Hiring a managed IT service comes with tons of benefits. For one, you don’t have to worry about having someone on your team full time. Even if you did, you or they may not have all the resources and knowledge necessary to really cover your IT needs. This is when you need to start thinking about bringing someone in. But you can’t just hire anyone. You have to take the time to vet them just as you would anyone you work with. Let’s take a look at some questions you should ask when hiring a managed IT service.
What Will Onboarding Look Like?
This is something you should not overlook. How involved the service you’re working with is when it comes to onboarding will make a big difference in how efficient your team is. It will also reduce downtime and prevent mistakes. Additionally, you want to keep confusion between teams to a minimum.
A managed IT service like Data Cube Systems, for instance, will use onboarding tactics like documentation, meetings, follow up procedures, forms, and more. Working with the right team will make sure that the transition process goes as smoothly as possible.
What’s Your Area of Expertise?
This is another very important factor that you shouldn’t overlook. While all services may look the same on the surface, some will be more specialized than others and might be more suited to your needs.
A company that has to manage tons of on-site and remote tools will need to work with a team that has experience working with these. This is why you need to check out their portfolio and ask people they’ve worked with who had similar needs to yours what they thought about their service.
Will There be Someone Dedicated to My Account?
Some people may want to have a dedicated representative they can always go to if they have issues. If that’s you, then you need to look for a service that offers that. You should also make sure that there is a help desk open to your employees.
Also, you have to make sure that you check the availability of the rep you’ll be working with. Some might be available around the clock, while others are only available during regular business hours. Lastly, make sure that they have a reasonably fast response time.
How Will You Prevent Downtime?
One of the biggest priorities for many organizations is keeping downtime to a minimum, and it’s also one of the most common reasons why people hire managed IT services.
You want to find someone who can ensure business continuity, and you should ask what kind of redundancies they have in place in case of a shut down. Look for services that offer a multi-location environment and cloud security. A good company will also be able to monitor activity on your networks in real time and help you draft a solid business continuity plan.
If you were thinking of outsourcing your IT, make sure that you ask all of these questions first. This will allow you to find the best team for you and avoid unpleasant surprises.