As we said previously, no two I.T. services agreements are alike, and unless you are technically savvy (and most C-level executives aren’t, obviously), you won’t really know if what you’re being quoted is insufficient, overpriced, or even underquoted.

If you’re not careful, the “cheapest” or less expensive I.T. provider can end up costing you a lot more due to carve-outs and hidden fees in their contracts that they will later nickel-and-dime you over, or quoting inadequate solutions that you’ll later need to pay to upgrade.

Here are the 5 most common things “cheaper” I.T. companies leave out of their proposal to make themselves appear cheaper – but those companies are NOT the bargain you might think they are.

 

Grossly Inadequate Compliance And Cybersecurity Protections.

A ransomware attack is a significant and devastating event for any business; therefore, you must make sure the I.T. company you’re talking to isn’t just putting a basic (cheap) antivirus software on your network and calling it done. This is by far the one critical area most “cheaper” MSPs leave out.

Antivirus is good but woefully insufficient to protect you. In fact, insurance companies are now requiring advanced cyber protections such as employee cyber awareness training, 2FA (2-factor authentication) and what’s called “advanced endpoint protection” just to get insurance coverage for cyber liability and crime insurance. We provide those standard in our offering, so not only do you greatly reduce your chances of a cyber-attack, but you also avoid being denied an important insurance claim (or denied coverage, period).

 

Inadequate Backup And Disaster Recovery Solutions.

Make sure your I.T. company includes daily backups of your servers and workstations, as well as CLOUD APPLICATIONS such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and other line-of-business applications, such as your CRM data, client data, etc. That’s because online applications do NOT guarantee to back up your data (read the small print in your contract and you’ll be shocked). Further, your backups must be immutable, which means they cannot be corrupted by a hacker. Many insurance companies now require immutable backups to be in place before they insure against a ransomware or similar cyber event that erases data. Be sure to ask your I.T. company if that’s what they quoted you.

 

Carve-Outs For On-Site And After-Hours Support.

This is another area that takes many business owners by surprise: all after-hours and on-site visits might involve an extra fee. We include ALL of this in our agreements so you aren’t nickel-and-dimed for every request, but you need to make sure you understand what is and isn’t included in the service agreement you’re signing.

 

Nonexistent Vendor Liaison And Support.

Some I.T. firms will charge you hourly to resolve issues with your phone system, ISP, security cameras, printers and other devices they didn’t sell you but that still reside on the network (and give you technical problems). As a client of ours, you get all of that INCLUDED, without extra charges.

 

Cheap, Inexperienced Techs And No Dedicated Account Managers.

Many of the smaller MSPs will hire techs under a 1099 agreement or find cheaper, less experienced engineers to work on your network and systems. Obviously, the more experienced and knowledgeable a tech is on networking and, more specifically, cybersecurity, the more expensive they are. Make sure the company you are outsourcing to has the type of staff and expertise they must have.

Further, smaller MSPs can’t afford dedicated account managers, which means you’re depending on the owner of the company (who’s EXTREMELY busy) to pay attention to your account and look for problems brewing and critical updates that need to happen, upgrades and budgeting you need. Good account management includes creating and managing an I.T. budget, a custom roadmap for your business and review of regulatory compliance and security on a routine basis to make sure nothing is being overlooked.

 

Buyer Beware! In order to truly compare the “cost” of one managed I.T. services contract to another, you need to make sure you fully understand what IS and ISN’T included in the SLA you are signing up for. It’s VERY easy for one I.T. services provider to appear far less expensive than another UNTIL you look closely at what you are getting.

The SLA should define the following:

  • What services the MSP is providing in clear terms.
  • Guaranteed response time to a problem (both minor and major outages).
  • What fees are extra (like on-site fees, after-hours support, etc.).
  • Contract terms and renewals.
  • Cancellation terms: specifically, how do you get out of the contract if they are not delivering the services promised?
  • Liability protection, both for them and you.
  • Payment terms.

But the BEST way to avoid having a problem is to pick the right MSP to begin with.

Download our I.T. Buyers Guide for more!