MSP (Managed Service Provider) [man·aged sur-vis pruh–vahy-der] : Noun – def. – A company or entity that provides a bundled product or service for another company or entity. Usually in the form of Information Technology providing value via consulting and/or hosted software solutions.
This was the old traditional thinking of the MSP model. The typical MSP model includes a bloated variety of offerings that can prove value to few. After years of experience in the industry, Thornton Consultants has found that “Simple is better”. There are countless software suites and monitoring tools that promise “Full Coverage”, “Zero Downtime”, and “Perfect Maintenance Automation”. When the simple truth and reality boils down to How and Who is managing and maintaining your IT infrastructure. The age old saying, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it” could not be more accurate in the MSP business. Throughout our experience we also found that the traditional MSP model is leaning more and more towards the “Remote Helpdesk” model. What we found is that IT personnel without the interpersonal skills to work with non-technical users can be challenging, especially when this is limited to remote phone calls and not face to face. Where we really excel is the consulting aspect of the service. It truly is rare to find extremely bright IT experts that are well spoken and have the ability to discuss the business side of technology and not just the technical gibberish.
At Thornton Consultants, we offer a bundled suite of services that acts like a maintenance contract and an insurance policy, without the unnecessary complication of too many tools and moving parts. We trimmed the fat to the standard model that allows you to save money, while gaining the maximum value on your IT investment. We offer our SMS (Simple Managed Services) packages at different levels that will fit any company’s needs and budget.
The SMS product is a combination of both monitoring and proactive maintenance. Depending on the model you choose, this can include the “insurance policy” aspect that will cover all IT costs in the event of critical failure. Basically, we assume full responsibility of your IT infrastructure and work to keep it maintained and monitored to avoid any outages or downtime. These packages include built-in CIO time to help with your company’s growing needs. This free consulting time can be used for project management during a big migration or product upgrade, or it can be used for general Technology Steering to help guide your company’s technology into the future.
To learn more, please contact us for a free review and quote for services. We look forward to working with you!