10 Brilliant Questions to Ask When Vetting An IT Company In St. Louis
Key Points From The Article:
- While the need for managed IT services is growing, the outsourcing world is notoriously confusing.
- One step mistake in hiring an IT company can result in having the wrong vendor, which can cost your business big time.
- To help you avoid costly mistakes that other businesses make, we’ve compiled ten questions to help you vet the service quality a potential IT company offers.
The need for managed IT services is ever-growing. However, the outsourcing world is notoriously confusing. One step mistake in your hiring process can cause a huge loss in your business.
You have a formidable task of assessing, separating, and choosing a quality IT service provider from an endless list of vendors claiming to be the best.
As part of your IT supplier selection, you should interview prospective IT companies to help assess how well they fit your business and how comfortable your working relationship might be.
To simplify the vetting process, we’ve compiled a list of 10 great questions to assess the service quality that your IT company offers.
1. Are You a Managed IT Service Provider or a Break/Fix St. Louis IT Company
Quality IT support doesn’t stop at simply solving a problem. Your business’s system and network will need proactive monitoring to spot issues early before they become big concerns.
When an IT company monitors your system proactively and executes continual maintenance, you’ll prevent small issues from becoming big problems that can affect your productivity.
Apart from proactive maintenance, managed IT services also offer a reactive team to handle the day-to-day problems such as:
- Computer issues
- Phone problems
- Network connectivity problems
- Printer issues
- Cloud problems
When the vendor is only a Break/Fix company, they’ll only help your business when things break out and things don’t break at the right time.
2. Do You Proactively Manage My Cybersecurity?
In the world of the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape, your business needs proactive cybersecurity strategies to protect you from newer and more sophisticated cyber threats that emerge every day.
Cyber security is not set-it-and-forget-it, and it isn’t just a product that you buy. Cybersecurity is an ongoing process and methodology. Your IT company should be able to keep cyber threats at bay and ensure uninterrupted operations in your business.
3. What are Your Processes?
Knowing the vendor’s processes gives you an insight into how they operate, what happens when the contract ends, and whether there is a third party who’ll be handling your data.
The question allows you to extract information about their due diligence process. The difference between a top-performing IT company and a bottom tier is huge. Top Tier IT companies are process-driven — they don’t drop the ball.
4. Do You Have a Dedicated Help Desk Staff?
No business wants technical or network problems to happen, but they happen. When they do, you need a dedicated help desk staff.
Calling for a random IT guy or girl when you desperately need an IT issue fixed is detrimental. Your IT company should provide you with help desk services and have a dedicated staff to address your issues as they pop up.
You have to know if your IT Company has a dedicated help desk staff or will you have to call the IT guy or girl when you desperately need help.
5. Do You Perform Client Satisfaction Survey?
Assess how the IT company measures client satisfaction. Check if they conduct client satisfaction surveys or any other practice that show they care about customer satisfaction.
If they do, ask them to share it with you. You’ll be able to assess what the current clients think about the vendor.
6. Are You Certified?
Top IT companies have certified technicians for the solutions they offer. Certification is important because it shows that the provider has learned the importance of adhering to certain professional standards.
As a result, you can rely on your IT company’s ability to meet the industry benchmarks and depend on their higher and more consistent quality work. Ensure your IT service provider is certified.
7. Where Will You Document My Network Details?
Ask your IT team about where they’ll document your network details and passwords. You need to assess the security of your network documentation and how easy you can assess them whenever you need it.
In case you later cancel the contract, you need to be able to access the network documentation as they’re important in troubleshooting problems. Without access to your network documentation, diagnosing and resolving issues will take longer than necessary.
Ensure your vendor clarify about where they document your network details and passwords while giving you easy access whenever you need it.
8. Do You Work With Businesses Like Mine?
Every business has unique IT needs, and IT companies specialize in different areas of expertise. You’re far better with an IT company that’s familiar with your business because they can easily help you improve your operation.
Ask the potential IT company if they have worked with businesses like yours to check how familiar they’re with your business practices.
9. How Do You Ensure My System is Secure at All Times?
Some IT service vendors can tell you that your network and system are secure. You’re responsible for ensuring that they are not just saying that your business is cyber secure.
Ask your IT company about the measures they take to keep your business secure. You should check out if they offer cybersecurity frameworks like:
- Vulnerability testing
- Penetrating scanning
- Firewalls installations
- Antivirus technology
- Training cybersecurity awareness to employees
- Continuous monitoring and rapid cyberattack countermeasure
- Attack response
Your IT company should be able to execute a solid vulnerability management process.
10. What Are Your Prices?
Everyone wants a great deal. However, watch out for IT companies that charge too little. Top IT companies know the true cost of delivering great services. If the company doesn’t make a profit, then that great service delivery is not sustainable.
Alliance Technology Partners Will Shoulder All Your IT Tasks
At Alliance Technology Partners, we’ll supply the right IT talent to help your St. Louis business succeed. We’ve helped many businesses that were stuck looking through endless options of IT companies claiming to be the best, and we can help you too.
Contact us today to get the best fit IT solutions for your business.
