How to check MSP references and verify service claims

Choose comparable references

Ask for customers whose employee count, applications, locations, internal IT model, and service hours resemble yours. A large enterprise reference may say little about the service a small organization receives. Ask how long the reference has worked with the provider and whether it uses the same service tier. Get permission to contact the reference and agree what can be discussed.

Ask about the last difficult event

Request a concrete account of an outage, onboarding problem, or recurring issue. Ask how the customer reached the right person, whether updates were useful, and who owned follow-through. Avoid asking for confidential incident details. The purpose is to understand the process and customer experience, not to collect sensitive information about another organization.

• What happened after the first technician could not resolve the issue?
• Was any work unexpectedly outside the agreement?
• Did the provider explain the cause and the prevention plan?
• What would you negotiate differently if signing again?

Cross-check the account model

Ask whether the people introduced during the sale stayed involved after onboarding. Find out how service changed during staff turnover and whether documentation supported continuity. Check how strategic reviews work and whether recommendations are connected to business priorities. A reference can confirm its own experience, but cannot guarantee the same outcome for a new customer.

Request evidence of the claims that matter

For a support claim, request a redacted report with definitions and the relevant reporting period. For recovery, ask for an example test result and remediation record. For a certification or assessment, verify what entity, scope, and period it covers through the appropriate issuer or document. Do not infer that one employee’s qualification covers every service or that a badge proves contractual coverage.

Handle weak or conflicting evidence

Mark an unverified claim as unverified. Give the provider a specific question and a deadline to clarify it. If references describe a service different from the proposal, ask whether that reflects a different tier or a changed operating model. Record the explanation and the evidence you still need. Do not turn an isolated review into a sweeping conclusion about the company.

Turn findings into conditions

Add material commitments to the agreement: reporting, named roles, escalation, recovery testing, or onboarding acceptance. Use the reference findings to shape the first service review. The decision memo should identify where confidence is high, where evidence is incomplete, and who accepted any remaining risk.