How fast should an MSP respond to a support request?

Response time expectations should be tiered by severity, and any professional MSP will put them in writing. A business-down emergency — server offline, network out, ransomware — warrants near-immediate response, measured in minutes. A single user unable to work warrants response within the hour. Routine requests (new employee setup, software questions) are reasonably same-day or next-day.

Two follow-up questions expose the difference between marketing and reality. First: 'Does response mean a human is working my issue, or that a ticket was created?' Auto-acknowledgment emails don't fix servers. Second: 'What are your actual average response and resolution times, by severity, over the last quarter?' — providers who track their numbers will show you; providers who don't track them can't manage them.

Location matters at the top severity tier: when remote tools can't fix it — dead hardware, physical network issues — response time becomes drive time. Ask where the nearest technician actually sits.