Hiring a managed IT service provider (MSP) is a critical decision for any SME. Whether you’re a Director, Senior IT Manager, or Operations Manager, you’re not just buying tech support—you’re choosing a long-term partner who will influence the efficiency, security and scalability of your entire business.

The stakes are high: cyberattacks are getting more sophisticated, compliance regulations are tightening, and downtime is more costly than ever. So how do you know if a provider is actually up to the task?

7 Critical Questions to Ask When Hiring a Managed IT Service Provider in 2025

1. Do You Offer 24/7 Monitoring and Support?

Cyberattacks don’t clock off at 5 PM. Whether it’s a ransomware attempt at 2 a.m. or a hardware failure on a bank holiday, around-the-clock support is non-negotiable in 2025.

What to look for:

• Real humans on-call, not just bots or ticketing systems

• SLAs that clearly define response and resolution times

• Monitoring tools that proactively detect issues before users notice

2. How Do You Manage Security and Risk Assessments?

With new threats like AI-powered phishing and supply chain breaches, your provider should run regular, structured risk assessments—not just once a year.

Ask about:

• How often they conduct risk assessments

• What’s included (e.g., vulnerability scans, dark web monitoring)

• How results are reported to your team

Read more about our Cybersecurity Services.

3. Can You Help Us Stay Compliant With GDPR, ISO 27001 or NIS2?

Whether you’re in finance, healthcare or SaaS—compliance is a must, not a luxury. A good MSP will help you align with frameworks like:

• ISO 27001 (Information Security)

• NIST Cybersecurity Framework

• Cyber Essentials Certification

Follow-up question: Can they provide sample audit logs, compliance dashboards, or documentation support?

4. What’s Your Incident Response Plan—and Is It Tested Regularly?

Ask them to walk you through what happens if you suffer a breach or outage. The best MSPs not only have plans in place—they regularly test them.

Checklist for strong response:

• Playbooks for phishing, ransomware, hardware failure

• Tabletop drills at least twice per year

• Escalation charts with defined roles

Read our post on What to Include in Your Incident Response Plan

5. Do You Use Third-Party Audits and Independent Security Testing?

Anyone can say they’re secure—independent verification is what counts. Reputable MSPs invest in audits from certified penetration testers.

Ask for:

• Audit certifications (Cyber Essentials Plus, ISO, SOC2)

• Most recent pen test results (redacted, if necessary)

• Assurance that tools like EDR, MFA and SIEM are in place and monitored

6. Can You Scale With Us as We Grow?

You want a partner that won’t become a bottleneck in 12 months. Ask how they’ll handle:

• Adding 10–100 new users

• Rolling out multi-site collaboration

• Migrating to hybrid cloud or Microsoft 365 Enterprise

Learn how we support scale-up SMEs through Cloud Services.

7. How Will You Support Our Internal IT Team (If We Have One)?

Great MSPs don’t replace—they augment. Ask how they collaborate with your in-house IT, provide escalation paths, and clarify responsibility.

Look for:

• Co-managed options

• Shared documentation platforms

• Clear support demarcation in your SLA

Red Flags to Watch Out For

• No security accreditations – They may not follow recognised industry standards.

• Slow response time – Not good enough in the current threat landscape.

• Poor documentation – You’ll struggle during audits or transitions.

Bonus: Ask About Cultural Fit

If the provider’s ethos doesn’t align with your values or communication style, even great tech won’t make the relationship work. Ask about team turnover, onboarding processes and escalation contacts.

Why are the above questions crucial?

Having an MSP on your side is about more than just saving time and effort. You must have a clear understanding of how they intend to protect your company from evolving cyberthreats, how they plan on ensuring that you comply with regulations to avoid fines and reputational damage and whether they can provide you with data backups when you need them.

Learning about an organisation’s process and culture is another vital part of doing business together, so keep that in mind when considering providers.

Read: How to Smoothly Transition to a New IT Services Provider

Talk to Spector IT—your future-proof managed IT service provider

Spector IT has been supporting dynamic Irish businesses since 2002, offering 24/7 IT, cloud, and cybersecurity under one roof. Whether you need a full-service partner or a co-managed model, we’re here to help. Book a free 30-minute discovery call today and receive a tailored readiness report.

Post updated on – 02/05/2025