Outsourcing your IT not only saves your business time and money, it also relieves the burden of monitoring and managing your technology. However, you can’t just let anyone take control of your IT infrastructure. It is important that you carefully vet your potential IT service provider, check their credentials and evaluate their service offering and quality.
What should you ask an IT service provider before you work together?
What is your average response time?
It’s no secret, unexpected downtime costs your business money. When a technology problem occurs, the last thing you need is to be wasting time, waiting uncertainly for someone to fix it. Investing in outsourced IT support services should help to prevent this. You need to select an IT service provider who will remediate issues efficiently and effectively, making your systems functional again as quickly as possible. The best providers will proactively monitor your entire IT infrastructure so that they can prevent problems before they arise, minimising any disturbance to your main operations.
It is vital that you communicate your expectations to your managed service provider before you begin working together. This is what Service Level Agreements are for. After you have agreed, you can hold your provider accountable based on the specific standards you laid out.
Who are your partners, and do you have any certifications?
Asking for information about the partners of your potential IT service provider, is a great way to understand the quality of their service offering. The vendors and distributors that your provider partners with help them to supply their IT solutions. If your IT service provider works with accredited, valued partners, then this is a strong signifier that they will produce reliable, high-quality technology support services.
Similarly, if your IT service provider has any certifications, then this is an indicator that they are willing to go above and beyond to deliver premium IT services. Your business wants to partner with an IT service provider that is committed to their specialism and is always looking to learn and improve. Certifications also demonstrate that a reliable third-party has assessed and evaluated your potential provider and approved their standards. Texaport are Microsoft Silver partners and certified by Microsoft 365, Cyber Essentials, CompTIA and ITIL IT Service Management, highlighting their commitment to delivering the best technology services.
What cyber security services do you offer?
Cyber-attacks and data breaches are on the rise, and small and medium businesses are particularly at risk. Therefore, it is important that you find out if your potential IT service provider has a security-centric approach. Your company should only work with an IT service provider that prioritises cyber security, devises effective strategies to protect your business and can offer you a range of innovative solutions and tools. Texaport takes a multi-layered approach to cyber security, so that even if an attack breaches one layer of defence, there are additional protections in place to protect your data.
Your IT service provider should want to do everything in their power to ensure that your business is secure. This includes educating your staff about cyber-attacks, so that they can be prepared for anything. Texaport offers in-house training for your team to help ensure that your business is defended from all sides.
Do you still have questions? You should. This is just the start. You should ask your potential IT service provider a lot more before you begin working together. Download our eBook today to discover what you should expect when outsourcing your IT, and all the essential queries you should have
