Choosing IT support
Choosing An MSP UK: How Do You Keep Control?
A buyer's guide to choosing a managed IT provider while keeping ownership of access, documentation, reporting, and the exit route.
The short answer
Choose an MSP that makes ownership visible: named admin access, clear scope, useful reporting, and a written handover route. The right provider should reduce dependency, not become the only place your IT knowledge lives.
The takeaways
- The MSP should increase visibility, not become the only place where knowledge lives.
- Admin access, documentation, service scope, reporting, and handover should be agreed before onboarding starts.
- Kindura's model is remote-only, so physical site work should be handled through a separate provider or project route.
What should you check before choosing an MSP?
- Clear package names, prices, onboarding fees, add-ons, and exclusions.
- A written boundary for remote support, project work, onsite work, and hardware tasks.
- Named support route and escalation process.
- Documented approach to users, devices, admin access, patching, and reporting.
- Business-owned Microsoft 365 tenant and admin access model.
- Monthly reporting that shows actions, exceptions, and decisions needed.
- A handover process if the relationship ends.
- A calm answer to what happens during the first 30 days.
How should admin access stay under control?
Admin access should be named, limited to the job needed, protected with MFA, and reviewed. Shared or unexplained administrator accounts are a warning sign.
| Control point | What good looks like | Warning sign |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant ownership | The business understands who owns the Microsoft 365 tenant and recovery route. | Only the supplier knows how to regain access. |
| Admin roles | Named admin accounts with clear purpose and review rhythm. | Generic admin accounts or too many global admins. |
| Documentation | Current records are available to the business. | Documentation is treated as supplier property. |
| Handover | Exit work, access transfer, and records are explained before signing. | The sales process avoids exit questions. |
What should reporting tell you?
Monthly reporting should not be a pile of ticket counts. A useful report connects activity to business decisions: which users changed, which devices need attention, which patches are missing, which access exceptions exist, and where the service boundary was reached.
For remote-only support, reporting should also make physical dependencies visible. If a device needs repair, a printer needs fitting, or a network cabinet needs hands-on work, the report should show that it is outside the remote package rather than leaving it as a vague support delay.
Which questions should you ask in the sales process?
- Is delivery remote-only, hybrid, or onsite?
- Which users, devices, tenants, and systems are included?
- How are joiners, leavers, and admin changes handled?
- How are extra devices, shared devices, servers, mobiles, and network devices priced?
- Which security tasks are included and which are projects?
- What does fair-use support mean in practice?
- How will you document our environment?
- What happens if we leave?
Questions to ask any provider
Use these on any MSP proposal - including ours. Clear answers matter more than sales polish.
- Who owns the tenant, admin accounts, documentation, and recovery route?
- Which admin access is named, time-bound, or reviewed?
- What will the monthly report show beyond ticket counts?
- What is excluded from support, especially onsite or project work?
- How does handover work if we leave later?
Where Kindura fits
Kindura keeps the control points explicit
Kindura's remote-first model is built around named scope, visible records, and monthly reporting rather than quiet supplier dependency. We will be clear where a task needs onsite help or a separate project. Whether or not that model suits you, the ownership questions above should be easy to answer.
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