The business side of IT
Questions to ask any IT provider
Most IT providers sound alike on their websites. The answers to a few direct questions tell them apart.
1 min readChecklist
The short version
Ten questions that reveal how a provider really works: security, accountability, what is included and what happens when things go wrong.
Ten questions to ask
- What exactly is included, and what costs extra or is quoted separately?
- What security does every client get by default? Is it a defined standard, or a menu of add-ons?
- What happens if I decline a security control? Is that documented?
- How do we reach your help desk, and what is monitored around the clock?
- How do my staff ask for help, and how can they see what is happening with a request?
- Who is accountable when a problem involves several vendors, such as internet, software and hardware?
- How do you handle backups, and how often do you test restores?
- Will we have regular planning reviews, and what do they cover?
- Who will hold administrator access, and will we always have it too?
- If we part ways, what do we get? Documentation, passwords and a smooth handover should be yours.
Listen for
- Plain answers, without jargon.
- Specifics rather than “we take care of everything.”
- Willingness to work with your own IT staff, if you have them.
Be careful of
- Security presented as optional.
- Vague answers about what is included.
- Reluctance to put things in writing.
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