether the remediation plan is separable from the ongoing service.

MSP Selection Archives

How to buy managed IT services without committing first

What a managed services assessment should tell you, why sequence and provider ownership matter, and the questions to ask before you sign.

22nd October 2026

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How to buy managed IT services without committing first

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