One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?
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Hello everyone,
As the title mentions, I'm a one man IT shop for a nonprofit with about 100 users (120 or so workstations) and am looking at continuity options to help out when I'm on vacation/sick/need extra help etc.
I'm thinking about looking at a MSP for additional help and was just wondering if this is something MSPs typically do, this "fill the gap" type of support when primary IT is unavailable. I'm concerned I've got my environment setup in a specific way using Veeam for backups/replication and even an AWS site for DR purposes. Will an MSP work with my existing technologies or are they going to want to come in and use their backup product for example?
Also, I'm wondering is it worth it to create an RFP or should I just ring up some MSPs and tell them what I'm looking for and craft a quote based on our conversations?
Really I'm just looking for any advice that can help me to actually step away from work at times (when COVID permits) and not be super anxious that something is going to break down and I won't be available to fix it.
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An MSP might not be what you want, but an ITSP (IT Service Provider) should definitely cover the bill.
Jared at Bundy and Assoc, and Scott at NTG are both ITSP. They can do as much or as little as you want. The one thing they have the hardest time providing is local hands. Of course it's not impossible, just more challenging (I've seen Scott post "looking for local hands in ABC location" several times).
An ITSP should have no problems working within your environment, helping to support your gear and your choices. Documentation is king.
Of course having time before hand to bring them up to speed on your setup is very helpful (you pay a few hours worth to train them on your setup) and go from there.
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@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
Jared at Bundy and Assoc, and Scott at NTG are both ITSP. They can do as much or as little as you want. The one thing they have the hardest time providing is local hands. Of course it's not impossible, just more challenging (I've seen Scott post "looking for local hands in ABC location" several times).
Eddie Jennings Services, LLC has provided some local hands work for NTG in the past.
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@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
An MSP might not be what you want, but an ITSP (IT Service Provider) should definitely cover the bill.
An MSP is the one thing you absolutely do not want.
ITSP is where you a want to be.We have a whole thread on here someplace about this.
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@JaredBusch said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
An MSP might not be what you want, but an ITSP (IT Service Provider) should definitely cover the bill.An MSP is the one thing you absolutely do not want.
ITSP is where you a want to be.We have a whole thread on here someplace about this.
By pure verbiage I agree, but there are some MSPs out there that likely could work within the confines of the OPs request.
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@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@JaredBusch said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
An MSP might not be what you want, but an ITSP (IT Service Provider) should definitely cover the bill.An MSP is the one thing you absolutely do not want.
ITSP is where you a want to be.We have a whole thread on here someplace about this.
By pure verbiage I agree, but there are some MSPs out there that likely could work within the confines of the OPs request.
Then they are not an MSP.
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@JaredBusch said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@JaredBusch said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
An MSP might not be what you want, but an ITSP (IT Service Provider) should definitely cover the bill.An MSP is the one thing you absolutely do not want.
ITSP is where you a want to be.We have a whole thread on here someplace about this.
By pure verbiage I agree, but there are some MSPs out there that likely could work within the confines of the OPs request.
Then they are not an MSP.
We know - but that doesn't keep them from calling themselves a MSP - we see people using the wrong terms ALL THE TIME.
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A topic in Self Promotion for ITSPs and their geographic area may be helpful to this group.
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@JasGot said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
A topic in Self Promotion for ITSPs and their geographic area may be helpful to this group.
ITSPs aren't limited by geography.
I know what you're trying to say - you'd like to see someone post where they have remote hands immediately if they are needed without waiting for a flight, etc... -
@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@JaredBusch said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@JaredBusch said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
An MSP might not be what you want, but an ITSP (IT Service Provider) should definitely cover the bill.An MSP is the one thing you absolutely do not want.
ITSP is where you a want to be.We have a whole thread on here someplace about this.
By pure verbiage I agree, but there are some MSPs out there that likely could work within the confines of the OPs request.
Then they are not an MSP.
We know - but that doesn't keep them from calling themselves a MSP - we see people using the wrong terms ALL THE TIME.
But what does them using a wrong term have to do with it? The point of an MSP being the wrong thing stands. That someone uses an incorrect term is always the case in anything and isn't relevant unless you just want to post a PSA that "this is IT and non-IT people use wrong terms for everything".
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@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@JasGot said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
A topic in Self Promotion for ITSPs and their geographic area may be helpful to this group.
ITSPs aren't limited by geography.
I know what you're trying to say - you'd like to see someone post where they have remote hands immediately if they are needed without waiting for a flight, etc...Yes. That seems to be what most of us are missing with national support.
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@JasGot said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@JasGot said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
A topic in Self Promotion for ITSPs and their geographic area may be helpful to this group.
ITSPs aren't limited by geography.
I know what you're trying to say - you'd like to see someone post where they have remote hands immediately if they are needed without waiting for a flight, etc...Yes. That seems to be what most of us are missing with national support.
HP, Dell, Lenovo - they have all solved this by hiring companies local to an area to be those hands - presuming the ITSPs can find those companies, they could possibly become another customer of those companies.
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@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@JasGot said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@JasGot said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
A topic in Self Promotion for ITSPs and their geographic area may be helpful to this group.
ITSPs aren't limited by geography.
I know what you're trying to say - you'd like to see someone post where they have remote hands immediately if they are needed without waiting for a flight, etc...Yes. That seems to be what most of us are missing with national support.
HP, Dell, Lenovo - they have all solved this by hiring companies local to an area to be those hands - presuming the ITSPs can find those companies, they could possibly become another customer of those companies.
The challenge might be what you would have to pay. The local guy that get's all of the Dell work (don't know about the others) is the 3rd or 4th sub down from the actual Dell organization if I recall correctly. Not that he's the 3rd or 4th choice, but that the request / ticket has gone from Dell to company A who subs to company B etc etc until it gets to him. So either he's only making peanuts off the call or the initial cost to Dell is more than a small shop might consider reasonable.
I'll concede that we're not exactly a bustling metropolis, so this might be a very uncommon scenario.
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In scenarios like this where an IT provider is looking to hire an outside ITSP, would it be unusual to require a non-compete/non-poach contract?
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@notverypunny said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
l organization if I recall correctly. Not that he's the 3rd or 4th choice, but that the request / ticket has gone from Dell to company A who subs to company B etc etc until it gets
If you're that small, it's more likely someone from a metro would be dispatched to help you. If the town is large enough, one consideration is the stand up an ITSP there with 2-3 persons who take care of IT for the whole town.
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@DustinB3403 said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
In scenarios like this where an IT provider is looking to hire an outside ITSP, would it be unusual to require a non-compete/non-poach contract?
Pretty common. Normally it is the ITSP making the customer sign that contract. An SMB should want their ITSP to poach their IT when possible. Gives them a chance to unload their unneeded costs without anyone being unhappy. That's an everyone wins scenario, but rare. Non-compete is bidirectional and normal.
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@notverypunny said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@JasGot said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@JasGot said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
A topic in Self Promotion for ITSPs and their geographic area may be helpful to this group.
ITSPs aren't limited by geography.
I know what you're trying to say - you'd like to see someone post where they have remote hands immediately if they are needed without waiting for a flight, etc...Yes. That seems to be what most of us are missing with national support.
HP, Dell, Lenovo - they have all solved this by hiring companies local to an area to be those hands - presuming the ITSPs can find those companies, they could possibly become another customer of those companies.
The challenge might be what you would have to pay. The local guy that get's all of the Dell work (don't know about the others) is the 3rd or 4th sub down from the actual Dell organization if I recall correctly. Not that he's the 3rd or 4th choice, but that the request / ticket has gone from Dell to company A who subs to company B etc etc until it gets to him. So either he's only making peanuts off the call or the initial cost to Dell is more than a small shop might consider reasonable.
I'll concede that we're not exactly a bustling metropolis, so this might be a very uncommon scenario.
Both are true. The techs typically only do it when they are otherwise idle, so the low pay isn't a big deal. And the customer tends to pay a massive premium for very low cost work.
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@JasGot said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@Dashrender said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
@JasGot said in One man IT shop looking for additional help options when needed. Hire a MSP?:
A topic in Self Promotion for ITSPs and their geographic area may be helpful to this group.
ITSPs aren't limited by geography.
I know what you're trying to say - you'd like to see someone post where they have remote hands immediately if they are needed without waiting for a flight, etc...Yes. That seems to be what most of us are missing with national support.
What makes that harder is that the ITSP does the IT work - which essentially never has to be (or should be) local. Remote hands / local work is bench work and you don't want ITSP staff doing that, you want bench techs doing that. This gives you better costs, and better service. Everyone wins.
