How to Evaluate a Managed IT Services Company - Bellwether Technology-澳门网赌大全网址

As a business leader, 你可能会犹豫是否要改变你正在做的IT工作，因为你没有比较不同托管IT服务公司所需的技术背景. If your goal is to augment your internal IT team, 肯定会有一些技术问题需要你的IT经理回答. However, whether you’re looking for a co-managed or fully outsourced solution, what you, as an executive, really need to determine is:

Is the provider’s managed services model a fit for you?

And can they deliver what they promise?

As you gather the information that will answer these two questions, 你将能够描绘出一幅与他们一起工作的画面，并对你所期望的结果建立期望.

Build Expectations with the Answers to These Questions

使用以下问题作为对话的开始，以评估您的托管服务提供商(msp)的简短列表:

1. Can you describe your approach to managed IT services?

Every MSP has their unique recipe for delivery of services. 您在这里寻找的是主动和被动服务的结合. 服务的总体目标应该是使您的人员能够使用技术，并通过沿着技术改进的道路前进来支持您的业务目标.

On the proactive side, MSP应该引导您沿着IT改进的道路前进，以防止出现问题，并建立一个坚实的IT基础，您可以在此基础上利用技术. Reactive services respond to immediate issues that affect individual users, a department or your whole organization.

2. Do you have the necessary personnel to provide services?

It takes many different roles to deliver comprehensive services. 请提供者向您介绍与主动服务和被动服务相关的角色. 您应该期望在响应端有IT支持专家和升级工程师. On the proactive side, you should see roles such as network architects, security engineers, project engineers, and enterprise engineers, as well as roles for account management, IT consulting and procurement.

3. How fast will you respond when we need you?

Each MSP should have a Service Level Agreement (SLA) for response time, but they might not all call it by that name. 询问当用户向帮助台提交问题时，需要多长时间才能得到响应? 如果问题不能立即解决，接下来的程序是怎样的? What happens if there’s a department or system-wide outage? 通过呈现不同的场景来建立你的期望，这些场景可能会触发快速反应的需求.

4. How will you help us manage cyber risks?

As you’re evaluating the MSP’s cybersecurity services, 请记住，没有人能100%保证你永远不会遇到网络入侵者. Additionally, 澳门赌场网址大全包括技术和非技术组件，因此管理风险将是一种协作. 虽然对话可能包括MSP使用的一些安全策略, 你要听的是他们将如何与你合作，制定符合你独特风险概况和容忍度的澳门赌场网址大全策略.

5. How much will this cost?

使用托管IT服务的部分好处是有一个可预测的每月费率，但如果你不确切地了解经常性费用中包含的内容，你可能会感到惊讶. As you’re digging into what’s included and what’s not included, some questions you can ask are: Is anything billed at hourly rates? Is onsite support included? Is Tier 3 and 4 escalation support additional? Does this include management of our servers and cloud services? Are there extra costs for security?

6. What’s the contract term?

As you’re studying the MSP’s contract, make sure that the agreement aligns with your discussion about costs. You also want to understand the length of time you’ll be locked into, and what provisions are included if the relationship isn’t working out. If it looks like you may get locked into a long contract, 要小心，蜜月期过后，你们的反应可能会变慢.

7. Is there anything we’ll need to spend money on right away?

Depending on the condition of your IT systems, 很有可能你需要做一些改进，使你的技术可支持. This could be updating out-of-support software and licensing, or it could be replacing aging computers or networking equipment.

请记住，托管服务的总体目标不是维持现状，而是进行改进. Even if your IT environment is supportable, 预计在90天左右的时间里，这些建议会让你开始走上IT改进的道路.

8. Do you have industry certifications?

如果您正在寻找徽章和认证，以验证MSP具有他们所描述的功能, ask if they have any third-party validation of their capabilities. 您还可以查找诸如微软合作伙伴状态或其他供应商特定认证之类的内容.

Make sure you ask about the certifications that their pool of employees hold. 如果这些问题很多，这不仅是专业知识的标志，而且表明公司支持员工的专业发展.

9. Will there be people dedicated to my account?

当你的公司和他们的公司之间有很多沟通时，你就会有外包IT服务的最佳体验. 询问是否会有一个主要的联系人，他将成为问题和状态报告的资源来源? 你要找的是一位客户经理，他将是你的主要联系人和信息渠道. Additionally, MSP是否会提供虚拟首席信息官(vCIO)的服务，后者将了解您的业务并与您一起制定IT战略?

10. What will our ongoing relationship look like?

When you make the move to managed IT services, 你正在摆脱那种只在东西坏掉的时候才需要IT的心态. 持续的关系包括持续改进您的IT系统和最终的数字化转型——也就是说, 利用技术改进组织并创造竞争优势的能力. That means that your success is their success and that’s a win for everyone.

Making Your Decision

当您决定与哪个托管it服务提供商合作时, 如果你做完了这十个问题，你就有很多信息要复习了. 在你的分析结束时，你应该有信心继续前进. If you don’t, keep looking.

Managed IT Services for New Orleans Companies

Here at Bellwether, 我们为新奥尔良的公司提供托管IT服务，使他们能够应对现代商业挑战. 如果你厌倦了阻碍你的IT，那么是时候换一种不同的东西了.

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