MSP vendor references are worth the phone call when you ask what you’d ask about any service provider. Do they respond fast, talk down to you, treat you fairly, and try to sell you things you don’t need?
In our experience at VJNetworks, prospects don’t always ask for a reference. Ask anyway, of any provider of managed IT services, before you sign.
On the call, a customer who already pays the bill tells you what the service is like day to day. Our guide to how to evaluate an MSP before you sign anything covers the whole process, and this piece covers only the call.
What MSP Vendor References Can and Can’t Tell You
A reference is one customer describing one experience. That is useful, and it is limited. What it shows is life after the signature: how quickly someone responds, how a problem gets explained, whether the invoice matches the agreement.
Some things are better checked on paper, such as whether the provider carries cyber insurance or employs certified technicians. CompTIA’s IT Industry Outlook 2025 noted that MSP best practices and standards aren’t mandated by the government or by professional or trade groups, and that most of what is in place is “by choice and on the honor system.” That leaves customers, in CompTIA’s words, “on their own to determine whether a provider carries adequate cyber insurance” and whether it “employs certified technicians.”
So ask the provider for that proof directly, and save the reference call for what only a customer can tell you.
Ask for MSP Vendor References That Match Your Business
Ask for a reference that looks like your business. Here is how VJNetworks handles the request, in Mike Stoveken’s words.
“Usually when a prospect asks, we’ll give them a customer who’s in the same type of vertical or the same size.”
Mike Stoveken, VJNetworks
Make the same request of any provider on your list. Ask for a customer in your industry or close to your size. If the provider has neither, ask what it can offer instead.
Questions to Ask an MSP’s References, and What to Listen For
No IT background needed. Seven questions follow, each paired with what to listen for.
| Ask | What it tells you | Listen for |
|---|---|---|
| How fast do they respond when you open a ticket? | Whether the speed promised in the sales meeting shows up day to day. | A recent example rather than a vague answer. |
| Did they ever talk down to you? | Whether a person who isn’t technical gets plain answers. | A quick no, or a pause before it. |
| Are they fair and honest with you? | How the provider behaves when money or blame is involved. | One specific moment instead of a general nice word. |
| Did they ever try to sell you something you didn’t need? | Whether recommendations follow your needs or the provider’s. | A purchase the provider advised against or put off. |
| Has a bill ever surprised you? | Whether the scope was clear before the work started. | Charges spelled out up front, or ones found out about later. |
| When a problem comes back, what happens? | Whether the cause was fixed or only the symptom. | Someone found the cause, or the same ticket keeps reopening. |
| Was it ever unclear who was responsible for a security task? | Whether the contract’s split of security duties holds up in practice. | A story about a gap, and how it got closed. |
Four of those are Mike’s. Here is the full quote they come from, including his comparison to a mechanic.
“Things like, how is their response time? Did they talk down to you? Are they fair? Honest. Don’t try to sell me stuff I don’t need. They don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot because I’m not a mechanic. It’s the same kind of things that you would ask anybody about any service.”
Mike Stoveken, VJNetworks
None of these questions depends on knowing how the work gets done, on a car or on a network.
Question five touches the concern prospects raise with us most: what’s included, and what costs extra. We walk prospects through the services agreement and spell out what is and isn’t covered, and nothing outside it gets billed without a discussion and your approval first. Materials, hardware and toner are on the not-covered side. As Mike puts it, “You’re not gonna get a surprise bill for something that you didn’t approve of.”
Question six is about temporary fixes. Talking about what cheap IT costs a business, Mike described paying someone “to fix the exact same problem over and over again because they didn’t put in a real solution.” His point is about temporary fixes, not about any one way of billing for IT.
Question seven comes from a 2022 joint advisory by CISA, the NSA and the FBI with the cybersecurity agencies of the UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Among the actions it lists for MSPs and their customers: “Ensure MSP-customer contracts transparently identify ownership of ICT security roles and responsibilities.” ICT stands for information and communications technology. On a reference call, the question is simpler: when a security task came up, did both sides know whose job it was?
What to Do With What You Hear
One reference is one customer’s view. Weigh it that way. Put what you hear next to what the salesperson told you, and if the two accounts differ on something that matters to you, such as how fast tickets get answered or how billing works, raise it with the provider before you sign.
Push past praise. A reference who calls the provider great hasn’t told you much yet, so ask what the last ticket was about, how long it took for someone to get back to them, and how it ended.
Then line up the numbers. Ask every provider on your list what response time it commits to, and hold that up against what the reference describes. Ours is 15 minutes during business hours. Our 97% client retention says clients stay, but it can’t say what being one is like, and a reference can.
Write it down. One page per call: the question, the answer, the reference’s own words. With more than one provider in the running, notes let you compare them side by side.
Then reread the agreement with those answers fresh. For what belongs in one, see our piece on what an IT support contract covers. For the terms on leaving, see exit clauses and data ownership. And if something from the sales interview still nags at you, reread the warning signs in the interview.
Before You Pick Up the Phone
Do I have to ask for references, or will an MSP offer them?
How many references should I ask for?
What if nobody in my industry is available?
What if the reference only says good things?
Do I need to understand IT to run the call?
Is it fair to ask a reference about the bill?
Next Steps
Talk with our team about choosing an IT provider. No cost, no obligation.