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Guide: How to choose the right managed services provider
Choosing the right managed services provider can make the difference between staying in control and becoming locked in. It’s not just about technology. It’s about freedom, flexibility and long-term confidence. In this guide, you’ll find practical advice on how to compare providers, avoid common pitfalls and ensure your investment delivers real value for your organisation.
Choosing the right managed services provider is a strategic decision. It is not just about technology, but about maintaining control, flexibility and delivering long-term value for your organisation. In this guide, we outline the key things to consider before choosing a provider, helping you find an approach that meets the needs of your organisation.
1. Avoid vendor lock-in: retain ownership of the right things
A modern managed service should not create unnecessary dependency on your provider. To reduce the risk of vendor lock-in, make sure you retain ownership and control of key elements:
- Infrastructure and licences. The managed service you purchase should, where possible, be separated from the underlying physical hardware and licences. This can make it easier to switch providers without having to replace or buy out these components.
- Connectivity (internet, WAN or 5G). Consider retaining ownership of your connectivity services. Changing connectivity providers can be complex, and contracts are often long-term. You should be able to make changes to your managed services without having to renegotiate multiple dependencies.
- Keep connectivity and WAN services separate. If your organisation uses technologies such as SD-WAN or 5G for backup connectivity, consider separating the underlying internet connection from the SD-WAN service. This can make it easier to change individual providers or components later.
- Contractual flexibility. Make sure there is a clear route to terminate the service before the end of the full contract term. Managed services agreements often run for 36 or 60 months, so it is important to understand your options if your requirements change. Contractual flexibility gives you greater freedom and confidence.
2. Choose the right pricing model
A clear and flexible pricing model is important if you want to scale and adapt your services over time.
- Pay for actual usage. Ideally, your monthly costs should reflect what you actually use. If usage increases, costs may rise; if it decreases, costs should be able to fall accordingly. This helps keep the service flexible and scalable.
- Understand the monthly cost. Make sure it is clear what is included in the monthly fee and what will incur an additional charge. This makes costs more predictable and reduces the risk of unexpected expenditure.
- Ask about scalability limits. There may be technical limitations, such as a maximum number of supported devices. Understanding these constraints is important when planning for future expansion or growth.
- Agree a clear onboarding cost. Make sure you understand the costs from signing the contract through to the start of service delivery. This makes it easier to compare providers and understand the total investment.
3. What should be included in the monthly cost?
To maintain control, plan effectively and understand the value you receive each month, a well-designed managed service should typically include:
- A clearly defined SLA with agreed response times.
- Automated 24/7 monitoring and incident management for all components covered by the service.
- Troubleshooting and remediation within the agreed scope of the service.
- Upgrades and patching within agreed maintenance windows.
- Direct access to relevant expertise when needed and within the agreed SLA.
- Clearly defined configuration standards for services and components, based on relevant industry good practice.
- Continuous recommendations for improvement throughout the contract period.
- Delivery in accordance with the agreed governance and collaboration model.
- Tools and automation that simplify the installation and replacement of devices.
- A data-driven approach with clear visibility into relevant statistics, performance data and event logs.
4. What should not be included in the monthly cost?
Some elements may be better handled separately from the fixed monthly service fee:
- Change requests. It can be difficult to predict how much change will be required in an existing IT environment. Instead, ask the provider to specify the scope and cost of individual changes, for example through a Statement of Work (SoW).
- Expansion or replacement of physical equipment. It may not be possible to predict before the contract starts which existing equipment will need to be replaced. Instead, ask the provider to offer clear or fixed pricing for common additions and replacements.
- Hardware and licences. Retaining ownership of these elements can help reduce vendor lock-in and make it easier to change provider if required.
5. Additional services and added value
Ask the provider to explain clearly:
- Which technology platforms will be used to deliver the service.
- Which additional services are available.
It is important to understand both the opportunities and limitations of the technology platform underpinning the service. This also makes it easier to compare different providers on a like-for-like basis.
Consider the value the provider can offer beyond the technology itself. With technology evolving rapidly, your provider should understand your organisation’s needs and help you adapt as those needs change.
Ask yourself:
- Is the provider proactive, innovative and focused on business outcomes?
- Do they have the expertise and capabilities to develop and improve your environment over time?
6. Support that makes a difference
- Expect proactive support. Modern support should be proactive and data-driven. AI and automation can help identify and address issues before they have a noticeable impact. Your provider should be monitoring your environment and communicating when issues arise or remediation is under way, rather than relying on you to identify every problem.
- Expect access to experts. Automation increasingly handles routine support and operational tasks, freeing specialists to focus on more complex issues. When expert support is required, you should be able to reach people with the right skills and expertise without unnecessary handovers or delays.
7. Contracts and service penalties
Service penalties have a role in some agreements, but they should not be the primary mechanism for ensuring good service.
Providers need to account for contractual and financial risk when pricing a service, while determining responsibility for individual incidents can sometimes be complex. Most importantly, when a problem occurs, the focus should be on resolving it quickly and preventing it from happening again.
Instead, focus on:
- The ability to terminate the agreement if the provider repeatedly fails to deliver the agreed service.
- Clear review points, governance processes and improvement plans.
How to compare providers
Be transparent about your current environment and your goals. This gives providers a better understanding of your needs and enables them to make relevant recommendations and propose the right solution.
Put the provider to the test. Give shortlisted providers appropriate read-only access to your environment and ask them to assess it. What works well? What could be improved? And how would they improve it? This can provide useful recommendations for creating a more stable, secure and efficient environment while giving you a practical way to compare providers.
Ask about the future of managed services. How does the provider approach innovation, AI, automation and other developments shaping IT? How will these developments influence their services and delivery models over the coming years?
Expertise makes the difference. In a critical situation, immediate access to the right expertise matters. Reliable connectivity and effective security are fundamental to modern organisations. A stable and secure IT environment is more important than ever.
Give providers the same starting point. Shortlist at least two providers and ask them to respond to the same scenario and requirements. Ask each to explain their offering, how it supports your organisation and what the relationship will mean for you as a customer. This makes it easier to compare providers on equal terms.
Certification and standardisation. Check that the provider has documented processes and appropriate certifications, such as ISO/IEC 27001. This gives you a stronger basis for assessing how systematically the provider manages information security and service delivery.
Want to explore how Conscia can support your organisation? Get in touch with us.
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About the author
Lars Cederholm
CTO, Conscia Sweden
With more than three decades of experience in the IT industry, Lars Cederholm has gone from working hands-on with technology to leading the development of Conscia Sweden’s offering.
As CTO in Conscia Sweden, his role combines strategic responsibility for the future with an operational focus on staying relevant today.
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