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So I am facing an impending job change and am debating joining an MSP or an IT Staffing firm for. I have spent most of my 20 plus career years split between Dev and infrastructure management/deployment. My question is, has anyone here worked for an MSP or IT staffing firm after working standard IT (whatever standard is?) and have an opinion one way or the other?

4 Spice ups
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MSP is usually stressful.

IT staffing form says everything and nothing as it does not really say what you end up doing.

If I had to pick, I’d rather have a stable jobs, rather than contracts with staffing, so I’d pick MSP.

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When I say staffing, I meant as a recruiter "who speaks the language " of tech, so to speak

4

I started in an MSP and then went to a direct employment. At the time in the MSP, I felt frustrated at having to move between customers without enough time to really cultivate a long-term relationship. You’ll never be part of the customer’s “family”, no matter how good you or your employer are. Remember who your real employer is. Also, you’ll have to get used to assisting in the billing and invoicing process via careful time tracking. This also compromises what you can offer the client (because you need to be sure the customer will pay for the work before you perform it). Also, I felt like a whore and the MSP the pimp. The less they paid me, the more they made; the more clients per internal body, the more they made. It’s an invitation for getting overloaded, and it’s your responsibility to learn how to manage expectations, which can be a delicate balancing act.
In hindsight, a couple decades down the road, I think I’d have a more mature outlook if I went back. First, be sure you’re comfortable with your salary going in, don’t expect them to offer you annual cost-of-living raises. Your best leverage is that initial negotiation, and it can color your entire tenure there. They have an incentive to keep their margins up, and raises don’t help that. Once you’re in the door, they’ve got ya! Also, be aware of the MSP’s business needs - how can you help them charge more for your services? Do you have product or service ideas that can make more money for everyone and/or increase your value to the customer? Help the BD guys and gals. They often get bonuses based on their sales wins, and if you become a valuable resource for being able to talk to customers, or present a good image to customers for expertise, your stock will go up considerably. If you have bench time (non-billable) how can you add value internally, either by fixing broken processes or toolsets? If you really enjoy project work, or business development, you may find a lot of rewarding opportunities. Depending on the size of the MSP, you can actually have a lot of options for finding a really good niche of responsibilities. So I wouldn’t wave you off of the MSP, just know the differences between that and working direct and set expectations accordingly. Hopefully the above observations help with that. Best of luck!!

5

I worked at several “normal” company’s and the last 2 been MSP’s. With MSP you get to learn more hand-son technology in different environments (Banks, Lawyers, Media etc) and in touch with the latest (mostly) greatest software. It also allows you to build your communicative skills as you have to interface with different levels of people (dumb user to know it all manager). You do travel a a lot and do not have a set schedule (dep. on traffic).

If you’re comfortable sitting at a desk and see the same people every day in and out - then MSP is not for you. I believe it’s a bit mores stressful but it offers greater rewards.