Choosing the right Managed IT Service Partner is a highly critical business decision. If you make the wrong decision, not only would you be losing the money you spend with them, but also all the time and effort you have invested in setting up the IT operations with them – not to mention risking your entire business IT operations.
This is why it’s worth spending time interviewing such potential business partners. So, before you start working with a Managed IT Services Provider, you should set up a meeting with them to discuss what they are really bringing to the table and how your business can benefit from their partnership. In this article, we have outlined 10 of the most important questions that you should ask a potential Managed IT Services Provider before deciding to sign a contract with them.
In all likelihood, there will always be learning curves and adjustments required before the new processes and systems can be tested and implemented. Therefore, before signing a contract with any Managed IT Services Provider, it’s important to ask them about their on-boarding process, just so you know what you can expect in the weeks or months following the agreement.
Having a clear idea of what services they will provide can save you a lot of time and headaches in the long run. Does their service include regular server upgrades, software upgrades, network monitoring, help desk support, etc.? Is there anything missing in their plan which could potentially be a deal-breaker for a business like yours? What add-on services do they provide for an extra cost? Knowing all this will help you make a better decision.
Here are some good questions along these lines that will help you make a better decision:
Working with a managed service provider should typically cost your business less than setting up in-house operations. However, this doesn’t always mean spending less money. Think about it in terms of long-term ROI and meeting business objectives.
If you are an SME and have plans for expanding your operations in the future, you need an IT partner that can keep up with the growing needs of your business.
In the cyber-centric world of today, IT disasters are commonplace. This is why it’s important to know how well-prepared is your potential IT partner for such disasters and what measures they will take in case such an unfortunate event does happen. Your business operations should be least affected by such events and be up and running again as quickly as possible.
Ask them about the kind of incident and penetration monitoring mechanisms they have in place when it comes to being vigilant and proactive about noticing and eliminating potential cyber-threats. Ensure that their proposed incident response plan and service restoration plan is adequate and takes into account the nature of your business operations.
Prevention is always better than cure! You would want to work with an IT company that offers 24×7 monitoring, follows a proactive approach when it comes to IT management, and takes action well in time to prevent avoidable problems that would potentially disrupt or halt your business operations.
When you call the IT support help desk of your IT partner, you would want to reach the same few top-of-the-line IT experts they have working for them – the ones who are familiar with your business needs and know what kind of issues you could possibly run into. Also worth asking them is what their average response time for high-priority is in comparison to low-priority issues, and what hours they are available on weekdays vs weekends for responding to and taking care of any issues that may arise out of the blue.
Make sure your IT partner will keep you in the loop and seek approval when it comes to making any significant changes to your company’s IT operations. Ask them if they have any set procedures for keeping you posted about their work progress, which will include:
This questionnaire is by no means comprehensive, but it will certainly provide you with a solid foundation when you are ready to interview the prospective IT Support Company for your business. It all comes down to having an open, honest discussion with them and figuring out how well they can cater to your organisation’s needs and take your business to the next level.
