OAS - EVALUATING THE ROI OF MSPs - MEDIUM SIZE COMPANIES (PART THREE)

Benchmarks, Case Studies, and Best Practices

Open Architecture Systems is recognized as Southern Africa's premier Citrix solution provider. The company emphasizes that, when navigating complex networking solutions, establishing a partnership with the vendor through a tailored Service Level Agreement (SLA) is essential, particularly for mid-sized organizations.

Below, OAS outlines several advantages, backed by statistics, of outsourcing network implementation, deployment, and maintenance to an MSP.

Benchmarks

Industry Research has established targets for performance. For instance, service-desk benchmarks indicate that leading support organizations typically resolve 80–90% of issues on the first contact, maintain customer satisfaction (CSAT) rates above 90%, and achieve uptime/availability levels around 99% 

Independent studies offer context: 

A Security outsourcing survey found MSP users had 50% fewer security incidents than in-house. Surveys by CompTIA and others report nearly half of managed-services customers slice 25%+ off IT expenditure.

Gartner/IDC Statistics:

Highlighting uptime and cost, these statistics emphasize the potential loss of $300,000 per hour, underscoring the importance of investments in these areas.

Case Examples:

A good example is medium sized financial institutions often reference hypothetical scenarios, within the industry and claims that many companies have successfully avoided a security breach and managed peak trading periods effectively, thanks to proactive support from a Managed Service Provider (MSP). In addition, continuous monitoring can enable the timely detection of threats, allowing for the swift patching of vulnerabilities and preventing potentially significant losses. 

Furthermore, the implementation of predictive scaling during high-volume trading days ensured system availability, thereby safeguarding revenue.

Real-world case studies, particularly within the mid-size enterprise sector, frequently demonstrate over 99.9% uptime, enhanced compliance readiness, and improved user satisfaction following the adoption of MSP services.

Best Practices: 

Leading firms tie MSP ROI evaluation to specific KPIs, review them regularly, and adapt. They use scorecards that list metrics (tickets, downtime hours, cost vs plan, security audit findings, employee CSAT). 

Regular mid-year audits of MSP performance can ensure targets are met. Technology consulting best practices emphasize aligning MSP goals with business goals – e.g. if agility is key, measure deployment speed of new services. Providers advise ensuring transparent SLAs and dashboards for tracking metrics automatically.

Key Takeaway:

 In mid-sized organizations, the return on investment (ROI) from Managed Service Providers (MSPs) is multi-faceted. It encompasses both tangible savings, such as reduced IT expenditures and minimized downtime, as well as intangible benefits, including enhanced user experience and accelerated innovation. 

Companies leverage a combination of cost metrics and productivity indicators (as illustrated in the table above) to assess value. Industry experts indicate that nearly every MSP benchmark “pays for itself”; for instance, studies reveal that one-year ROI figures frequently exceed 100% when accounting for decreased downtime. 

By monitoring relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) and benchmarking them against established standards from IDC, Forrester, and Gartner, financial firms can ensure that MSP pricing effectively translates into measurable productivity and positive business outcomes.