Choosing an IT provider means handing someone the keys to your business systems. The right questions reveal how a provider works, not just what it charges. Ask every provider you’re considering the same questions — including us.
Scope and cost
- What exactly is covered? Which users, devices, locations and services? What’s excluded?
- What’s billed separately? Projects, after-hours work, on-site visits, travel, hardware, licences.
- What would change my monthly bill?
Responsiveness and support
- How do we request help, and who answers? A help desk, a named technician, or both?
- What response and resolution times do you commit to in writing, and how are urgent issues defined and escalated?
- Do you come on site? How far is your team from our office?
- Will we deal with the same people over time? Familiarity with your environment speeds up every fix.
Onboarding and documentation
- How does onboarding work? A good provider documents your environment, secures admin access and fixes urgent risks before taking full responsibility.
- Who owns the documentation, passwords and licences? You should. Ask how you’d get everything back if you ended the relationship.
- How do you handle the handover from our current provider?
Security practices
- How do you secure your own access to our systems? Remote-management tools are a common attack path; ask about MFA, access controls and logging on the provider’s side.
- What security baseline do you put in place? MFA, endpoint protection, email filtering, patching and backups at a minimum.
- How are backups tested, and will we see the results?
- What happens if we have a security incident?
Planning and communication
- Will you help us plan and budget? Look for regular reviews and a technology roadmap, not just ticket handling.
- How will you explain recommendations? You should get reasons, costs and options in plain language.
Contract terms
- How long is the term and what are the exit terms?
- Is there an onboarding fee?
- What notice is needed to change scope?
Managed, co-managed or break-fix?
- Managed IT suits businesses without in-house IT that want proactive maintenance and predictable costs.
- Co-managed IT suits businesses with an internal IT person who needs tools, infrastructure expertise or extra capacity.
- Break-fix or project work can suit very small or very stable environments, though it rarely prevents problems.
We’re happy to answer every one of these. Start a conversation.