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Things to ask Managed IT service providers

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Despite the fact that there have been companies offering Managed IT services for a long time. It has really become a trend and productive tool for more than two-thirds of organizations. They have reported having used a Managed IT Service Provider in recent years.

Having a Managed IT service will help you as a manager to have greater control and knowledge of what is happening within your IT department. It prevents small oversights from becoming major problems that affect your operation.

7 Things to ask Managed IT service providers

In this article, we share some things to ask Managed IT service providers that will help you know if the providers are the perfect candidate for your company.

  1. Can you explain clearly why the network is slow?

This problem frequently occurs during peak business hours in the office. So, ask the provider if they are acquainted with solving this type of issue.

This problem happens for reasons like problems with the provider including network maintenance, fluctuations in the signal, technical failures, the configuration of the router, viruses in the network, overuse of the network, wrong network configuration, IP problems, poor network design, and an unstable signal or an insufficient internet plan.

At Managed it services in Columbus, we identify who are the users or applications that use the highest bandwidth to block them and help you improve the design of your network.

This will bring you benefits such as less wasted time, more productive employees, and better-quality customer service since you can serve them faster

  1. Can you identify immediately when an IT service has problems or is being mismanaged?

The technological services of a company usually fail due to poor design or configuration, lack of maintenance, or poor administration by the personnel who use them daily.

The services that often fail are Internet, Mail, Wi-Fi, Administrative systems, PC or laptop, printers, antivirus, etc.

There are problems that everyone in the company finds out about quickly, such as when the system does not allow billing. Also, there are others that the manager does not usually find out about so quickly and that can grow into major crises for the company, such as lack of information backups, virus problems, carelessness in computer security measures, and equipment configuration errors.

This lack of knowledge of the internal problems of the IT department by the manager can result in different problems such as virus entry into the system, important loss of information, bad customer service, lost sales opportunities, and important customers.

The managed service provider will help you prevent these mishaps by sending email alerts and providing executive dashboards for more efficient management oversight.

  1. Will you receive accurate and timely reports on technology and IT service management?

As a manager, it is most likely that you will not receive executive reports with graphs and trend analyses on the use. It is given to your company. This is a big mistake since what is not measured or cannot be improved.

The importance of these reports lies in being able to analyse the key IT service management indicators.

The professional Managed service provides reports automatically. It helps to make decisions that allow you to improve your customer service and reduce security risks in your company.

  1. Are you knowledgeable about technology inventory and its age? 

In general, some providers are not aware of the amount of equipment you have in the company. If they are updated or not, what version of software do you have.

Technological audits are an extremely useful activity. It helps to define the technological strategy and identify which equipment needs to be updated or replaced. In addition, it provides other benefits, such as.

  • Greater control of assets to prevent theft or loss.
  • Know the age of each piece of equipment and when it needs to be replaced.
  • Create awareness of what needs to be cared for and managed.
  • Identify the costs for each department, area, etc.
  • Establish usage policies.

By performing this audit, you will be able to keep daily control of the information of all your IT assets, including hardware and software. It will help you keep control of data and other resources.

  1. Do you know if the software and technology are up to date?

Companies report that updating software takes an average of 11 hours per week. On the other hand, in 67% of the companies, the employees who use their software must update it themselves, however, there are no guarantees that the collaborators will update it every time a new version is released. In companies with less than 50 positions, 81% of employees must take care of their own updates. 30% of organizations take care only of Microsoft updates.

From these numerals, we can deduce that in most company’s software updates are one of the last priorities. However, neglecting this aspect can have serious consequences, such as.

  • Hackers can take advantage of security holes in out-of-date computers using malicious software.
  • These vulnerabilities expose computers to Internet access just by opening an email, opening a file, or accessing a website.
  • Without the latest software updates, the user does not have access to the features of the new versions that could make their work more productive.
  • Problems are increased due to incompatibility with other applications.

So, ask the provider if they help you keep your equipment updated automatically.

  1. Do you care if large files are being downloaded that can slow down your network?

Companies do not usually assign technology and personnel to monitor these issues. It is something vital to know since users may be making inappropriate use of the company network by downloading files. When it is from unreliable sources putting it at risk of cyber-attacks.

  1. Can you identify if anyone visits inappropriate websites?

As in the previous point, when visiting inappropriate websites or those hosted on dangerous servers, the user becomes a hole in the network’s security. The viruses can enter and affect the entire company, causing significant losses of information.

The most advisable thing is to restrict access to unwanted sites and allow only those that are safe, as well as having a reliable and up-to-date antivirus to avoid taking risks.

Conclusion 

As you can see, there are a large number of factors that need to be monitored and taken care of within the management of IT services in a company. So, having the support of a managed IT service provider is an excellent option that will help you relieve the burden of work of your most experienced staff of IT consulting tasks.

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