Most firms know when their MSP relationship isn't working, but struggle to prove it in a way that supports a change decision. A short set of honest questions — asked once a year — is enough to turn a gut feeling into a defensible executive-committee conversation.
Response times vs resolution times
Good MSPs report both. Great MSPs make sure resolution times trend down quarter over quarter and are transparent when they don't. If you only ever see 'ticket acknowledged in fifteen minutes,' that is a warning sign about what is not being measured, not a comfort about what is.
Are they helping you invest, or defending their scope?
A partner should be surfacing risks, recommending improvements and helping you make the business case for them — not gatekeeping change orders. If every improvement conversation becomes a scope negotiation, the relationship has drifted from partnership to procurement.
Do they understand legal?
Generic MSPs treat law firms like any other hundred-user shop. Legal-aware partners know iManage, NetDocuments, ProLaw, Aderant, Elite, court filing systems, outside-counsel guidelines and the seasonality of a law-firm calendar. The difference shows up in every ticket and every project.
Would you re-sign today?
The simplest test. If the honest answer is 'no,' the follow-up question is what specifically would have to change for it to become 'yes,' and whether the current partner is capable of that change or not. Both are useful answers.
How do they behave in an incident?
The single clearest signal of a partner's real quality is how they behave in a serious incident. Do they show up with structured communication, defined roles and a written post-mortem — or do they scramble? Firms that have been through an incident with their MSP know the answer immediately.
The evidence question
A good partner can produce a monthly evidence package suitable for cyber insurers and client audits without a special request. A weaker partner treats those requests as one-off projects. Test this directly.
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