The options may seem overwhelming when starting your journey to work with a managed services provider. Interviewing them is much like dating -you will seldom find your perfect match with the first one you meet. For the right situation, this daunting interview process can be well worth it in the end.
Here’s why:
1. Much faster solutions
A. Without a Managed IT Service
Let’s take it from Jill. She is a sales Operations manager who has been sitting at her desk for the last 2 hours trying to solve a problem that she knows has an easy answer if only she could find the right setting. She goes home frustrated that she can’t figure out the simple solution she knows is there. The following day, she Googled for the answer between phone calls and while on lunch.
Jill has spent 3 hours looking for a solution, has been frustrated on phone calls, and feels unhappy about bringing work home. Her day could have looked like this:
B. With IT Managed Services
Jill has found an issue in the system that she couldn’t figure out, but she knows there is a quick solution. She just doesn’t know where to look. After 45 minutes of thinking about it but getting nowhere, she quickly emailed her consultant and asked: “What do I need to do so that my end user can access DocuSign inside of Salesforce?”
After sending the email, Jill worked on other things, confident that an answer would come in and knowing she could focus on other things. In the morning, she opens her email to a reply from her managed services consultant saying, “Hi Jill, permissions can be a little tricky, so let’s walk through it together. Are you available at 3 pm PST?”
At 3 pm, Jill hops on a call with the consultant. “First, let’s check the permission set and permission set license on the end user. Next, look at the DocuSign Admin settings and ensure this user has been added. Oh, I see. The problem is that this user can’t access CPQ, and the ‘Send with DocuSign’ button he needs access to is actually on the quote object, which is a CPQ object. You did everything right for DocuSign, but CPQ got in the way. Let’s add this user to the CPQ setup; everything should be good now!” her managed service provider advised.
We have all been in Jill’s shoes, with that elusive solution that is just barely out of reach, frustrating us to no end. If she could talk to someone for 30 minutes who had the answer, would it be worth $100?
2. Less Expensive than You Might Think
Consulting companies come in all shapes and sizes. There are gigantic consultancies that do multimillion-dollar agreements, and there are small little boutique companies like ITequality that started managed services at $1250 a month. Retaining a small contract is undoubtedly less expensive than staffing a seasoned Salesforce Admin with 10+ years of experience. It’s also less costly than having a frustrated junior admin who takes days to solve a problem that might have a quick resolution if they just had a little help.
3. Better Architecture in the Long Term
John Maxwell said — “Teamwork makes the Dream work” — we have all heard this quote, but for many small to medium size businesses, there is only one person maintaining your Salesforce investment. Imagine how difficult it is to work all alone without anyone to check on how things are going. It’s literally impossible to know if you are building quality or not. It might be your best, but how can you grow with nobody to check it out?
With a managed services provider, you can ask for that helping hand. We can double-check that what you are building is scalable and point out any potential design pitfalls. It’s not all negative, we can also let you know where the strengths in your design are, and if your architecture looks great, we are there to celebrate with you!
4. Wider Network for Seeking Answers
Believe it or not, consultants don’t have all the answers. Sometimes we need people to lean on for advice on areas we may not be experts on. The good news is, with a managed IT service provider, you can rest assured there will be a grapevine of other partners working together to refer business and build one another up.
5. Bonus services – Assistance for other areas
ITequality is an expert managed services provider. Many of our customers have been with us for more than five years. Over that time, we have built friendships and watched each other’s organizations grow. We have been a go-to not only for Salesforce Consulting advice but also for DEI efforts, Salesforce Certification Advice, Salesforce license renewal advice, and sometimes life advice.
Book a meeting with us today to learn more about our services.
