Questions to Ask a New IT Support Services Company
If you’re a small to medium-sized business and considering a new IT support company, you know how difficult this decision can be. How can you judge their technical capability when you’re not an IT expert yourself? It’s vital you make the right decision, as your tech support provider will become a virtual team within your business. Here are 18 expert questions to ask an IT Support company your considering. Any IT downtime can have a seriously negative impact on your company’s performance. As a London IT support company, we’re well-placed to provide you with some essential questions to ask would-be IT support providers. We’ve broken these up into several categories:- The company
- Their accreditations
- Their people
- Contracts and payment
- Response times
- The future
The New IT Support Company
- What size is your company?
- What geography do you cover?
- Do you support other companies in my industry?
- What are your client retention rates?
- Can I speak to a reference?
- What are your IT support desk credentials?
Do They Have Any Reputable Accreditations?
- What technology partner accreditations do you have?
Get to Know Their IT Support Team
- Will I get an account manager?
- Will I get an engineer?
- What training do your engineers get?
Contracts and Payment – The Average Cost of IT Support for Small Business Varies Greatly
- So how much does IT Support cost? What levels of support do you offer?
- Pay-as-you-go, for hourly or fixed-rate prices. These can be expensive.
- Online chat, where you access support via digital messaging channels. This can be cheaper, but it can feel less personal.
- Break-fix, charged hourly in advance or after the work is done. It can also work like an insurance policy on a fixed-price contract.
- Managed IT support services, where your IT support company actively watches over your activity and offers fixes. You’ll usually sign an annual support contract for this option.
- What’s covered in your support contract?
- What isn’t covered in your support contract?
- How will I pay?
SLA & Response Times
- How can I log a problem?
- How quickly can you respond?
The Future for Your Business
- Can you support my growth plans?
- What are the cancellation terms?