Your IT provider should make life easier, not harder. The right MSP keeps your systems running smoothly, spots problems before they happen, and helps your business get more from IT.
The wrong one? They leave you the facing the same issues time and time again, and wondering if you’d be better off doing it yourself.
Here are five warning signs to help you spot whether your managed service provider is proactive, effective, and adding real value – or if it’s time to look for a better partner.
1. Support is always one step behind
A reactive IT team only fixes problems after you notice them. You log a ticket, they act, and that’s it. If this sounds familiar, your provider isn’t working proactively to prevent issues – it doesn’t matter if they respond quickly.
A good MSP actively monitors your systems as part of routine support, to catch potential problems early and fix them before you even knew they were a threat.
2. The recurring problem trap
If the same issues keep popping up, it means your provider is only treating the symptoms, not addressing the root cause. Temporary fixes might get you through the day, but they don’t solve the underlying problem (and they cost you more in the long run).
The best kind of MSP digs deep to find the root of the issue, fixes it properly, and ensures the problem doesn’t return.
3. The number of tickets just won’t go down
Your ticket volumes should reduce over time. If ticket numbers stay the same – or worse, increase – you’re wasting money on reactive support.
The best MSPs aim to get ahead, eliminating threats early on and making changes to your IT to make it more effective – not only reducing the number of tickets every month, but actively making things better.
4. Downtime doesn’t shock you anymore
We don’t care what anyone says, a lot of downtime is never normal – especially if you’re paying for a support service. Your MSP should be making changes to reduce disruption in your organisation, not just get people back online when things go wrong.
If outages are still the norm months into a new support contract – run (or at least start looking at other options).
5. They don’t have a formal disaster recovery plan
If your provider doesn’t have a clear disaster recovery plan, they’re putting your business at risk. Unexpected outages or cyberattacks can happen at any time – and without a plan, recovery could be slow, costly, and chaotic.
Your MSP should maintain a clear disaster recovery plan to make sure in the case of an incident, damage is limited, data is secure and return to business-as-usual is rapid. If they don’t, you should question if they’re the right MSP for you.
Orange flags – subtle signs of potential problems
There are a few other things that could indicate problems in the future. These warning signs can quickly spiral into major MSP red flags.
- They focus on upselling instead of solving problems, prioritising profit over your success.
- They judge success based on on technical metrics without asking the people who actually use their service for feedback.
- You can’t think of value they routinely deliver outside of responding to support tickets and requests.
While these might not mean you need to part ways straight away, they’re definitely things you should speak to your MSP about to make sure you are getting what you’re paying for.
Why the 848 Group is a major green flag
At 848, we do things differently. We actively hunt down issues before they affect your business and make improvements to processes, systems, and the user experience as part of a routine support service – not a paid extra.
With 848, you’ll notice:
- Fewer recurring problems because we tackle the root cause.
- Reduced downtime through proactive monitoring and management.
- Real user insight – because we collect feedback and act on it.
- Continuous improvement, turning IT into a tool that drives value, not just a service that keeps the lights on.
Your IT provider shouldn’t just be reactive – they should be helping your business move forward every day. That’s what you get with 848.