Choosing a provider
Questions to ask a managed IT provider before you sign.
Every provider sounds good in the first meeting. The difference shows up in the answers to a few specific questions. Here they are, what a good answer sounds like, and how we answer each one ourselves.
The hard part
Why comparing providers is hard
Most proposals describe the service. Few spell out what happens when something goes wrong, or when you want to leave.
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What it costs you
You sign for twelve months or more on the strength of a sales conversation.
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What it feels like
Every proposal lists the same services, so they all look alike until you’re living with one.
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Why it shouldn’t be this way
The answers that matter fit on one page. A good provider will put them in writing.
The questions
Thirteen questions, and our answers
Ask every provider the same questions and compare the written answers. Here’s what a good answer sounds like, and how we answer each one.
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Money
What exactly is in the monthly number?
Helpdesk, devices, Microsoft 365, security, backups and the vendor relationships. Projects are quoted and approved in advance, so no invoice is the first you hear of something.
A good answer sounds like A written list of what’s included and what isn’t, before you sign.
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Money
What makes the price change?
We price on what we manage — computers, servers, accounts — not on hours or headcount. The rate holds for the twelve-month term; the number follows what we’re actually managing — a computer added or retired moves it, a heavy support month doesn’t — and you hear about any change before it lands on an invoice.
A good answer sounds like A clear rule you can predict.
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Money
How does your revenue change if our IT gets more reliable?
Our fee is flat, so every problem we prevent is one we don’t have to fix. Your ticket volume should fall over time. That’s the honest measure of whether it’s working.
A good answer sounds like It doesn’t go up when you have more problems.
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Money
What does getting started cost?
Getting set up is its own line on the quote, so you know it before you sign.
A good answer sounds like A one-time number, quoted before you decide.
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Contract and leaving
How long is the agreement, and how does it end?
Twelve months, and it commits both ways.
A good answer sounds like A fixed term, with the ending written down.
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Contract and leaving
Whose name are the admin accounts in?
Yours. Your domain, your documentation and your licenses belong to you, and your top-level admin account stays in your company’s name.
A good answer sounds like Yours.
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Contract and leaving
What happens to my data and documentation if I leave?
Your data and documentation are always yours. If you move on, we help with the handover. We’d rather be the provider people speak well of afterward.
A good answer sounds like You get all of it, and help handing over.
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Day-to-day support
What are your hours, and what happens outside them?
Our office hours are Mon–Fri, 8 to 5 Mountain. For Fully Managed clients, a problem after hours goes through the same process as one during the day. Response commitments are written into your agreement, with urgent issues held to a different standard from routine ones. We’re not a hundred-seat help desk with someone awake every hour of the night. If round-the-clock staffed support is a hard requirement, tell us early and we’ll say plainly whether we’re the right fit.
A good answer sounds like Hours stated plainly, and an honest after-hours answer.
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Day-to-day support
Who actually does the work?
A small, senior team, on purpose. Our system resolves what it can automatically. When it can’t, you get a senior engineer who has run infrastructure before and can make a decision without escalating.
A good answer sounds like Names the team, and says whether any of it is outsourced.
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Day-to-day support
Will we deal with the same people each time?
Yes. You’ll know your engineer and your account contact by name, and who to escalate to from day one. We keep the team small so the people who help you know your account, and know you.
A good answer sounds like A small named team, not an anonymous queue.
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Security and planning
How do you protect us, and how do you know backups work?
Sign-in security, protection on every computer and monitoring go on in the first 30 days. Patching runs on a schedule, and exceptions are reported rather than skipped. Backup restores are tested on a schedule, and you see the results.
A good answer sounds like Specifics, including backups that get test-restored.
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Security and planning
Do you help us plan, or just fix things?
Both. You get a monthly summary of what we did and saw. Every quarter we meet your leadership to cover the last quarter, what we’re seeing, what’s coming and what it will cost. You also get a rolling 12-to-24-month roadmap and a budget you can hand to your CFO.
A good answer sounds like A written plan and budget, reviewed with you.
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Security and planning
Can we talk to a client?
Yes. Ask, and we’ll arrange a conversation with one of our clients.
A good answer sounds like Yes, without hesitation.
If you’re already thinking about a change, here’s what a good handover looks like.
Who we are
Why we publish our own answers
We’d rather you choose us knowing exactly what you’re getting than be surprised in month three. So here are our answers, including the ones that aren’t the flashiest on the market. If a provider won’t put their answers in writing, that tells you something too.
In writing
Every answer on this page is one you can hold us to.
Small and senior
The people who answer know your account.
Priced before we start
Setup and projects are quoted before you decide.
Yours to take
Your data and documentation leave with you.
Where to start
Where to start
The choice is yours.
- Want these answered for your setup? Book my free IT risk review →
- A team of 15 to 70 who want IT fully handled. Our Fully Managed IT Support Program →
- Changing from another provider? What a good handover looks like →
What success looks like
No surprises after you sign.
Because you asked first.
- You knew the price rule before the first invoice.
- You knew the hours, and who you’d be talking to.
- You knew how it ends, and that your data leaves with you.
Questions about choosing a provider
How many providers should we talk to?
Two or three is usually enough to see the differences. Ask each the same questions and compare the written answers.
Should we pick the cheapest?
Compare what’s included first. A lower number that leaves out backups or security isn’t cheaper once you add them back.
Is a twelve-month agreement normal?
Yes, most managed IT agreements run a year or longer. What matters is that the ending is written down and your data comes with you.
What if we already have an IT person?
Then co-managed IT may fit better than handing everything over. How co-managed IT works →
What should be in the agreement itself?
The term, what’s included, how the price changes, and what happens at the end. What should be in the monthly number →
Will you answer these questions in a meeting too?
Yes, and in writing afterward.
Ask us anything on this list.
Book a free IT risk review and we’ll answer these for your setup, in writing. Or start with a few questions about your tech.