Questions to Ask When Comparing Help Desk Managed Services (And What Makes a Great MSP)

No matter what business you’re in, no one particularly likes calling the help desk or technical support. And that’s one reason why your experience with help desk managed services should be as effortless as possible. But what does great tech support look like?

Most managed IT help desk services sound the same on the surface, but they’re not all created equal. To help you differentiate between included services and find the right managed help desk service for your organization’s needs, we share six questions to consider, along with supplemental inquiries for finding the right provider. Along the way, we share how Ntiva’s help desk and managed IT services measure up for each factor.

Here are the questions we’ll cover in this guide:

1. How quickly can you talk to someone who can solve your problem?
2. Do the technicians have the right tools to support your devices?
3. Do they offer proactive technical support?
4. Do they offer on-site support? 
5. Do they provide full transparency? 
6. What additional services do they provide?

1. How quickly can you talk to someone who can solve your problem?

How promptly you can start solving your IT problem depends on two main factors: who answers the phone when you call and in what order tickets are addressed (i.e., first-come, first-serve, or according to priority levels).

Who Answers the Phone When You Call?

Many managed service providers (MSPs) have non-technical staff answering their support line. When you call in, these representatives will ask you a few questions about your issue, create a ticket for you, and either connect you with another agency or assure you that a qualified technician will call you back as soon as possible. 

If the rep doesn’t fully understand the issue, they may have a technician call you back who does have the experience or skill set to handle the problem. Depending on the MSP’s escalation policy, the technician may start a long troubleshooting process (that wastes hours or days). Sometimes, they can eventually solve the issue, but other times they’ll reassign the ticket to someone else—leading to even more delays.

Some MSPs have technicians answer their help desk phones to help mitigate some of these issues, but that typically results in longer wait times. Plus, the technicians are often only available during regular business hours—which may not accommodate everyone's schedule.

In What Order Are Tickets Addressed?

Many help desks assign a priority level to your ticket based on how many people the issue affects, how much it impacts productivity for the company, and other arbitrary reasons. 

If the issue only affects you or the company in a seemingly minor way (e.g., the printer can only receive jobs from one computer in the building), you may end up waiting days or weeks before getting a call back (even if your job relies on printing sales material and the printer is on the other side of the building). 

A small staff can further exacerbate this issue. If the help desk cannot meet their service-level agreements (SLAs) for every critical ticket, they may redefine what qualifies as a critical ticket—leaving even more tickets without a response. 

Where is the help desk based?

Consider the country or region in which the help desk is located. Are they limited to a specific time zone? What language(s) do they offer their services in?

Ntiva’s US-based help desk is staffed by experienced technicians 24/7, and all calls are answered in less than one minute on average. Whatever the issue, big or small, our team will help troubleshoot right away. 

With a large staff that exceeds 325 technicians, we can support more than 60,000 devices and workstations and close upward of 10,000 tickets each month.

With Ntiva, 75 percent of issues get resolved on the first phone call. If the tech you’re speaking to can’t resolve your issue, the ticket is immediately escalated to a more experienced or specialized rep. Plus, all our technicians are based in the US to mitigate language barriers. 

2. Do the technicians have the right tools to support your devices?

Businesses often overlook what tools their MSP can use to diagnose and fix technical issues, but those tools will significantly affect the service they can provide.

For example, many MSPs are well-versed in Microsoft devices, tools, and issues, but they’re less equipped to handle issues with Apple devices. The MSP may advertise that they offer Apple support, but their entire Apple department may only consist of two or three technicians. If those technicians are on vacation or leave (or out of the office for any other reason), you likely won’t be able to solve the problem—no matter how critical it is. Additionally, they may try to use Microsoft tools to fix your Apple device. Although this may work in some cases, most companies eventually run into an issue that can’t be solved without Apple-native tools.

What type of specialized support do they provide?

As both a Microsoft Gold Partner and a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider, Ntiva can fully support all Microsoft products. 

Plus, Ntiva has more than a dozen Apple-certified technicians, and we’re listed on Apple’s list of certified consultants (where we received 5/5 stars in more than 50 reviews). With a robust suite of Microsoft- and Apple-native tools, our IT professionals can provide you with efficient, long-lasting solutions for any device. 

Ntiva is also a certified partner for Dell and Cisco products. 

3. Do they offer proactive technical support? 

Many help desks operate on a break-fix mentality: They wait for you to report an issue and then solve it. But ideally, potential issues are addressed proactively, before they affect productivity. 

There are ways to preemptively address many IT issues, such as keeping your software licenses and security settings up-to-date and monitoring your network 24/7. But most internal IT teams don’t have the bandwidth to implement proactive IT measures like these. That’s why it’s best to look for a help desk that offers multiple proactive services alongside basic help desk support.

Do they take preventative measures to minimize IT issues and increase productivity?

Reactive policies and break-fix mentalities may be effective in some cases, but preventing issues before they occur is the key to maintaining healthy systems and processes. Ntiva offers multiple proactive services, including: 

• Server administration and management: Our team monitors all of your servers 24/7 and helps make sure the servers are operating efficiently and securely. If an issue arises, our team begins troubleshooting right away to help you avoid costly downtime and security issues.
• Network monitoring and management: Network management starts with identifying trends that may indicate a potential problem with your network. By spotting potential problems early on, we can take measures to minimize their impact. We also monitor your network 24/7 to address outages before they affect productivity.
• Software and hardware management: If software or hardware is installed incorrectly, it can cause issues down the line (e.g., access errors). Most companies have dozens of different software and hardware to maintain, so it can be difficult to manage them in-house. Ntiva can handle all of this for you. We’ll ensure everything has been installed properly and all licenses and security settings are up to date. Because our team works around the clock, we can schedule updates at a time that’s convenient for your team.
• Employee onboarding and offboarding: If you don’t have a detailed process for onboarding and offboarding employees, you’ll likely run into issues such as employees being unable to access the tools they need to do their jobs or employees sharing access codes. This creates security risks and decreases employee productivity. By letting Ntiva handle onboarding and offboarding for you, you can mitigate these issues. We have the tools and experience to help ensure smooth transitions for all staff members (even remote employees).

“Bryles Research has been working with Ntiva for more than 11 years… We are very happy with Ntiva's ability to provide strategic advice beyond the tactical ‘break-fix’ service that many other MSPs provide.”  — Scott Bryles, Bryles Research CEO 

4. Do they provide full transparency?  

Many companies that outsource their IT help desk have little insight into how the help desk operates and which tickets they resolve. However, knowing which devices are causing the most issues, which issues take the longest to resolve, and other key metrics can be helpful when making strategic decisions about your IT resources. For example, if your employees constantly have issues with a particular software, it may be time for an upgrade. 

That’s why it’s a good idea to make sure the MSP you choose is transparent about the inner workings of the help desk. 

Do they offer detailed reports of your entire IT network?

If your help desk MSP offers insight into their processes, what do they include in their reports? At Ntiva, we provide full transparency into every ticket we resolve. We automatically track and report on key details such as the number of tickets closed, descriptions of each problem, how it was resolved, and more. Users can review these reports at any time via a self-service portal and, if you can’t find the information you need, our team will help you find it. 

Plus, if you have an existing internal IT team, they’ll have full access to our help desk software and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL). This helps centralize your service desk support and makes it as easy as possible for our team to communicate with your team. 

As an extension of your team, we provide full visibility into everything we do and help you keep track of your entire IT network. We keep detailed documentation of what devices you utilize (e.g., laptops, mobile devices, operating systems), which devices are operational, who’s using what, what it’s costing you, bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, warranty expiration dates, and more. 

All this information is provided so you can make informed decisions about where to cut costs and where to invest to spend your IT budget efficiently. And if you need help procuring additional software or IT infrastructure, we can help. We can also collaborate with your team to find ways to reduce expenses and get the most out of your IT efforts.

5. Do they offer on-site support? 

Although most IT issues can be resolved remotely, sometimes you need a technician on-site to solve the problem (e.g., hardware failures). Some help desk solutions only offer remote IT support, whereas others charge an ongoing monthly fee for on-site support—whether or not you actually use the service.

How limited is on-site support?

Does your MSP provide on-site support across all your locations, or only for a particular service radius? At Ntiva, we believe you should always get the support you need, but only pay for the services you actually use. That’s why we offer on-site support as needed, meaning you’ll always have the option for on-site support, but you’ll only be billed if or when you use the service. We offer on-site IT support anywhere in the US and, in most cases, one of our technicians will arrive on-site within the same day.

6. What additional services do they offer?  

Many teams outsource their IT help desk support because they don’t have an internal IT team, or because their internal IT staff can’t keep up with all the service requests. In either case, most companies eventually need additional IT support (e.g., advanced cybersecurity services) to expand and keep up with industry standards. That’s why it’s important to look at what other services the MSP offers beyond basic help desk managed services. 

We also recommend looking at the size of the MSP and the companies they support to evaluate whether they have the bandwidth to support your company as it grows. Many companies find themselves in a situation where the MSP they originally chose was a great fit starting out, but it couldn’t grow with them. These companies start running into issues, such as slow response times or ineffective solutions, because the MSP doesn’t have the staff or expertise to support them at scale. 

Without the right guidance, switching MSPs can be a huge headache—and also very costly—which is why it’s better to choose an MSP with the flexibility to support your current and anticipated business needs.

“Every single company today is completely reliant on technology for growth and success. Companies who are technology enabled have a distinct competitive advantage."  — Ira Starr, Streetsense CFO

What is included in the MSP’s suite of IT services?

Needless to say, IT services and solutions include an incredibly broad area of expertise. Like any other outsourced provider, you need to be sure you’re partnering with an MSP that offers the services your organization requires to succeed, and that your business objectives align with those skills.

With more than 15 years of experience, Ntiva has served organizations in many different industries, including government contracting, healthcare, nonprofits, education, legal services, financial services, manufacturing, and more. 

With more than 400 employees and dozens of regional partners, our team spans all of the US, ensuring you get experienced, local support no matter where you are.

In addition to our 24/7 technician-run help desk and the previously mentioned services, Ntiva’s additional capabilities include: 

• Advanced cybersecurity: Ntiva provides a full suite of security services and features, including a fully managed security operations center to help you monitor your IT security 24/7 and meet compliance requirements.
• Phishing prevention training: Most security breaches are aimed at employees, so all employees must be well-equipped to identify and respond to cyber attacks. Our team provides and manages phishing prevention training for your entire staff.
• IT consulting: Hiring a full-time chief information officer (CIO) or chief information security officer (CISO) is beyond the budget of most companies. However, CIOs and CISOs can provide valuable insight to help you get the most out of your IT, cut costs, and increase security. With Ntiva, you’ll have access to high-level CIOs and CISOs for just the hours you need them. This lets you leverage their expertise for a fraction of the cost of hiring in-house.
• Cloud solutions: Transitioning to the cloud is a massive undertaking, and it can be difficult to know which cloud solution is right for you because there are so many to choose from. However, with the right solution, some companies can greatly increase productivity and save on expenses. We help you decide if transitioning to the cloud is right for you and which solution is the best fit, plus ensure the transition is as painless as possible.
• Backup and disaster recovery: Having a detailed backup and disaster recovery (BDR) plan can be the difference between failing as a company and bouncing back after a cyber attack or natural disaster. With many years of experience working with companies of all sizes, we know what to include in your BDR plan. We can help you create a plan and implement the necessary procedures to ensure the longevity of your business.

And it doesn’t end there—Ntiva offers additional services and add-ons to our Signature Support Plans (SSP) so you get exactly what you need, and only pay for what you use.

An IT Partnership That Goes Beyond Basic Help Desk Support

In such a fast-paced world, anticipating future technology needs is increasingly challenging. Partnering with an experienced managed IT service provider means accessing the latest tools and resources while maintaining a secure and sustainable IT infrastructure. 

Ntiva’s capabilities include all the services your business expects from their help desk MSP, plus so much more. Receive top-notch tech support that reduces IT costs and increases operational efficiency with our managed IT services and solutions.