19 Questions to Ask When You Are Choosing an IT Support Company

You can love or hate technology but you can’t run your business without it. Thus, it is important to ensure that you are getting the best IT support from your IT provider. You should spend some time learning and researching the right questions that you should ask from your next support team. More than 30% of SMBs still don’t have IT support. Technology is the main fuel for modern business. Thus, it is important to ensure that you have access to good IT support. Your IT support company will help you in monitoring your tech while your company is growing. In this article, we are going to share some main questions that you should ask when you are choosing an IT support company.

1. Can you provide some reference companies to talk to or reviews?

This question will help you in testing the experience of your IT support partner. If your IT support partner has worked with various clients, then they will instantly give you some contacts. You can talk with these companies and make sure that your IT support company is providing good services.

You should ask about the services that your IT support partner is providing. Make sure that they are delivering all the promises. Your IT support partner should be responsive. This will ensure that they will help you in solving your problems. They should also communicate well with the clients. Make sure that they are discussing issues with their clients. They should also stay within the budget. These questions can help you in evaluating your new IT support partner.

2. What levels of IT support do you offer?

Some IT support providers are still offering break-fix types of services. These services can cost you a lot of money in the long run. They will charge hourly rates for you.

If you are working with a good MSP, then you will experience less downtime. The reason behind this is simple. Your MSP wants to minimize downtime as it will help them in saving money. They will troubleshoot the issues before they even occur. You should check the levels of IT support that your MSP is offering. Some MSPs can help you in protecting both your network and computers. They will also help you in moving your applications to the cloud.

3. What is included in your contract?

Check if your SLA contract covers on-site visits. If on-site visits are included in your contract, then you should check how many on-site visits are covered. You should also check if your IT support provider is offering cell phone troubleshooting.

Make sure that you can customize their plan according to your budget and needs. If you have a business in New York, then it will cost more to get on-site support. Thus, the budget will vary according to your location.

You should ensure that your MSP wants to work seriously with you. They should be serious. This will ensure that they will focus on building a great relationship with your business. If they are offering or pushing some additional services, then you should understand the why first. Make sure that you are only opting for the IT services that your business needs.

4. How big is your IT support company?

IT Support Company can vary according to their size. Their ability to offer products and services will increase with time. Also, their knowledge base will expand with time. If your MSP has a small IT team, then they will find it difficult to provide good services. They might be busy with another customer when you need help.

However, you shouldn’t opt for the biggest IT support company available in the market. Sometimes big IT Support Company will be faceless. They won’t understand your business requirements and needs.

If you think that some company can meet your needs, then you should work with them.

5. Do you have an SLA or Service Level Agreement?

Modern businesses rely heavily on modern technology. Thus, you should ensure that your data is always accessible and your systems are always running. You should know about the response time that you can expect from your Managed IT services provider. If your network is down, then how quickly can your IT provider fix it? In case of a data loss, how quickly can your IT provider recover your data? This will help you in planning your response. Make sure that your Recovery Time Objective (RTO) matches the response time of your IT support provider.

6. Can you break your contract if the SLA’s aren’t met?

This is one of the most important questions. Most companies can’t change their IT support partner because they can’t get out of the contract. Your MSP should be trustworthy. They should build a healthy relationship with your business. If an MSP wants you to sign a long-term contract, then you should carefully review them. Make sure that you get out of the contract if your MSP is not providing good services.

7. What is your response time?

Make sure that your IT support provider is providing a first response time. They should start working on the issue within this time frame. You should be careful with companies who claim that they can solve any problem in a specific amount of time. Good MSPs will never claim such things. Certain problems can take more time to discover. Thus, it is important to ensure that your MSP is not claiming baseless things.

8. Will you get an account manager?

You should have a single point of contact with your IT support company. This will help you in building a good and long-term relationship with your IT partner. They can learn more about your business and your plans by directly assigning you an account manager. This will ensure that they actually know about your needs. You should get at least one permanent contact.

9. Will you get a dedicated IT engineer?

You won’t get the same engineer every time you need help. Most IT support companies will assign you the engineer according to your needs. If you need access to some IT security expert, then they will assign some IT security expert. Similarly, if you need access to an IT network engineer, then they will assign an IT network engineer. However, you can still ask this question from your MSP. If they are saying yes, then they might have access to a limited IT staff.

10. Can I check the IT systems that you are using?

You should ensure that your IT support provider has access to efficient technology. This will ensure that they can provide efficient and great service to your business. If your IT support partner doesn’t have a Customer Relationship management system, then how will they offer good service to your business? Make sure that your IT support provider has access to the best IT systems.

11. What do you exactly support in your contract?

Most MSPs will cover labor charges on any issues that relate to software or hardware. Some will also include the travel and mileage time to your premises. This cost will be added only if an on-site visit is necessary. However, most IT support companies won’t support custom software that is written by another company. Thus, you should be cautious if some IT provider is claiming that they support everything.

Some IT support companies will also charge you extra for devices that connect with your main computers. They might charge extra money for mobiles, scanners, and printers. If you are facing some problems with your mobile, then will your IT support company help you? Thus, you should first check what is exactly covered in the support contract.

12. Do you provide remote monitoring and management?

This is another very important question that you should ask. Most IT support companies are still providing on-site break-fix services only. They are not offering remote monitoring and management to their clients. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire are offering 24/7 monitoring to their clients. They will also take proactive actions for protecting your network from attackers and bugs. Prevention is always better than cure. Thus, you should ensure that your IT support provider is offering you remote management and monitoring.

For example, Bleuwire might find a disk drive that is about to fail. This will give you enough time to backup your data. Remote management will help you in reducing the time that it takes to fix things. It will also help you in cutting the travel-related costs.

13. Do you have experience with our industry?

This question is very important for you if you are operating in the healthcare or financial services industry. There are various industries that have strict regulations. For example, healthcare companies need to follow strict HIPAA compliance. Financial services companies need to follow PCI DSS compliance. Thus, you should ensure that your IT support company already has some experience in your industry.

They should know about the internal security issues and compliance policies. If you have a law firm, then these regulations will differ. Thus, you should talk about these policies with your IT partner first. Make sure that they can help you in handling your compliance issues.

14. Do they have case studies or testimonials from other clients?

The best way to test an IT support company is by checking their testimonials. You will gain a lot of insights from the real existing customers. They will tell you about what the IT support company has done for their business and why they are working with time. However, sometimes these testimonials can be faked. Thus, you should verify them with real people.

15. How much I need to pay?

Pricing will depend on the level of service and the amount of hardware you have. If you have access to more equipment, then your price will automatically increase. Your MSP should provide you with an appropriate price according to your needs. If your MSP is finding it difficult to give you an approximate number, then you should be careful with them.

Support contracts are generally paid monthly, annually, and quarterly. These contracts are payable in advance. Thus, you should carefully opt for the right plan.

16. Will I directly talk to a technician in case of an emergency?

Many MSPs are operating call centers as their first point of contact. Employees working in these call centers have very less technical knowledge. They will waste a lot of time in raising your issue with the main IT team. Sometimes your issue might need assistance from the best IT engineers. Thus, you might need to wait for hours before you get access to the right IT engineer. Make sure that your MSP can provide you direct access to their IT engineers.

17. Is your company insured?

Anything can happen in the modern world. Murphy’s Law is always applicable in every scenario. Thus, sometimes even the biggest MSPs can go bankrupt. You should ensure that you are insured from such events. The insurance should cover up to 1 million$ in damages.

18. Does your IT support company outsource IT help desk Services?

You can also work with a company who outsource their IT help desk services from other business. However, it is better to work with companies that can offer you IT help desk services. This will ensure that they will have full control over their IT. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in handling your IT support tickets. This will ensure that you don’t need to worry about hiring your own in-house IT support team.

19. Can we log support calls with your company?

If you are facing an IT problem, then you should directly get access to the IT engineers who can help you. Make sure that your IT provider has a dedicated number. This will ensure that you will directly get access to the main IT engineers. They should also provide other facilities like an email address or online form. Experienced MSPs will provide you all three options. This will ensure that you can quickly reach their IT support team.

How Bleuwire can help your business?

Bleuwire can help you in solving your IT support problems. They can offer you IT support and help desk services. This will ensure that you don’t need to worry about support tickets. Bleuwire will help you in handling your tickets. They will also help you in creating an IT strategy for your business. Bleuwire is using the best remote monitoring tools available in the market for proactively monitoring your network. If you need more information regarding IT services, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.