At ACR support for your business is our main priority. That’s why we provide all the support you need for your ACR Systems and Hardware. But what happens to all those other areas of your business we don’t know about like email, PCs, printers, internet connection, domain management etc etc?
Following on from our previous article which has a checklist of what to ask your Managed Service Provider (MSP) or IT support company, it’s important to have an provider who understands your business and is available when you need them. Once again we have put together a list of questions to ask a potential new contractor – or your current one if you aren’t sure, whether they can provide you the support your business needs.
- How big is your company?
The larger the company could mean more available technicians when you desperately need them. If the business is too small, they might not be able to meet your needs when it comes to resolving issues that are impacting your business however a small company may now and understand your business better than a larger company. - What geographical area do you cover?
This can help you gauge whether their response times will be reasonable if you need someone on-site or help you guess how busy their workload may be when a large area is covered. - Do you offer different levels of support?
Find the option that fits your business, here are a few different types of support options:
a. Pay-as-you-go support, where you pay an hourly rate or a fixed price.
b. Break-fix support, which can be charged hourly, either paid in advance or afterwards.
c. Managed service support, where your support company actively manages your internal systems and PCs (Excluding ACR server) to reduce the chance of things going wrong. Commonly referred to as an MSP (Managed Service Provider).
d. Do the options include support outside normal business hours? - Do you have any guaranteed response times?
This is a “nice to know” so you can predict how long a problem may take to be attended too. - Will I get a dedicated engineer?
Some MSPs assign you an engineer who is the primary point of contact for your business and their support. This can be useful for familiarity but can also prove to be a nuisance when your assigned engineer is unavailable. - What training policy do you have for your engineers?
Understanding their training practices can help you gain confidence in their skills and knowledge when issues arise. A company that trains staff regularly and stays up-to-date with technologies can help resolve issues faster. - How can we log support calls with you?
This is a good way of understanding the problem resolution process. Some companies might only take support jobs with an online ticketing system with no phone support and if you require urgent attention, an online-only solution may slow you down. If a company also offers phone support, you could get the priority help when you need it. - How and when will I be charged?
This question will most likely be answered when you ask about what types of support they offer, but it’s always best practice to confirm again that there is no missunderstanding about what is expected of you as their customer. - What are the cancellation terms?
Sometimes a company might fail to meet your requirements and it is beneficial to know and be prepared when pre-paid support is non-refundable or if a cancellation fee may occour. - What exactly do you support in your contract?
Ask for this in writing. It will give you time to consider your options and discuss it with other interested people in the business.
- What isn’t covered in the support contract?
This question can be a push for more information, but you may find that there are some things they don’t/won’t/can’t support for whatever reason and may want to be clear about that before you start to work with each other. This would be the time to ask about old or legacy hardware you may still require support for. - Do you provide remote support, management and monitoring?
This may save you call out costs and time if a task does not require a physical presence. For example, updating network settings or troubleshooting a misbehaving program and remote monitoring the health of your systems can help identify problems before they impact your business.
This is not a complete list but will get you started. it’s a great way to engage with your MSP and build the communicaton right from the beginning.