Every MSP finalist can show you an SLA page: a 15 minute response on critical tickets, resolution targets by priority, a compliance number up top. That page is a promise. What you need to see is how the vendor reports against it in a month that didn't go well.
So before final scoring, ask each finalist for one thing: a real monthly SLA report they sent a current client, with names and identifying details redacted. It should be the report a client actually opened last month, not a mockup built for your RFP.
Our post on beating "industry standard" SLAs covers what the numbers should be. This one is about the evidence: whether a finalist's reporting would let you catch a miss before your users do.
Sales writes the SLA page. The monthly report comes out of the service desk and its reporting tool, so it shows what the vendor actually measures and what they're comfortable showing a client. If the sample is thin, the reports you get after signing will be thin too. If a finalist can't produce one at all, you've learned something while you still have options.
Send the request to every finalist in identical wording so you're comparing like for like. Ask for a report from a client close to your size and service scope, sent within the last few months, and say up front that redaction is expected. Then score what comes back in your evaluation matrix next to references and pricing.
When you walk through the sample with each finalist, ask them to explain one breach in detail. The way a vendor talks about a miss tells you as much as the numbers do.
If you'd like help writing the request and scoring the reports that come back, book a free advisory working session with ITBluPrint. We run vendor-neutral MSP selection and don't sell managed services.