Many factors contribute to a successful partnership with your technology vendors and, generally speaking, managed service providers are no different. As we’ve accumulated decades of experience partnering with associations and nonprofits, we wanted to tell the story from an association leader’s perspective.
A strong MSP partnership is not just about tickets or technical support. It is about trust, communication, and a shared understanding of how technology supports the organization’s mission. For Diane Harris, Senior Director of Technology Operations and Data Strategy at the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), that kind of partnership has taken shape over years of working with DelCor Technology Solutions.
Harris has worked with DelCor since 2018, and while DelCor’s relationship with AFP predates her, she has played an active role in building upon that relationship. Today, DelCor is her trusted advisor when she needs support. “I like to think of DelCor as my first phone call when I need something, or when I need someone to bounce an idea off of,” Harris says.
From helping the organization go fully remote during COVID to working with AFP to improve the organization’s cybersecurity posture (and the many tech projects in between), DelCor has continued to help AFP find value in the partnership.
A Balanced Approach
Harris has a philosophy about technology change that shapes nearly every decision she makes for AFP: evolution, not revolution.
“I don’t come in and say, ‘This is what we’re doing now; stop what you’re doing, we’re changing it,’” she says. Instead, she builds steadily by getting a few champions on board, piloting before rolling out, and watching how people actually use things before deciding what comes next.
The approach works best when an MSP understands the organization well enough to meet it where it is, while still helping it move forward. For AFP, that has meant having a partner who knows the systems, understands the people, and can offer guidance without forcing change before the organization is ready.
Harris highlights the importance of communicating your organization’s needs early, clearly, and earnestly to build trust and collaboration. Investing in an MSP should provide more than stability and security. You should also get a trusted partner who anticipates your needs and works alongside your organization to support your members and help you achieve your mission and business goals.
“There’s a balance. You want to work with people who know you really well, and who you don’t have to tell the whole story to. And you also want the thought leadership. That’s where they can really provide value.”
Trust in the Partnership
Over time, that steady approach has built something deeper than a service relationship. It has built trust. DelCor’s partnership with AFP has continued because AFP sees value in it, and not just in the work being done, but in the confidence that comes from having a partner who understands the organization. “We don’t work with vendors,” Harris says. “We work with partners. We’re not interested in working with someone just once. We’re trying to form a relationship and have a trusted advisor. Someone we can rely on.”
That kind of trust doesn’t come from a contract. It comes from having an open line of dialogue and engaging with your partner to proactively manage your needs. The institutional knowledge that DelCor has built at AFP over the years—knowing their systems, staff, risk posture, and priorities—is precisely what makes it possible to support thoughtfully rather than reactively.
Harris describes her consultant’s approach in similar terms. Because AFP’s team has worked consistently with DelCor over time, the relationship has made their quarterly conversations about what’s on the horizon feel natural and less like a review, more like a calibration.
“He’ll share with me information that he’s seeing, or he’ll say, ‘I was just on a call with my counterparts at DelCor, and this is the next big thing we’re seeing,’” she says. “That’s been the benefit: someone who’s dedicated to us but not inundated with just the day-to-day.”
At AFP, Harris meets with her primary consultant every week and with broader DelCor leadership quarterly. The rhythm is consistent enough that it’s become part of how the organization operates.
Harris experienced this directly. AFP had a situation where a staff member clicked a suspicious link. Her consultant, who was on-site that day, noticed unusual email activity at 6 a.m. and quickly contained the issue. By the time the organization needed to notify its cyber insurance provider, it had documentation, a plan, and a clear understanding of what had happened.
“DelCor said, ‘You guys have been doing what we’ve been asking you to do all along, so you are in good shape. This truly is human error.’ And when they said that, I thought to myself, I do think we are doing everything we need to do,” Harris says. “We came out of it less painfully because we had them to help us out.”
More Than a Service Provider
That is the real value of a strong MSP partnership: having a partner who understands your organization well enough to help you plan, adapt, and respond with confidence. For Harris, that trust has been built over time through steady communication, shared context, and a relationship that continues to support AFP as its needs evolve.
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