Hiring a Specialized Managed IT Support Services Provider is a growing trend in recent years among businesses, especially for small-medium to mid-sized companies. And that’s understandably so because there are several advantages of availing of the Services of an MSP. They can help you with your IT Infrastructure Management, Cyber Security, Cloud Services, Software, and Hardware Solutions, etc. The dedicated and expert IT team of an MSP also keeps you up-to-date with the latest technology, so the decision to choose the perfect IT Services Provider is very crucial for an organization. The very first step is that you must have a dialogue or communication with your potential Service Provider which would help you clarify many things and make a decision.
A good Managed Service Provider would not mind you asking them questions, in fact, they would love to be asked questions if they are confident about their service. At the same time though, it is equally important that you ask them the right questions that would be truly helpful in the context of determining if you’re hiring the right IT Support Service for your business and whether they can really fulfill your expectations or suit your necessities. When thinking over what should be those questions, you will need to be fully aware of your requirements. The questions you ask must cover all-around and different aspects of the service so that you do not have to encounter any unwanted issues with your partner later on.
5 Questions to Ask Before Choosing an IT Support Service Provider
Some intelligent questions that would let you get insight into an IT Services Provider’s true capabilities and what they have to offer you can be such as those mentioned below:
1. About their Experience, i.e. How Long have they been in The Industry
This is an important one. You got to know their experience in the Managed IT Support business like how many years or decades they’ve been in the picture because let’s admit this – it does matter. An experienced IT Support Services Provider company is more likely to know how to handle various situations than a provider that is relatively new in the market. Of course, a newer company can have the knowledge and certifications and they may well be able to deal with your problems too, but this is a query you must make for a better assessment. The final decision lies in your interaction with the company and so you should talk to their team to understand them and get an idea if they can meet your IT needs and manage your infrastructure in the best way possible.
2. Who are some of Their Past Clients
Try to ask them about their past clients and ask them for some references so you can reach out to those older clients and know how their experience went down with this company that is your new potential IT Support Services provider. After all, you wouldn’t want to take any chances so it is only smart if you can contact some of their previous clients and get their reviews about this MSP company before you decide to hire it for your IT solutions. Things you should ask those older clients must be regarding how co-operative and helpful the staff was, or how much did they deliver on their promised service quality on a scale of 1 to 10, how effectively their remote management solutions worked for you, what their company culture is like, for instance.
3. Clear Up Everything about the Contract
Just before you sign a contract with an MSP, make sure you are aware of all the terms and conditions of the contract. Openly discuss the things that you would like to be included or changed in the contract like the minimum duration you’re going to be bound with the company, the prices, and other points in the Service Level Agreement between you and the Service Provider because sometimes things do not go the way as planned and then it can pose problems for your business if you’ve not paid close attention to some clauses in the contract beforehand.
4. Can You Expect a Good ROI with Their Services
One of the main aims of you hiring a Managed IT Support Services Provider is to make more savings than you’re spending, otherwise, there would be hardly any meaning to availing the service of an MSP. So you got to clear up with them about what they’ll offer you in terms of allowing you to make more profits. First of all, their pricing must be as much as that would not exceed the expenses you would otherwise have to make on keeping an in-house IT team as well as expenditure on Software and Hardware. Therefore inquire about it all without hesitation, and choose wisely, that is only after assessing their responses on what offerings they’d include or cover, what they would not in their services portfolio, and if this deal sounds satisfactory to you.
5. Get to Know about their Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Solutions
It is of great significance for your business to know if your Managed IT Services Provider can handle catastrophic and critical disasters with total control and how it will ensure your Business Continuity to save your reputation and minimize losses. So get to understand it by discussing with them their preparations to deal with such a situation. Also ask whether they have ever encountered this with a past client, and if so then how they handled it. You must make sure your MSP has the best arrangements and plans in place to deal with this scenario because unpreparedness at the time of a disaster can lead to the total demise of your business.
There can be several other questions you can ask your potential IT Support Services Provider, but here we have tried to touch on some of the most basic and crucial ones that are relevant to all aspects of the service.
