Your IT company should be an extension of your team, they should be the missing cog which enables the wheel to carry on effortlessly turning whilst you crack on with all the other aspects of your business, safe in the knowledge that your IT is secure, protected and working!
If you’re looking for a new IT provider, we’re sure there’s a whole load of questions you’d like to ask, but just to break it down, here’s a few key q’s for your initial meeting…
- What’s your on-boarding process?
This one is key, the process should be incredibly straightforward at every step of the way. A fine tuned on-boarding process allows for minimum downtime for your staff.
- What’s the downtime during the switch over?
As we mentioned above, down time should be at an absolute minimum. We work over the weekend which means staff leave their computers on a Friday and return back on a Monday with everything done and dusted, as if like magic. A good IT company should be able to work quietly behind the scenes over a weekend to ensure there’s no ‘servers down, staff waiting around’ issues for you.
- What will you need from me?
The discovery stage is crucial, this is the bit when your IT provider should sit down with you and collate all the info required in one go. This should include things like:
-Who you pay for broadband
-Who you pay for website domains
-Who has control of your website and design
-Passwords for computers and servers
-Phones/Phone numbers
Your IT provider should also visit your office to check out the environment and discuss with you what’s working, what’s not and come up with a plan on how this can be solved.
- Will we need to switch systems and servers?
Once your new IT company has visited your office and checked out what your current server and systems look like and how they’re working, then a decision can be made. However, we’re big fans of moving clients from dusty old servers to super awesome cloud based servers. Take a look at why and how we’ve made the switch for one of our clients recently
- How do you ensure we have maximum security?
Once again, this should be tailored to you and your individual requirements. Once your IT company has completed their discovery phase, they should then provide a complete run down on your best measures to retain complete security.
- Do you provide training to our staff?
Once your new IT set up is complete, your IT company should be on hand to assist staff with any queries or problems in the day or two immediately following. Further to this, training workshops should be provided for an even smoother transition over to any new system.
- Who’s my point of contact?
Gone are the days of IT nerds and dark basement rooms (think Channel 4, IT Crowd?) Your IT company should be approachable and friendly, and you should have a face to a name, for example: take a look at this bunch of IT genius’
- What’s your response times?
This should be outlined from the very beginning. No false promises of immediate response times if they can’t meet their words. Exactly how do they prioritise and how long can you expect to wait for each level? What are the different response times for a complete IT failure versus an email switch over? This all needs covering, so make sure they tell you what your options are
Of course, we have all the answers to these, and so much more! Fancy a chat? Here’s how to get in touch
