Australia's Independent IT Service Provider Oversight Specialists
Independent validation ensures you get the IT service you're paying for. Client first advisory backed by 15+ years inside leading Australian Managed Service Providers (MSPs), the companies responsible for running IT systems. No service delivery conflicts, no vendor commissions, just objective recommendations.
Only 4%[1] of ASX 100 directors have IT backgrounds, yet boards and executives carry ultimate accountability for technology risks. Mid-market organisations across corporate, government, and not for profit sectors invest millions annually in technology without the expertise to evaluate whether these investments deliver value or if their Service Level Agreements (SLAs), the contracts defining IT service standards, hold providers accountable.
Your MSP simultaneously provides service AND advises on strategy. This creates systematic pressure to maximise revenue through upselling, vendor kickbacks, and architecture decisions that increase recurring billing, whether your business needs them or not.
Most organisations outsource IT security to MSPs without independent validation. Your board or executive team cannot know whether promised security controls actually exist and function effectively until a breach forces visibility and potential regulatory or governance disclosure obligations.
MSPs know their contracts, pricing models, and service limitations intimately. Your finance and operations leaders understand business but lack the technical depth to identify licensing waste, challenge architecture decisions, or recognise service delivery problems before they become crises.
Behind the SLA provides the independent expertise mid-market organisations need to manage their IT service provider relationships effectively. We deliver zero managed services ourselves. Our only revenue is advisory fees, meaning our recommendations optimise your outcomes, never our service delivery revenue.
You don't need to change providers to work with us. Our oversight service is designed to work alongside your existing provider, ensuring accountability and performance without disruption. We're completely provider agnostic. Whether you stay with your current provider or we help you find a better fit, our only goal is ensuring you receive genuine value from your technology investments.
Vendor-neutral assessment of MSP recommendations and investment priorities. Protection against vendor lock-in-68%[4] of CIOs' primary concern.
Objective evaluation maximising client value, not MSP revenue.
Practical AI adoption avoiding the 80%[5] project failure rate. Most mid-market organisations struggle to move from AI pilots to production.
Focus on realistic ROI within 6-12 months, not multi-year experiments.
Behind the SLA was founded after 15+ years leading operations inside major Australian managed service providers. This insider perspective reveals what MSPs don't disclose to clients:
How per-device pricing structures can inflate costs by including printers, thin clients, and switches unless contracts define "managed device" terms tightly. A 50-person firm may pay for 120+ "devices" they never realised were billable.
Why MSPs withhold admin credentials during relationship disputes and the contractual protections preventing this. Without proper agreement terms, clients discover they can't access their own systems when considering provider changes.
Which cybersecurity promises MSPs struggle to deliver despite confident sales presentations. Many MSPs sell comprehensive security services they lack capability to implement properly.
Common billing patterns signaling performance problems before they become visible to clients. Unexplained increase in "out-of-scope" hours, persistent requests to upgrade service tiers, or sudden infrastructure "emergencies" requiring immediate spending.
The difference between MSPs viewing clients as partners versus revenue streams and specific behaviours revealing which category yours represents. Partners proactively optimise costs; revenue-focused MSPs resist cost reduction and maximise upsells.
This isn't generic IT consulting. It's specialised MSP governance expertise you can't get from consultancies that dabble in advisory as occasional project work or from MSPs offering vCIO services with inherent conflicts of interest.
Mid-market companies typically waste 15-25% of their MSP spend on unnecessary services, inefficient architectures, and vendor-biased recommendations. For a company with $1M annual IT spend, that's $150,000-$250,000 lost annually.
The gap between what boards expect from IT investments and what MSPs actually deliver creates systematic value leakage. Without independent oversight, this gap compounds year after year-turning technology from a business enabler into an uncontrolled cost centre.
Behind the SLA bridges this gap with expertise gained from 15+ years inside the MSP industry, ensuring your technology investments deliver promised business value.
Independent MSP oversight and technology strategy advisory for Australian organisations requiring expert guidance without conflicts of interest.
Join forward-thinking companies that chose independence over vendor agendas.
Schedule Your Free ConsultationNo obligations. Complete confidentiality. Real independence.
All statistics and research findings on this page are supported by authoritative sources. Behind the SLA is committed to evidence-based advisory and transparent methodology.
Methodology Note: Behind the SLA conducts independent research validation for all published statistics. Where proprietary research is cited, it is based on aggregated, anonymised data from client engagements spanning 15+ years of MSP industry experience. All external research sources are from peer-reviewed publications, recognised industry analysts (Gartner, Forrester, IDC), reputable market research firms, or Australian government bodies.
