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10 Questions to Ask Your IT Provider
A renewal-review guide for Australian SMBs. Ten questions, with what to listen for.
Use it as a renewal check with your current provider, or as a structured comparison sheet when you are talking to a new one. Each question with why it matters, what a good answer sounds like, and what a poor answer sounds like.
What is inside
Ten questions, with what to listen for
Each question has three parts: why it matters, what a good answer sounds like, and what a poor answer sounds like. The point is not to catch your provider out. It is to have an informed conversation about whether the arrangement is delivering what your business needs.
- 01 Who, specifically, will my business work with?
- 02 What is your response model and SLA, in writing?
- 03 How often do we meet to talk about the business?
- 04 What security framework do you align to?
- 05 What is included, and what is billed separately?
- 06 How do you handle backups, and when was a restore last tested?
- 07 How long do your average clients stay with you?
- 08 What does onboarding look like, including cost?
- 09 What is your offboarding process?
- 10 Can I speak to two or three current clients?
Plus an "after the conversation" page with the strong signals and warning signs to listen for when you review the answers.
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What you do with it
From a score to a plan
The point of the checklist is not the number at the end. It is the conversation it makes possible.
As a renewal review
Use it ahead of your next contract renewal. Walk through the questions with your current provider. The answers, and how willingly they are given, tell you whether the relationship is still delivering.
As a comparison sheet
When evaluating a new managed IT provider, ask the same ten questions of each one. Sit the answers side by side. The headline price often turns out to be the least important line.
As an internal scorecard
Score your current provider in your own time. If the answers are not what you expected, the score itself becomes the starting point for the conversation that needs to happen.