Let’s be honest – when it comes to choosing a Managed Service Provider, most businesses start by asking the question “How much does it cost?”
We get it. Budgets matter, and every pound counts. But here’s what we’ve learned after years of helping businesses with their IT: choosing your MSP based purely on price is like buying an unseen car based only on the monthly payment. You might save money upfront, but you’ll find that running costs, insurance, reliability and other factors all contribute to the overall picture. Pretty soon you’ll be looking to change the car because its ‘not practical’ as it breaks down and costs the earth to insure.
At Computer Care, we’ve seen this story play out countless times. A business chooses the cheapest option, thinking they’re being smart with their money. Six months later, they’re dealing with constant downtime, frustrated employees, and angry customers. Suddenly, that “bargain” doesn’t look so appealing.
The Real Cost of Choosing the Wrong MSP
When you choose the right, MSP, you’re not just buying IT support – you’re buying into a whole philosophy of how technology should work in your business. With the wrong MSP, unfortunately, that philosophy is usually “wait until it breaks, and then panic.”
Think about what this means for your day-to-day operations. Your email goes down on a busy Monday morning, and instead of being prevented, it becomes a crisis that needs fixing. Your team can’t access important files right when they need them for a client presentation. Your systems run slower than they should because nobody’s actively monitoring and optimizing them.
We’ve had countless conversations with business owners who thought they were saving money, only to realize, when looking at the bigger picture, they were making a loss. One client told us they calculated that their previous “cheap” IT support was costing them nearly £2,000 a month in lost productivity – and that’s before counting the stress and frustration.
The cheapest providers often work on what we call the “break-fix” model. They’re essentially waiting for things to go wrong so they can charge you to fix them. Do you feel that this is aligned with your best interests?
What Real Value Actually Looks Like
Here’s where things get interesting. When you work with an MSP that focuses on value rather than just competing on price, everything changes. Instead of waiting for problems, they’re actively working to prevent them. Instead of treating your technology as separate systems, they’re looking at how everything works together to support your business goals.
Let us paint you a picture of what this looks like in practice.
Your technology works, efficiently and predictably, all the time: For your stall this means, coming into the office and everything just works. Your computers start up quickly, your applications run smoothly, and your team can focus on what they do best instead of wrestling with technology. That’s not magic – that’s what happens when someone is proactively managing and maintaining your systems.
You have a working IT plan, aligned to your business goals: Good MSPs don’t just keep your current systems running – they help you plan for the future. They’ll sit down with you and understand where your business is going, then make sure your technology can support those goals. Whether you’re planning to hire more staff, open a new location, or launch a new service, your IT infrastructure will be ready.
Security designed to actively protect your business: Cybersecurity isn’t just about having antivirus software anymore. It’s about understanding the threats your business faces and putting comprehensive protections in place. This includes training your team, monitoring for suspicious activity, and having a plan for what happens if something does go wrong.
Problems are detected and solved proactively: This might be the biggest difference. Instead of calling for help when something breaks, your MSP is measuring and testing your systems against their standards combined with 24/7 monitoring of your systems, they can fix potential issues before they impact your business. That server that’s performing a key business function? They are aware it’s critical, have detected that it’s due for replacement in 3 years and have put this on your technology roadmap with a budget cost for you to incorporate in your plans.
The Computer Care Process
We’ve developed what we call the Computer Care process because we believe technology should be reliable, secure, and aligned with your business objectives. This isn’t just a fancy name – it’s a systematic approach that ensures you get consistent, measurable results.
Here’s how it works in real terms. We start by really understanding your business. Not just your technology, but your goals, your challenges, and how you work. Then we put your plan together, we call it your technology roadmap, its function is to align your technology to support your business needs. It’s an interactive process where we highlight the technology you need to fulfil your business goals. We bring all your existing systems into this process, highlighting potential issues and misalignments that we can address before they become problems.
What this means for you is predictability. You know your technology will work when you need it. You know your data is secure. You know that technology is there to support your business growth. You know that your staff will be looked after when they need some support. In essence, you know that your outsourced IT provider is there to look after your business.
The Questions You Should Be Asking
When you’re evaluating MSP options, forget about price for a moment and ask these questions instead:
- · How do you prevent problems occurring in our IT environment?
- · What’s your process for understanding our business?
- · How do you align technology with our business goals?
- · How do you measure success, and how will we know if this partnership is working?
- · What happens when we want to grow or change direction? How do you stay current with new threats and technologies?
These questions will go some way to determine if you’re talking to a strategic partner or just another vendor.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
The businesses that are thriving today aren’t necessarily the ones with the most advanced technology – they’re the ones using technology most effectively. They’re not constantly dealing with IT because their systems are reliable. They’re not vulnerable to cyber-attacks because their security is comprehensive. They’re not limited by their technology when opportunities arise because their infrastructure is designed around their business.
Your choice of MSP determines which category your business falls into.
Making the Right Decision
Look, we’re not saying cost doesn’t matter. Of course it does. But when you’re making this decision, think about the total cost of ownership, not just the monthly fee. Think about the cost of downtime, the cost of security breaches, the cost of missed opportunities, and the cost of your team’s time being wasted on technology problems.
More importantly, think about the value of having technology that actually enables your business to grow and compete effectively.
At Computer Care, we’re not the cheapest option, and we’re proud of that. We’re the option that delivers real value – the kind you can measure in improved productivity, reduced stress, better security, and the peace of mind that comes from knowing your technology is in expert hands.
Ready to Experience the Difference?
If you’re tired of treating IT as a necessary evil and ready to start seeing it as a competitive advantage, we’d love to have a conversation. We’ll start by understanding your business, your goals and showing you exactly how our process can transform your technology from a source of problems into a driver of success.
Contact us today for a no-obligation technology assessment. Let’s talk about what value-focused managed services can do for your business.