Important Questions To Ask Your IT Service Provider

 

Businesses across the world have relied on their IT service providers to help them transition to remote working in recent months. Across the breadth of requirements of organisations – setting up cloud and productivity services as well as getting the most out of existing ones – the service providers have really been put to the test during this pandemic.

Whether you are in the market for a new partnership or if you’re happy with your existing one, these are the key questions you must delve into to make sure they are the right match for your business.

Do you specialise in an industry?

An IT company will probably work across many sectors, but it’s important to know if they focus on any in particular. Is their business model adaptable to suit different businesses? Could they cope if your business grew? Understanding how they handle individual customer requirements and business sizes will give an insight into whether it could be a long-term partnership.

Who is responsible for taking care of our business and how will we know if that changes?

A good quality IT service provider will have a clear and structured process as an answer to this question. They might assign a specific account manager randomly, or they might match your needs to a particular team member; whatever their method, it’s important that it’s clear who you are to contact both day-to-day and in an emergency. It is also handy to find out how they would transition you to a new contact if your current one left their business.

What’s your customer retention rate?

Do not be afraid to ask to look at retention figures and references at any stage of your relationship with your service provider. Customer retention should be high for IT support companies; if they deliver what they say they will, charge a fair price and are easy to communicate with, they are unlikely to lose customers! If their retention rate isn’t what you would expect, is there a reasonable explanation?

How can you help us decrease our spend?

This has been a key requirement for many businesses lately, thanks to COVID-19. A quality IT service provider will be invested in helping you save money where it makes sense. A good answer should include reviewing your service licencing and usage to ensure you are only paying for what you need. The provider should also take advantage of any offers and discounts and be fully transparent about their pricing. You should also trust them to advise you on what you shouldn’t reduce spend on, like stripping back security layers.

What’s the worst disaster you’ve faced recently?

Every IT service provider has dealt with unexpected disasters; finding out how they dealt with and learned from them will give you some valuable insight into how much they care about their customers. If the provider is happy to go into detail and talk through the positives and negatives, it shows they’re honest, open and realistic.

How can you help our business successfully work remotely?

COVID-19 has changed the way we work and remote working is now front of mind for many businesses. It’s important to find out what the strategy is for supporting businesses with remote working both now and long-term. If an IT service provider has managed to transition seamlessly to remote working themselves and can offer you a structured plan, then you know that remote working is a priority for them.

Finding the right IT support company for your business could be the difference between minimal disruption in the event of a disaster, and potentially losing valuable customers. Talk to us to find out about our transparent customer policy and let us answer these questions in the way they should be answered.