The Scene One Year After Signing

You've chosen an MSP. The fees seemed reasonable, the sales person was nice, and the contract is signed.

One year later?

Support no longer responds promptly. Tickets are passed around. Server updates aren't proactively planned. You need a new MSP - but now you're dependent. The migration costs more than the annual savings.

(Does this sound theoretical? It's not. We see this regularly.)

What Makes a Good MSP

A good MSP isn't just "IT support". It's a strategic partner.

That means:

Proactive, not reactive. It doesn't just inform you when the server is offline. It prevents the server from going offline.

Understands your business. It knows your critical systems. It knows when your peak business time is. It doesn't plan updates on Friday night before a launch.

Communicates clearly. You understand what it's saying. Not just tech jargon, but real explanations.

Scales with you. If you grow from 20 to 100 employees, it can grow with you. Without everything needing to be renegotiated.

Most Swiss SMEs with 10-300 employees benefit massively from a good MSP. But "good" is the key word.

The Three Questions Before You Search

Before contacting an MSP, ask yourself:

1. What do you really need?

How many servers do you have? Cloud, on-premise, hybrid? What uptime do you need - can your business afford to be offline for an hour or not? Do you have compliance requirements (GDPR, ISO 27001)?

Write it down. One page is enough.

(Sounds trivial, but most companies skip this step. They listen to pitches and then decide - without knowing what they're actually evaluating.)

2. What budget do you have?

In Switzerland: Calculate CHF 150-500 per user per year. Or CHF 2,000-5,000 per server per year. It depends on your requirements - 24/7 support costs more than 8-6 pm.

3. How important is local presence?

If something critical breaks - do you want to call someone in Switzerland? Or is a call center okay?

What You Should Look For

Technical Competence

Does the MSP have experience with your tech stack? If you use VMware and it only knows Hyper-V - problem. Ask specifically: "How many customers with similar infrastructure do you support?"

Fitting References

Every MSP will give you three satisfied customers. That's normal. But ask for customers who are similar in size to you and work in your industry.

And then call them. The questions that count:

- Are the service levels really met?

- What is the everyday support quality like?

- What was the worst experience - and how did the MSP react?

Contractual Terms

This is the part that many underestimate. The contract determines whether you'll be a happy customer or trapped.

Watch out for: - Lock-in period: 12-36 months is normal. But afterwards, it should be cancellable monthly. - Hidden lock-ins: Hardware contracts that run longer than the main contract. Licenses you can't take with you. - Price increases: Can the MSP increase without your consent? Max. 3-5% per year is common. - Offboarding: What happens when you terminate the contract? How long does migration take? Does it cost extra?

Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

99.9% availability sounds good. But what happens if the MSP doesn't meet this? Are there service credits? Termination rights?

An SLA without consequences is just a promise.

Red Flags That Should Make You Walk Away Immediately

"We've never done that before."

If the MSP has no experience with a core aspect of your infrastructure - move on. MSPs work daily with dozens of similar setups.

No clear SLAs.

If the MSP doesn't want to commit to availability or response times: It plans to sometimes not deliver.

Hidden lock-ins.

Hardware contracts over 3+ years. Termination only at year's end. Termination fees at 50% of annual costs.

Too good to be true.

30% cheaper than all competitors? Ask yourself why. Poor management? Bad quality? Skimping on security?

No local presence (if you need it).

If you expect support in Switzerland and the MSP only has a call center in Eastern Europe - mismatch.

The sales person makes promises that the tech doesn't confirm.

If the sales guy says "Yes, sure!" and the tech guy remains silent - that's a problem.

The Migration Process

The migration to a new MSP is often underestimated. A bad transition means weeks of productivity loss. A good transition is "you hardly notice anything".

What's important:

Pilot phase. The new MSP takes over a small part first - not everything at once. After 2-4 weeks without problems: the next wave.

Knowledge transfer. The new MSP must understand your entire infrastructure. Documentation, passwords, peculiarities.

Rollback plan. What is plan B if the migration goes wrong?

Timing. Never on Friday. Never during your peak business.

The Conclusion

Selecting an MSP isn't "looking for IT support quickly". It's a strategic decision that affects years.

The wrong MSP will cost you productivity, nerves, and money. The right one will be your partner - one that understands your infrastructure, prevents problems instead of just repairing them, and supports you in modernization.

That's the difference between IT as a cost factor and IT as a competitive advantage.

Take the time to do it right.

Are you looking for an MSP and want to be sure you make the right choice? We help Swiss companies with IT sourcing decisions - neutral and vendor-independent. Talk to us.