By Paul W. in Support | 22/07/2011
Over the years I have had experience with many IT support businesses and service providers; some good, some bad, some indifferent. So I thought I would delve into this experience and write a non-too extensive list of things I think should be of top priority when considering an outsourced IT support service.
First and foremost, in my opinion, is the service provider’s knowledge of the task at hand. It goes without saying that if you want an external company to manage your Exchange deployment, for example, that you be confident that the provider has some experience of doing this, otherwise you’re likely to get yourself in a mess further down the line.
That having been said, it may not always be wise to take their word for it. A bit like those TV programmes that always tell you to check references when choosing a tradesman – the principle is the same in the IT world too. A reputable business will always be happy to share their past experiences and comments given to them. They are likely to be proud that the compliment was given after all.
Knowledge is good, jargon is not. I know some very clever people who may as well talk in binary. And assuming that you have more important things to think about than trying to decipher what your IT consultant has just told you, you’ll want to try and find someone who tells it like it is in plain English. Working together with your IT service provider is vital, and so communication is key here. If you cannot understand the service that is being offered/provided to you, then this poor communication will also lead to problems further down the line.
Backups and disaster recovery should be a high priority for ensuring business continuity in the case of a disaster. In the unfortunate event of any kind of disaster, you need the peace of mind of knowing that your business will be back up and running in as little time as possible. In-house backup knowledge/training should be provided, and a disaster recovery plan formulated.
This brings us on to another important thing to think about: what you expect of your outsourced IT service, and what they expect to provide. Set out your expectations before you hire someone to ensure that if you need them to be available 24×7 they can accommodate this. Standard Service Level Agreements (SLA) and extended SLAs should be available to you.
Other factors in choosing an IT service provider are likely to be cost of service. This is bottom of the my list for a reason. You should consider, what are your priorities for your business when making this sort of decision?