Most Adelaide businesses end up switching MSPs at least once. The first contract looked fine on paper. The sales process was polished. The team seemed capable. Then six months in, tickets sat open for days, nobody knew who to call, and critical patches weren't being applied. By the time the business finally moved on, they'd lost months to a provider that was never going to work.
I've been on both sides of that conversation. We've onboarded clients who came from poor providers, and I've watched competitors onboard our former clients when we've failed to meet expectations. The selection process matters. Here's how to do it properly.
What actually doesn't matter
A large team count doesn't tell you much. Neither does a client list full of recognisable names. Those metrics say something about sales capability, not service delivery. A slick onboarding presentation is a lagging indicator of nothing — it tells you the provider knows how to win business. It doesn't tell you what happens when your email server goes down on a Tuesday morning.
The things that look good in a proposal meeting are often the things that have the least bearing on day-to-day reality.
Six things that actually matter
1. SLA specifics
Every managed services provider has an SLA. The question is whether it commits to anything real. "We aim to respond within four hours" is not an SLA. An SLA defines the specific response time for a P1 incident (typically 15–30 minutes), the resolution target, and — critically — what happens when those targets are missed.
Ask for the SLA document, not a summary. Read it. Look for financial consequences for missed commitments. If there are none, the provider has no skin in the game. The SLA is just a document they hand out to close deals.
At InterIntra, we include financial SLA commitments because we think that's how accountability works. You shouldn't have to chase us to care about your uptime.
2. Who actually does the work
Some MSPs run their helpdesk on a rotating pool of technicians. Every ticket goes into a queue, gets picked up by whoever's available, and the person answering has no context about your environment. That's functional for low-priority issues. It falls apart the moment something complex comes up.
Ask specifically: "Who will be our primary contact? Will the same engineers handle our account month to month?" If the answer is vague, or involves account managers who don't actually do technical work, take note.
The providers worth working with have named engineers who build familiarity with your environment over time. When something breaks at 7pm, you want someone who already knows your setup — not someone reading your notes for the first time.
3. Security posture
Your MSP has administrative access to your systems. If their own security practices are poor, your business is exposed through them. This isn't hypothetical — MSPs have been the vector for significant breaches precisely because attackers know that compromising one provider can give access to dozens of clients.
Ask whether they hold ISO 27001 certification themselves. Ask what security controls protect their own infrastructure. Ask about their staff vetting process and privileged access management. A provider who's serious about security will have documented answers. One who isn't will tell you "security is very important to us" and change the subject.
4. Transition process
Onboarding from an existing provider is where a lot of MSPs show their real capability — or lack of it. A good transition has a written runbook: knowledge transfer from the outgoing provider, environment documentation, tool deployment, communication to your staff, and defined milestones.
Ask to see the onboarding runbook. If the provider says "we'll figure it out based on your situation," that's not flexibility — it's an absent process. The specific steps will vary by client, but the structure should be documented and proven.
A well-run transition takes about 30 days. Rushing it creates gaps in documentation and monitoring that you'll pay for later.
5. Pricing model
MSP pricing comes in several structures: per-device, per-user, or tiered bundles. None of those is inherently better than the others. What matters is understanding exactly what's included and what triggers an additional charge.
Ask for an itemised scope. Find out whether Microsoft 365 licensing is included or separate. Whether after-hours support is in the base fee or billed at a premium rate. Whether project work — migrations, new deployments, major upgrades — is covered or quoted separately. Get the exclusions in writing.
Providers who bundle everything into a simple per-user fee sometimes do so because the inclusions are thin. Providers who charge for everything separately can be more expensive than the headline rate suggests. Compare total cost of ownership, not just the monthly figure on the proposal.
6. Local presence
For most day-to-day support, remote management is fine. For a critical infrastructure failure, a hardware replacement, or a security incident where hands-on access is needed, local presence matters. Can this provider put a technician on your floor within two to three hours of a critical call?
InterIntra is based in Adelaide. When something requires physical access, we're there. That's not a marketing claim — it's a practical constraint that eliminates one entire category of risk.
Red flags to watch for
- Vague SLAs with no financial commitment. The provider is hedging.
- Unclear escalation paths. Ask specifically: if your primary contact isn't available during a major incident, who do you call?
- "We'll figure it out as we go" onboarding. That phrase means they don't have a documented process.
- No security certifications for their own operations. An MSP advising you on security while having none themselves is a contradiction worth noting.
- Resistance to reference checks. Ask for three clients who've been on the platform for more than three years. A provider confident in their retention should be able to provide that without hesitation.
Questions to ask before you sign
These three questions cut through a lot of noise:
- "What happens if you miss an SLA?" Listen for specific financial consequences, not just reassurances about their commitment to service.
- "Who will be our primary contact, and will that person change?" The answer should name someone, not describe a team or a role.
- "Can we see your onboarding runbook?" A provider with a real process will have a document to share. One without will give you a verbal walk-through of something they're making up on the spot.
The right provider will welcome these questions. The ones who get defensive are telling you something important about how they handle scrutiny once you're a client.
Where InterIntra stands
We offer financial SLA commitments — if we miss a target, there's a consequence. Our clients work with the same engineers over time, not a rotating pool. We hold ISO 27001 certification, which means our own security practices have been independently audited. Our onboarding process is 30 days, documented, and follows a structured runbook. And we're in Adelaide, which means when something needs a physical response, it gets one.
That's not a pitch. It's what we think good looks like. If you're evaluating providers, hold every one of them to the same standard — including us.
If you want to talk through what switching MSPs looks like for your specific situation, you can reach our help desk team or book a call with us directly. Our managed IT services page has the detail on what our agreements include.
Common questions
Most Adelaide businesses pay between $80 and $180 per user per month for a full managed services agreement. The range is wide because what's included varies significantly: some providers bundle security tools, backup, and Microsoft 365 licensing; others charge for each separately. Get an itemised proposal and compare the total, not just the headline rate.
Break-fix IT is reactive — you call when something goes wrong and pay per incident. A managed service provider takes ongoing responsibility for your IT environment under a fixed monthly fee, including proactive monitoring, patching, and regular maintenance. The practical difference is that an MSP has a financial incentive to prevent problems rather than fix them after the fact.
A well-run transition takes 30 days. That includes knowledge transfer from the outgoing provider, documentation of your environment, deploying monitoring agents and security tools, and establishing your support workflows. Providers who say they can do it in a week are skipping steps. Providers who can't give you a timeline at all don't have a process.
At minimum: defined scope (what's covered and what's not), response and resolution time commitments with specific targets, financial consequences for missed SLAs, escalation paths, security obligations, data handling terms, and exit provisions including how your documentation and access credentials are handed back. If any of those are missing, ask why before you sign.