Benefits of Working with a Local MSP

So, you know you want to outsource your small business’s IT to a managed service provider (MSP). Because it’s going to give you access to top talent and innovative technologies at affordable prices. But you may be unsure if you should partner with a local MSP rather than a large, private equity-backed MSP.

After all, it seems that all MSPs simply manage IT infrastructure remotely. However, significant differences exist between local MSPs and larger MSPs. Understanding them is the key to making the best choice possible.

As a small business ourselves, we provide local MSP support in Minneapolis and the Washington D.C. areas. And we’re up against large companies with out-of-state centralized help desks and hundreds (sometimes even thousands) of employees.

While we’re outnumbered, we’re certainly not outgunned because there’s a lot that only a local MSP can offer. So, let’s look at the benefits a local MSP can give your business that a large MSP cannot.

Why Working with a Local MSP Can Benefit Your Business

1. They Understand Your Business

Partnering with a large MSP often means becoming one of many faceless clients – reducing the personal touch and trust essential for long-term partnerships.

While these MSPs may offer competitive pricing due to their scale, their one-size-fits-all services and rigid contract terms may not fully meet your specific needs. Furthermore, large MSPs may have no desire to be flexible in tailoring their services to better suit your organization’s unique requirements.

A Local MSP Offers Tailored and Flexible IT Services and Support

In contrast, a local MSP is all about offering personalized solutions to organizations that operate in an area the provider is deeply familiar with.

As such, each solution can be tailored specifically to help your organization meet its short-term and long-term business goals and adjusted on an ongoing basis as these goals are met.

Because the value of personalized solutions steadily increases over time, it’s in the best interest of local MSPs to establish and maintain long-term relationships with its customers, instead of accepting the high turnover that’s characteristic for large providers.

Plus, their business often relies heavily on local reputation and word-of-mouth – which fosters a higher level of trust and commitment.

2. Hands-on Assistance

Many national MSPs promise to take complete care of their customers’ IT needs. However, they often offer little more than glorified remote support.

Unless you’re located right next to a national provider’s regional branch, all the support you’ll receive will likely happen over the phone or video call. That might be acceptable for certain IT issues, but there are times when hands-on assistance is indispensable.

If your organization is in Minneapolis or Washington DC, and you partner with a local MSP like Teal, you can rest assured that someone will always be ready to provide on-site support when needed.

And over time, you’ll develop close personal relationships with your local provider. Why?

Because you’ll be talking with the same few people whenever you need help with something – especially your dedicated account manager.

And when you’re in a time of crisis, seeing a familiar face you know has the expertise to fix it can be reassuring.

3. Fast and Always Available

Downtime is expensive. The last thing you want to experience when a critical piece of your IT infrastructure stops working is a long queue of customers (just like you) who are trying to reach a remote provider over the phone.

Because Teal is focused on delivering ultra-responsive support – we’ve built a team that is fast, reliable and nimble.

This makes us ready to solve problems without requiring our customers to talk to three different people and get through miles of red tape just to get things going in the right direction.

The responsiveness of local MSPs can translate into massive cost savings – since every minute of downtime can cost a small business as much as $427.

To put these numbers into perspective, that’s roughly one median US household income saved for every two hours of downtime.

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Interested in Working with a Local MSP?

If you’re thinking about outsourcing IT to an MSP, consider the advantages of going local.

We pride ourselves on our stable leadership and unwavering commitment to your success. Unlike larger service providers that are influenced by outside investors, our focus is solely on delivering the best, most responsive service possible to you.