Challenge

A mid-sized CPA firm with 40 professionals faced a critical decision: selecting a Managed Services Provider (MSP) capable of supporting its complex IT needs. The firm’s challenges were significant — meeting IRS, GLBA, and NIST compliance, protecting sensitive client data, and ensuring uninterrupted operations during high-demand tax seasons.

The risk was clear: choosing the wrong MSP could mean costly downtime, regulatory penalties, and misalignment with the firm’s growth strategy

‍

Approach

Our firm partnered with the CPA firm to run a structured, objective evaluation process. We:

• Reviewed and scored four vendor proposals against weighted criteria from the firm’s RFP.
• Benchmarked costs and service models, identifying where vendors embedded hidden labor charges or offered long-term cost predictability.
• Assessed compliance depth, focusing on IRS Pub. 4557, GLBA, and NIST 800-171 alignment.
• Evaluated operational maturity, comparing SLAs, onboarding processes, and support models.
• Delivered a clear recommendation, outlining both the financial and strategic tradeoffs.

This process gave the CPA firm not just vendor options — but clarity on which MSP would be a true long-term partner.

‍

Results

Through our structured guidance, the CPA firm:

• Reduced projected IT spend by 15–20% over three years by avoiding hidden hourly costs.
• Achieved assurance of 99.9% system uptime commitments.
• Secured vendor support with SOC 2, ISO 27001, and CPA-industry compliance experience.
• Gained confidence in a provider with dedicated CPA firm expertise and scalable support for 25% staff growth.
• Eliminated risk of misalignment by using a transparent, criteria-based selection process.

‍