An IT infrastructure you can trust is a prerequisite for any business. You rely on it for everything from sending a simple email to protecting your company’s most valuable data, so it makes sense to ensure it’s in safe hands.
The same can be said of good IT support. Finding a partner that can guarantee smooth sailing day-to-day and unconditional crisis management when required, as well as business continuity planning, is essential for businesses that can’t afford to stand still if the wheels come off.
That means asking the right questions up front, so you get the support and experience you need and a price you can afford.
IT companies generally offer two different levels of service:
- Break-fix support: This is an on-tap, ad-hoc resource when things go wrong. The IT company won’t monitor your systems on an ongoing basis or look at things like operating efficiency, they’ll simply weigh in when things go belly up and restore you to ‘business as usual’, as quickly as possible. This means paying an hourly rate to look at issues and development needs as they arise. It’s not as robust as managed service support and can prove expensive because of its on-off nature and the fact you won’t benefit from the rates a longer-term contract might offer.
- Managed service support: This is more of a partner relationship, where the IT company actively manages your systems, makes recommendations for improvements and finds efficiencies – reducing the chances of things going wrong in future.
When you know where you sit on the ‘service need’ scale, you can start talking to companies who might fit the bill.
Trust and rapport are essential for any good relationship, but experience is what will get you out of an IT pickle every time, so it’s vital you ask the right questions before you sign on the dotted line.
The right questions:
- I want more than just a break-fix service, can you offer full-service?
Be clear about your needs up front and ask the provider how proactive they can be. If it helps, ask them for an example of how they’ve managed a recent issue for another client and the kind of response times and budget they worked to.
- Do you specialise in any industry and who is your typical client?
If you need specialised expertise, locking that down should be your priority. Typical clients will also give you an idea of the industries they’re most familiar with. Working with key competitors for example, might mean there’s a conflict of interest or it could mean they’re best placed to help you - having learned from the mistakes of a rival.
You could ask who their biggest and smallest clients are, to get a sense of the range of businesses they cover. And, if you really want to get into the nitty gritty, you could ask them about their customer retention rates and if they’d be happy for you to contact an existing client for feedback.
- Do you have one key client?
This is important for a few reasons. You need to know if this client is prioritised over all others or if they have enough resource to service multiple clients at the same time. If they lose their key client, is there a risk that the business could go under?
- What does your account management look like?
Questions like…
- Will my business have dedicated resources assigned?
- Will someone take ultimate responsibility for the welfare of my business?
- Will we be expected to tap into a pool of resource and wait for support?
…can help you get a feel for the way they manage clients.
- What does day-to-day support mean and what’s the return on investment for my business?
If you’re paying for ongoing support, you want reassurance your outsourced IT support is not just resting on their laurels waiting for you to raise issues. Ask how they would keep you informed on IT performance and how they’ll look to future-proof your IT capability.
A regular fee should mean they act like a partner with a vested interest in your business. Depending on the level of service you’re after, you might also expect data monitoring and suggestions on where you can improve on processes, information flow, data security, etc, as well as the key trends you should be following.
- What processes do you put in place to manage IT support, including regular tickets and urgent service requests?
Ask them to explain the process step-by-step and be specific about response times. You want to come away from your meeting with a good sense of how they manage workflow and how they would expect to interact with employees who need help. For example, will they stay in touch by phone, email or instant message? And what are typical turnaround times for the most frequently asked requests?
It’s a good idea to ask if they offer service level agreements too, so you know best and worst-case scenarios up-front.
- We’re looking for a collaborative IT partner, do you offer anything ‘over and above’ to ensure a healthy work relationship?
If you’d like to understand your IT support issues, as opposed to just paying to have them fixed, finding a partner who’s willing to bring on you the journey with them is important.
No one is saying you should become an IT expert yourself, but it’s no bad thing if you have the time or inclination to stay informed with regular catch-ups, conference calls or reports.
- What kind of positive change could you create for a business like ours?
Give the IT company a chance to shine and allow them to inspire you with ideas that could improve the way you do business and create a platform for growth.
If they can’t think of anything, they probably haven’t given you a whole lot of thought. On the flip side, if they’ve lots of great ideas and proven examples of how they’ve helped clients like you, you might be onto a winner.
- If you have a data-driven business, ask them what they would do to make your business more cyber-secure and how they’d react if your system was hacked?
Customer data, company finances and sensitive client information can be the lifeblood of an organisation. They can also bring about a sharp demise if the information finds its way into the wrong hands via malware or a less than perfect use of company email. So, an IT company that protect your data and that of your customers, is a must.
Ask the company about the kind of strategy they’d recommend to keep your business safe, secure and compliant, particularly if data protection is something you need to consider.
- What’s your experience with data backup and disaster recovery?
‘What-if’ scenarios are a great way to get a sense of a company’s experience. Backup and recovery are essential services, so you want to know they’re confident about managing issues like these, quickly and efficiently.
Asking the question ‘What’s the worst disaster you’ve resolved for a client this year?’ will allow the company to demonstrate how they manage a disaster from incident through to recovery and prevention.
- Can you explain your contracts and the costs involved?
You should be crystal clear on both before you agree to anything. Understanding the level of service you can expect and exactly how much it will cost monthly, annually or as you use it, is essential.
And if you want to really go to town on them…you can throw in the classic…
- ‘Why should we choose you?’
This gives a company a chance to tell you about anything else they feel is important, but might not have been covered by your questions.
With this lot under your belt, you should come away happy you’ve asked everything you need to make a well-informed decision on the right IT support team to help grow your business.
In the meantime, because keeping your business up and running no matter what IT challenges arise is a major focus of any outsourced IT support, download our Business Continuity Plan checklist.
