After being in business for over 30 years, we at Optimal aren’t strangers to the IT industry. We’ve seen many Managed Service Providers (MSPs) come and go in the local area, and many of the companies we’ve worked with over the past few decades have expressed their thoughts on particular providers—what they liked, what they didn’t like, and what makes for a great experience working with an MSP.
While we’d like to say that we’re the best provider for every organization on the planet, that is obviously not true (and you should run screaming from anyone who says anything of the sort). In reality, we will often re-direct prospective clients to our competitors when we’ve found that we are not a good fit to solve their specific problems.
The fact is, choosing the right MSP for your company is a big deal, and whether you use Optimal or another firm, they need to be good. Because so many companies over the years have asked us who else might be a fit, we decided to go ahead and openly list some of the Managed Service Providers that have a solid reputation in the area.
A Review of the Best Managed Service Providers (MSPs) in DC, Maryland, and Virginia
- Dataprise (DC; McLean; Baltimore). Dataprise is one of the largest MSPs in the area, which—naturally—translates into them having quite a lot of resources at their disposal. Dataprise has an extensive suite of service offerings, but their main offering revolves around a consistent on-site visit from an engineer.
- ShipShape IT (Bethesda; Baltimore). Shipshape is one of the newer players in the area, but their management team has been in the business for a good long time. They take a hybrid on-premise and cloud approach to serving their clients.
- Ntiva (McLean; Reston; Silver Spring). Ntiva is also one of the larger MSPs in the area and provides all the basic services you would expect, including management of servers, workstations, backup, helpdesk, and on-site support.
- designDATA (DC; Gaithersburg). Believe it or not, designDATA has been in business since 1979 (yes, technology existed back then). If you’ve worked in an industry as fluid at IT for as long as they have, you have to know how to adapt to changing landscapes.
- DelCor Technology Solutions (Silver Spring). DelCor has been in business for over 30 years, and has made its name serving the association market. They are one of the few companies with a well-regarded consulting practice that is separate from their network support services.
Well, there you have it. If you have an IT problem that you’re looking to solve, these are 5 companies you can consider.
As always, regardless of the company you’re engaging, be sure to vet providers extensively, ask for references, meet their people, and trust your gut. If you do that, you’ll be a hop, skip, and jump down the right path to curing your technology woes.